Hey guys,

I was wondering, since the engine needs to come out the bottom of the car, how high does the roof/nose of the car go before it's clear? I'm doing a motor swap and dont want to get it all set up only to find out my really low roofed-garage isn't too low.

thanks guys

I think it's about 26" from the pan to the highest point of the motor. If you're going to drop it onto something (I'd suggest a movers dolly), be sure to add that to your calculation. If you don't have a dolly, then drop it onto a tarp, plywood or something similar, which will make it a WHOLE lot easier to slide it out from under the car. Oh, and drop the engine and tranny as a unit. Also, you don't need to remove that pesky driver side axle.

I'm going to assume you have an engine hoist. If so, just put the car up on jackstands at a reasonable height so it'll be easier to work on. Once you drop the engine, wrap a chain around the lower radiator support and lift the nose up with the engine hoist.

Any more questions?

C

I bought both axles to replace since the tranny's out anyways (just in case they need replacing)...how can i remove the engine and tranny w/o removing the axle?

Easy, you pull the axle out of the driver side hub, and leave the other end in the tranny. Doesn't matter in your case though, since you're replacing the axle.

I only mention it, because the driver side axle can be a bitch to remove and replace.

C

What specialty parts would you recommend to do the whole engine swap?

can a guy get away with doing it w/o a motor hoist and just use a bigass jack and axle stands?

I can't give you any advice on doing it without an engine hoist, that's the only way I've done mine.

C

I got away with bigass jack and stands. Just have to get it up high enough.

i've seen a pic of a big ass jack method. i mean it was huge... I believe it was Coalation's motor swap try searching that.

yup. it was. But I can't tell how high the car is jacked! That's my only worry is that my garage isn't high enough!

Take the hood off, if you are concerned about the height. If the clearance is 26" plus the height of the car, you only need 4-5' max if you aren't using a cherry picker. If you can walk in the garage w/o ducking, you should be able to make it work. :)

Josh

Like I said, I believe it's 26" to the top of the engine. Go measure from the front edge of the car roof to your ceiling and see how much space you have.

C

I think clearance should be fine... jacked my car up in feb and i dont remember the car or hoist being any higher than my head.. if it was not more than 6 inches. I'm 6'0. Like fosters said... take the hood off.

excellent. that' exactly what i need to hear. Should be fine then! yay! back on project! thanks guys

for a guy who's never done a swap before, how long do you think it'd take to get the whole job done (hour wise)? I'm pretty mechanically inclined, and have a FSM, just never done one **.

for me the swap didnt take to long... 1 full weekend maybe bled off into the 2nd weekend. it took rodney 2.5 hours to put an engine under his hood and have it running. But it took me longer to fab up my exhaust and IC piping then the swap took... im not sure what motors your swapping though. And to each it's different.

I just finished reading Ameen's writeup and have to ask this:

I'm dropping the motor and tranny out soas to do my clutch at the same time. Apart from all the lube i need, do i need any gaskets or anything?

uhhhh what???? you dont need any gaskets to do a clutch swap. some say while its out to get new tranny seal's though.

that's what i was asking. thanks, i'll get those tomorrow

y take the engine out of the bottom? maybe im spoiled wokring as a tech for niissan dealer but to me its easier to pull the bellhousing bolts and take it out the top, thats what i did on mine just asking for the reasoning behind it.

When taking out the bottom, you can leave the tranny on, and take it all out together. MUCH easier if you ask me, NOT a Nissan Tech lol.