Engine install and insurance

[c4clewis]

I'm getting ready to get the car back from paint and have 2 questions (for now) for everyone.

1) Is it possible to get the engine and transmission installed as a unit? I pulled it out as one with the hood off, but also banged the firewall once or twice (oops!). Is it better/easier to install the engine then the trans?


2) What insurance do people have? I got an online quote from Hagarty and American Collectors Insurance. Hagerty was nearly half the price! Anyone have a reason to stay away from one company, or a compeling reason to pick 1 insurance over another?

[Guest]

1) I had installed my engine and tranny as one unit carefully and slowly with some padding here and there and had no problems.

2) I have had my '58 Bird insured with JC Taylor Ins for 17 years. I also have on the policy my 1974 Yamaha 500 and my '48 Dodge PT Cruiser. The entire annual premium is $158. I have never had a claim.

[60 T-Bird]

A definate yes. In the manual it recommends pulling the 430 engine with transmission which I did. I then rebuilt my transmission and bolted it to a 390 (same block as a 352) and installed them in 1 hour, There is a trick...turn the wheels to one side or the other as the power steering cylinder mount will touch the bell housing.

[RustyNCa]

I'm getting ready to get the car back from paint and have 2 questions (for now) for everyone.

2) What insurance do people have? I got an online quote from Hagarty and American Collectors Insurance. Hagerty was nearly half the price! Anyone have a reason to stay away from one company, or a compeling reason to pick 1 insurance over another?

I had Hagerty till I learned from Hagerty that the way I use my cars was not really covered in the policy.

I tend to drive them to a parts store, hardware store, movie theater, etc. They told me, if the car was damaged or stolen while parked or used in that manner that there was no coverage..... They told me, the coverage only extends to use in, to or from an event, cruise or show....

So if the car was damaged or stolen I was out of luck. So I switched to Grundy, costs just a bit more, but it does have coverage for normal use as long as you don't use the car as a daily driver.

I don't treat my cars as garage/trailer queens so garage/trailer queen coverage is useless for me.

Cheers
RustyNCA

[c4clewis]

That's what I'm talking about! I was thinking Hagerty until you posted that. I'm planning on driving mine as well. That's probably why they were so much cheaper than the other. I'll have to check out Grundy.

[Anders]

There is a trick...turn the wheels to one side or the other as the power steering cylinder mount will touch the bell housing.

1) I had installed my engine and tranny as one unit carefully and slowly with some padding here and there and had no problems.

Great tips guys. I will install my Engine & Tranny on Saturday, and we will try it in one piece

[partsetal]

Keep in mind that the engine and transmission together weigh just short of 1,000 lbs and you need good equipment to lift, tilt and maneuver it. If you're using a floor crane, take some measurements first to insure that your boom is extended far enough to clear the header sheetmetal, but not too far that it stresses the crane. A tilting hoist is necessary also. You can get even more room than turning the wheels by removing the three bolts that hold the idler arm to the right sub-frame, and dropping it almost to the ground. This way, the wheels can be straight and if you have to roll the car for or aft, it is much easier. Don't forget to install the starter.
Carl

[Guest]

I think you will find that raising the rear ...

of the car and putting it on jack stands will will help with the install. Get a floor jack on the trans tail and just slowly guide it in. we set ours in with the backhoe, and as you can see in the pic it's much easier with the front clip off. I've been happy with State Farm. I can set the value where I like (with in reason) and I'm gone in the winter and can put the cars to sleep and just have theft & fire when I leave for the winter. The rate's are very reasonable. I have 5000 mile IIRC limit on each car and four cars, so it works out fine that way. Also cheaper because I have my homeowners with the same company. Mike

[60 T-Bird]

Keep in mind that the engine and transmission together weigh just short of 1,000 lbs and you need good equipment to lift, tilt and maneuver it. If you're using a floor crane, take some measurements first to insure that your boom is extended far enough to clear the header sheetmetal, but not too far that it stresses the crane. A tilting hoist is necessary also. You can get even more room than turning the wheels by removing the three bolts that hold the idler arm to the right sub-frame, and dropping it almost to the ground. This way, the wheels can be straight and if you have to roll the car for or aft, it is much easier. Don't forget to install the starter.
Carl

Thanx for that Carl...I should have mentioned I used an overhead chain hoist on a 4X6. Yes it is just over 1000lbs.

[RustyNCa]

Do your self a favor and purchase one of these tools....

It is the only way to drop a motor back in.... to change the tilt of motor just use a wrench and you are at the angle you need....

[c4clewis]

Between jacking up the rear of the car, load leveler, and using my rolling dollies on the trans tail shaft, I think it will work out nicely.

Anyone have a reason not to go with Grundy insurance. They seem to look like a good deal and are 1/2 the price of going through USAA.

[simplyconnected]

...purchase one of these tools...

Man, that's all I use... and as the engine drops deeper, you can pull the center of gravity more towards the rear so the engine/trans levels out. It sure saves a lot of 'fighting' with the tailshaft and engine mounts.

[Anders]

This is from when we took out the engine. My best buddies, from left, Karl-Johan Ekman, who owns a ´27 original Tudor, a "new" Hemi ´32 Deuce roadster, a ´68 & ´69 Camaro, Stefan Denzel, a stunning ´65 Impala and Pontus Rosenqvist, ´56 Hemi Chrysler.

[Anders]

Put back the Engine & Tranny today. We where just two of us, and decided to connect the tranny to the engine, and put on the start motor, exhaust manifold and the lines to the tranny. The "only" worrying thing was the combined weight of course ( approx. 450 kg ). The more we needed to make the arm longer, the less weight it could carry. In the end, we needed to adjust the arm maximum, but settled for the one next to it, with the indication of 125 kg...
But we took it carefully and it was super smooth, and the whole package slided in like a charm
The last bit, we could not manage with the length we had, but I rolled in a jack underneath to support, and continued on "60 kg" to get that extra length but there was no problem at all. It took an hour. I´m very happy we did it in one go, as it would be WAY harder to put everything back down there...
( By some reason, the pics came in the wrong order. Start from bottom )

[Guest]

Glad it went ...

smoothly. Mike