Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Hi. I'm removing the engine from my Mach and am a bit stuck in a couple of areas:

1) Looking on the forum, the recommendation for lifting points is the bell-housing and the alternator mounts. I have removed the mounting bolts and electrical connections from the alternator, but it is trapped by the cross-head cooling pipe. I've taken the pulley off the water pump, but that's not helped. Is there a trick, or does the coolant pipe come out at this point? How is the pipe attached? Is it a push fit, and are there tricks for removing it.

On a related note, how do you feed a strop or rope down to the bell-housing bolts. There's no obvious room.

2) The engine loom has a big connector on the passenger-side inner fender, but is also connected to the fuse box with no intermediate connector. Does anybody know how the terminal cover in the end of the fuse box comes off?

Thanks
Richard

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

that piece youre pointing to slides up a bit (it can be a little stubborn) and then theres a nut holding the wires onto a stud

I thought the alternator would come out one way or another with the coolant pipe still on there but its been a long time.

As far as lift points I always saw people using chains and bolting them in place, not using a strap

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Thanks. Alternator is out following some jiggling and rotation, and terminal cover is now slid up using a bit more force. Your memory is good.

I'm still looking for advice on lifting the engine, as there's nowhere obvious to lift from. All the engines I've pulled in the past have had lift brackets permanently fitted.
Richard

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

I always take the intake assembly off first so I can get around easier.

Rear location:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Sk...w1401-h1051-no

Front Location, use the opposite side alternator bolt.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/YO...w1032-h1376-no

2. don't forget about the grounding strap on the driver's side block to motor mount.

3. I also removed the starter and in my case I have to remove the passenger side header. (turbo car)

4. remove the AC compressor and leave it in side the car.

5. Of course, I also removed the radiator/fan and front pulleys from the motor., Power steering reservoir, etc.

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Also, bolts have to be tight on the metal strap, if not tight then you are relying on the strength of the bolt alone, this is not safe.

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

We’re you able to flip the compressor up onto the “shelf” in the fender or just zip tie it out of the way? I could never figure that one out... I always came out the bottom with everything

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Thanks. That's very helpful.

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

I zip tie it out of the way under the motor; since I come from the top. If I had a lift I would drop it out the bottom!

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

2 ton engine hoist does the job just fine!

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

And as I just noticed in the pics, my two empty beer bottles... I can assure you there was another on the bench that was not empty. :smokin:

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on crossover coolant pipes
 

Hi. The engine is now out and I'm starting to dismantle it. Can anyone give advice on removing the crossover coolant pipes and the heater pipe that runs in the vee to the back of the water pump. The manual I have just says "remove"!! Reading various posts on here, it seems like there are O-rings into the heads and one in the connection between the two halves. I'm asking because I've got a fair amount of dissimilar metal corrosion where the pipes enter the head. I'm assuming I tap upwards somehow, but I don't want to bend the pipes. Advice gratefully received.

Richard

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Here is a pic of the cross over removed; two bolts on top (alternator) and then it just pulls up. 'just' .... meaning it will test your patience. :)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/kE...=w1222-h916-no

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Yes, the valley tube just pulls out, lol

I ended up using a teksid block so I had to modify my coolant tube as the older blocks had a rubber hose in there.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/W8...=w1222-h916-no

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Thanks.

Good to know. 14 years of NY and UK corrosion have done them no favours. I might try to clamp something on that I can use a pry-bar against. They're going to get stripped and repainted, so I'm not concerned about scratching, just dents and bends.

Richard

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

I just wiggle back and forth with some force pulling up at the same time. You can wrap a lifting strap (cloth) around the tubing, hook to your engine hoist and add slight tension, then wiggle back and forth. I would not be surprised if you find that your cross-over is in need of being replaced, that thing is very rusty!

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

also, spray some anti-seize stuff in there; freeze off, wd40 etc. Then let it soak

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

No doubt. Pb blaster even.

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

I'm hoping not. I've encountered a lot of corrosion doing this job, but so far it's all been on the surface. Once I've cleaned off the loose stuff and chemically arrested the corrosion, the underlying metal has been in reasonable shape. Fingers crossed.

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Id go straight to this - spray it in there then wiggle the crossover around, spray more in and repeat a few times. I took one apart that was in a car running straight water (track rules I guess) and I had to tap it out with a dead blow hammer (didnt hurt anything thankfully).

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

Yep, I run distilled water but I add a corrosion prevention product, think it was water wetter... IIRC. Beside, my car never sees freezing temps. :)

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

I thought I'd report back that this worked. Also, despite the corrosion, the crossover has cleaned up reasonably well.

Richard

Re: Crank Regrind
 

Hi

Last night I removed the crank. #1 rod bearing is a mess and so is the journal. The rest are in very good condition with no signs of wear and the mains are in good shape as well. I'm about to take the crank to the machine shop to see what they can do with the journal. They won't be familiar with this motor in the UK, so I'm wondering if there's anything I need to tell them. It's the stock crank which I understand to be standard nodular cast-iron, but is there a surface treatment, like nitriding, that will need to be redone after grinding, or anything else I need to know?

Regards

Richard

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

I've had some bad news from the machine shop. The crank is bent and they're going to have to go to at least 30 thou under-size on the mains to get everything aligned. I'm just wondering whether anybody who's upgraded to a forged crank, has their old stock crank sitting around in their garage doing nothing and would be willing to sell it? I'd have to ship it to the UK and I don't know how much that would cost, so at this stage, I'm just asking.

Richard

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

ugh, sorry to hear that

ya stock forged cranks are a little hard to come by these days. I believe Eagle makes a replacement but they tend to require a little work from what I've heard. Manly also makes one but not sure on availability or how much they need before being run

Re: Removing Engine - Need advice on alternator and wiring harness
 

After a lot of time and frustration, the crank is straightened, the damaged journal repaired and all journals reground ten thou under. I'm trying to put the crank back and I'm sceptical about the torque values and sequencing in the manual I'm using. It only quotes one torque value for the main cap bolts despite them being different diameters. I'd expect different values. Also the tightening sequence starts with the side-clamp bolts at one end and then works towards the middle in a diagonal pattern. This is the opposite of what I'd expect, and the opposite of the SOHC guidance.

Can anybody help?