[AntonyR]

Before I start my engine swap marathon, I figured I'd take a poll on what is easier and less time consuming:
Pulling the engine with the trans still attached, or Pulling the engine while leaving the trans in the car. I need to pull one bad engine/good trans from one car, and swap it with a good engine/good trans from another. Should I just swap engines, or swap complete sets? If engines only, are there any precautions to consider, like that it's a lot more time consuming separating the trans from the engine than from the drive shaft? I dunno, so chime in please.

 

[aikendrum105]

Definitely pull the engine and trans together. I've done it once leaving the engine in the car - unless you have access to a hoist, gearbox jack, nimble fingers and a nice clean engine / gbox - much easier to pull the whole thing together.

If you have a good engine with a good trans in the other car (and are confident the clutch has good life left in it) take it out as a unit and drop it back in the same way. If you rent a rolling engine crane and have a smooth surface to work on you'll make the job much much easier.

If not confident about the clutch - then more cost effective to split the eng/box and replace it now - using whichever of the gearboxes is 'more gooderer'

And grease the pilot bushing, and polish the nose of the input shaft, and lighten that flywheel, and check the clutch fork isn't wearing through on the pivot, and check the pivot hasn't worked loose in the bellhousing, and change that rear main seal that's leaking, and use whichever of the two reverse light switches is in the best condition.

Hope that helps !

 

[shoguneagle]

I think pulling the engine and transmission together will take less time in getting to the engine/transmission change without the hassle of working in close/tight quarters. It will also give you a chance to look at everything around the engine bay/transmission area for cleaning, checking for rust, etc.

I will be pulling the engine and transmission on my car to put in a new clutch and to check the underside of the car. I feel this gives me the best chance with minimum problems and replace anything along the drive system needing attention.

Steve Hurt

 

[Al0x]

Agreed--Pulling the transmission and engine as a whole unit is probably much easier than separating, as I had done. Getting the transmission out through the bottom/rear is a pain, and lifting the engine out alone seemed more difficult than it ought to have been, likely since the weight of the transmission wasn't "tilting" it in the right direction to slide out easily either.
Also, don't forget to clamp the guibo with *several* hose clamps, otherwise disconnecting the driveshaft from the transmission is a pain--I found as i removed the guibo bolts, it wanted to expand, and the driveshaft bolts wanted to "bite" into the soft metal inserts (aluminum?). I think i used 3 x 2" hose clamps and a ratchet to make the job substantially easier.

 

[AntonyR]

Well, I suppose when you think about it, pulling the engine and trans together is easier when you're at the pulling stage, but there is a lot more dismantling to get to that stage, than just pulling the engine. I guess I was just hoping to avoid pulling the center console apart, as well as messing with the guibo/driveshaft. Is it really that much more difficult to separate the engine while in the car? I think I'm basing all of this with past experience of doing this in cars with auto transmissions, since they separate pretty easily(muscle car days, way back when).
So, unless there is an argument pretty soon for how much easier it is to just pull the engine, it looks like to poll says the majority wants to pull the complete unit.

 

[65Sprint]

Engine and transmission removal as a unit x4. IMO, disconnecting the front section of the drive shaft from the rear section and removing it along with the engine/ gearbox is easier than disconnecting the front section from the giubo while under the car.

The console in S3s is a bit of a pain but not as bad as removing and reinstalling the gearbox. There are other posts in support of removing and installing separately. I just haven't figured out how to do it that way and save time and effort.

 

[aikendrum105]

disconnecting the front section of the drive shaft from the rear section and removing it along with the engine/ gearbox is easier than disconnecting the front section from the giubo while under the car..

Definitely +1 on this - if you separate the driveshaft at the sliding spline joint - tape up the spline so it doesn't burr on the ground when you're dragging it out - makes it very hard to slide it back in later if you do)

 

[Joe Papa Sr]

I dunno...Id do anything to avoid messing with the alfa engineered console. Did it too many times and I still dont like doing it...LOL

 

[AntonyR]

It's true about the console stuff. I've taken it apart so many times, I just dread the idea of it again.

 

[60sRacer]

You have to take the center stuff out of the car inside wether you split the TX or not - the Duetto sure makes that easier than the cars with a center console. When you are doing that, take the shift lever spindle out too - unbolt the two side pivots. That one+ inch shift stub just interferes with the bell housing tunnel; I've always had to tilt the engine/TX sideways to get it out.

Robert