308 Engine Rebuild & CIS to TWM Throttle Bodies Conversion Thread!

Paul,

I tried/did that. I thought it was the way to do it too. I chewed up a lot of rags, but eventually got them loose and made a mess outta my gearbox in the process.

FWIW, and from what I understand; What I suggest by locking the gears is the way Ferrari recommends their mechanics do it. That's the way Eric (ferrarifxr here on FChat, and shop foreman at Auto Gallery) did it, and it's the way he says it should be done.

PS:

Verell,

I'll get the pics off to you tonight. Promise!

 

Chis, buy all new nuts and bolts for the half shafts, and figure 3hrs min to clean the engine alone.

 

Gawd, I remember doing those half-shafts. What a PITA! Back and forth from the inside to the back, turn the shaft. lock the bar. Pull down a bit, run back inside.. back in gear.. over and over and over, trying to get enough room on the breaker-bar to turn them a sliver at a time... Little-by-little until they finally broke loose. LOL!!!

Makes me dizzy just thinking about it.

Glad it's YOU buddy and not Moi!!!!

 

You can use a 1/2" drive impact wrench w/extension & a NEW hex socket to remove the bolts. Takes a relatively short wrench (IR-231), just the right extension length, & some contortions to find a location where you can get everything lined up. Still a PITA, but doesn't last as long unless you strip out the wrench or a cap screw's head.

Those cap screws & crown nuts aren't cheap either, but must be replaced each time. I believe I figured out that you could cut down a std grade 12 10mm cap screw, but the only source I've found for the nuts is one of the F* suppliers.

 

Hey Chris,

I just finished removing my engine last week, here are a few things which might help,
1. Put the hook on the engine hoist to the very top as my hoist ran out of lift with 2 inches of engine still in the car, that was fun.
2. remove the ac compressor completely, its a pita just hanging around in there.
3. remove the gear case and bellhousing it is not a must, but makes the job easier
4. Super protect the rear window and paint with towels and cardboard.
5. make sure you have an engine leveler as you need to tilt the engine to take it out (front bank comes out first)
6. remove the rear motor mounts.
7. remove the oil cooler (again optional but make the job easier when its not just hanging there)
8. once you lift the engine a few inches do a complete " did I forget to disconnect anything check"

hope this helps.

 

Verell,

Just resent gearbox3. Not sure what happened. If it fails again, let me know and I'll try something else...

 

I'm very sure it is, Chris, if not 75%

Nothing much is there on my 74 euro GT4....

Hans

P.S. Holler if ever you need some basic non-Ferrari metric stuff like fuel hose, clamps, tools, nuts/bolts/washers, what have you. I could just run out to my local parts store and get it for you....

 

So, I can give you a list of stuff to bring with you next week?

 

Thanks Chris. And nope, I think I'll stick to the greater LA area, with one trip to Mojave. I've been to sequoia and yellowstone national parks a few years back, and also been to the redwoods at the Northern Cal coast (driving down the 101 from Seattle).

And sorry David... my plane leaves before that shop is open again (closed on Sundays). Be sure to make a wish list though, hand it to me when we're meeting up, and I'll mail the stuff to you

Hans

 

Wow! Actually, I was joking... But thank you!

Don't wanna hijack Chris' thread though... But we can talk about it next week. Keep safe and have a great flight!

 

chris, did you pull the engine out yet?

 

We got very close by the end of the day yesterday. Took all day to get all the smog plumbing disconnected, pull the CIS, xfer case/bell housing, dipstick & alternator. Definitely 30% more stuff to deal with on a US Spec car than a Euro. We had 3 2-person teams going at once, one team working each wheel well, & one underneath fighting to get the dipstick tube out. Each team had someone wrenching, & the 2nd person was handing wrenches as needing, & bagging & labling each part as it came off. Worked quite well.

At the end of the day it was ready to slip the straps around the heads & lift, but we were all tired enough to be punchy, & only had about 45 min more of daylight. Decided it was smarter to do the actual pull when everyone was fresh & wide awake. Target date is next Sunday, 21st...

 

It is always better to be smart and safe.

 

Drivetrain is out, all the openings plugged, it is somewhat cleaned up, on an engine stand & rolled into the 2nd garage bay for now. Total working time was about 5 hours.

Would have gone very smooth if I'd remembered that we needed to pull the rear engine mounts, mount spacers, & engine mount studs. Also, Pulling the intake plenum would have added an inch or more of badly needed clearance. Strongly recommend doing both of these.

As it was, we ended up prying a engine mount spacer off with everything dangling & the plenum resting heavily against the 1" high density foam protecting the rear window. I think it was when Chris started on a 'Hail Mary' that we realized just how tight the plenum was against the rear glass...

The other pucker moment was when we realized that the hook for the fwd lift strap was in just the right position so that the plenum was pushing it in against the glass. We had the engine halfway rotated & the rear mounts off, so had to support the engine with a jack while we repositioned the lifting strap to clear the plenum.

Once we had the differential clear of the rear of the engine bay, the battle was won. We sat the drivetrain down on a pair of specially constructed saw horses & washed as much of the grime off as we could, then mounted the engine stand's head on the rear, lifted the endine off the jack stands & lowered it until we could plug the head into the jackstand. Only tricky thing about this step was that we had to shorten 1 of the engine hoist's legs so we could get the engine stand into position.

Sorry, but we were mostly too busy to take pix, but Chris did snap a few.

Next step is to pressure wash the drive train, separate engine & transmission, then check the transmission clearances against specs to get a handle on what parts will be needed.

 

In Chris's 1st picture you can see how we conveniently managed to place the strap hook where the plenum would push it up against the rear window...

In the 2nd picture, the differential is hard against the rear of the compartment, & the strap hook is hard against ...
Real pucker moment...

If you look closely at the 3rd picture, you can see how the rear motor mount spacer is nicely snagging on the CIS silentbloc mount. This was taken just before we lowered the engine, & rotated it back enough to pry the spacer off & lengthen the strap.

BTW, The ends of the strap come up past the ends of the header on the outside of the cam covers. The straps route under the one end of the head, across the top of the engine inside the intake runners, then down under the head's other end. This gives maximum separation of the 2 lifting points.


We used a chain type engine leveler which worked great, except that it was about 12" too long once we extended the strap to get the hook clear of the plenum. Would have been a good length if the plenum were removed(duh).

 

and I thought I was being adventurous with the S/C mods.....

You boys are some brave souls, medals of valor all around.(glad no purple hearts are in order)

I'm humbled. Nice work !!!

 

good work but try tilting the whole assy up at the front rather than the rear when installing it. Ive always had the front higher than the rear (coming out or going in) so the transfer gear cover is verticle and it slides right out with the mounts on and nothing touches.

 

Bravo! Its great to have such good friends; willing to spend their own time to help. That job looks much more difficult than I ever imagined. My hat is off to all of you. Best wishes on getting the trans overhauled and the motor back in without any drama. Keep the updates coming.

 

Chris, that engine on that stand, looks like it needs more support.imo