Pulling the engine on the Eprit

[DrieStone]

I recently saw an eBay auction of a piece that you could use to lift the Lotus engine. Basically it was a piece of steel that bolts to the intake. I missed my chance to bid on this, but was wondering a couple things:

1) Is this recommended? I assume that there must be some kind of an "authorized" way of lifting the engine.

2) Does anyone sell something like this?

I pulled my engine last fall and I used nylon straps, but that's a little scary for me (not to mention trying to get the engine level, etc.) I will (hopefully) be putting the engine back in the car in a month or so and would really like a better (and more secure) way of doing this.

[deecee]

Nylon Strap from Left Side Motor Mount to the Right Side Motor Mount Bolt. (remove right side mount with motor jacked up)

Position the Hook from the Hoist, off to the right side of the Head and run a Come Along from the Hook to the mid section of the Transaxle to adjust the Tilt.

[lotusguy]

Hi,

I saw that bracket on eBay too... scared the 'ell outa me. It called for bolting it to the intake manifold. I've seen just the weight of the plenum/carbs strip out the studs on the manifold before, wouldn't want al 400 lbs. of engine/tranny on it! There is just no robust attachment point on the top of the engine.

The combination of nylon towing straps, a cherry picker and an equalizer are the ticket. The towing strap is stronger than most engine hoist chains. You just need to be sure to wrap it properly around the engine mount brackets and tie it off to prevent it from slipping.
Happy Motoring! ...Jim'85TE

[Dr.Hess]

I saw that bracket too. It didn't attach to the intake manifold, it attached to the head in place of the intake manifold, which should be plenty strong. I don't think he wanted much for it, but it would be easy enough to fab yourself. Just take some 1/4" plate, lay an intake gasket over it, mark the bolt holes, drill out, make some holes for the hooks and that's about it. Remove the intake manifold and bolt that in its place.

Dr.Hess

[Esprit2]

DrieStone said:

I recently saw an eBay auction of a piece that you could use to lift the Lotus engine. Basically it was a piece of steel that bolts to the intake. I missed my chance to bid on this, but was wondering a couple things: 1) Is this recommended? I assume that there must be some kind of an "authorized" way of lifting the engine.

Jon,

It depends upon how the bracket was made. If it simply bolts to the open ends where the carbs would mount, then avoid it. However, I've seen others that pick up the carb mounts, then have a substantial leg that goes down to... and bolts to the block with the three bolts for the right engine mount strut. The major lifting loads are fed into the mount and the manifold is used just for orientation... to keep the engine from falling over. That would be more acceptable.

The intake manifold for the carb cars is pretty substantial, but I wouldn't suggest lifting from the end of it. The usual approach was to wrap a strap around it in close to the cylinder head. That minimizes the cantilevered load on the manifold itself as well as the loads on the studs.

Never lift by the intake manifold on a fuel injection engine. Those manifolds are much weaker and prone to cracking in normal service. Don't push your luck.

The studs are not a problem if they are of the proper engagement length in the head, and tight. But if the threads have been abused or short studs installed, then all bets are off.


But the nylon strap is really the best way to go, so why worry about any of the manifold issues.

For the major lifting loads, use a 2" wide tow strap at about the plane of the engine mounts. Exact position may be limited by the length of the engine hoist's boom. Then use one or two of the smaller, 1" wide tie-down straps to support the transaxle. Most of the weight will be centered on the large strap so there's little weight on the back straps. Shop arond and look for straps with metal buckles and avoid the plastic buckles.

I have a 12" tow strap which is much longer than necessary. So, from the front hook on the load equalizer, I feed the strap down along the exhaust side of the engine, under the bottom and up the intake side. Then do one more full lap and back up to the hook. Besides using up the 12" length, the full wrap gets a very good grip on the engine.

To support the Citroen transaxle, run 1" straps from the rear hook on the equalizer behind one output shaft housing, under the tranny and back up behind the other housing. There will come a time when you'll need to tip the engine/tranny nose up, and having the straps behind the output housings ensures that the load won't slide in the sling. Alternatively... or for Renault transaxles... just loop the strap behind the tranny mounting brackets.

If you don't have a large strap already, then visit Graingers. They have a set of straps that are perfect... almost tailor made for the Esprit (LCU uses a set of these straps).

SKN75 = 8 feet, fits the engine without having to do a full lap to use up the extra length of a 12" tow strap.

SKN77 = 4 feet, for supporting the transaxle.

DrieStone said:

I pulled my engine last fall and I used nylon straps, but that's a little scary for me (not to mention trying to get the engine level, etc.) I will (hopefully) be putting the engine back in the car in a month or so and would really like a better (and more secure) way of doing this.

Use a heavy duty 2" strap for the major load and it's really a very secure way to lift the engine. "Better" than a bracket that lifts from the end of the intake manifold. If you just can't get comfortable with the idea of a simple sling under the engine, then go with the longer tow strap and do the full wrap... it can't get away then. Or solidly hook it to the engine mounts. As far as strength goes, you can lift the entire car with one of those 2" tow straps.

Have fun with the install...
;-)

Regards,
Tim Engel
Lotus Owners Oftha North

>> Edited by Esprit2 on Monday 7th March 17:43