Driveshaft attached to transmission doing engine install?

[ericbushby]

No, it is not easy.
I`ve done it both ways and didn`t like either method.
Whichever one you choose, the other way is probably better.
I think that, just maybe, I am not helping here.
Eric in Burnley
1967 S3SE DHC

[Bigbaldybloke]

As I have to do it mostly by myself I put them in separately, never tried it with the engine attached to the gearbox. Easy enough to get the bell housing bolts in if you do it before fitting the engine mounting bolts so you can drop the engine down a bit to make a bit more space between the back of the engine and the bulkhead.

[steve lyle]

Is it really that easy to get engine mated to gearbox in the engine bay and tighten up all the bolts?

Well, "easy" might not be the right word.

I've done it a couple of times. The absolute key is being able to adjust the height/angle of the engine precisely - so you need a good hoist/crane, and I used an engine "leveler" (you turn a crank to adjust then angle - about $30 at Harbor Freight). I still had to fiddle with it a bit, probably spent about 10-15 minutes on it each time.

But maybe it is a "pick your poison" kind of thing. But heck, I didn't find it particularly easy to mate up the tranny before installation, either. It didn't strike me as dramatically more difficult to do it with the tranny in the car.

[The Veg]

Is it any easier or worse or make any difference for a Plus 2 vs. 2-seat?

[mbell]

Not sure but the 5 speed is but harder as the prop shaft bolts to the gearbox rather than inserts. So have to join them as you fit the gearbox/engine or try do it through the tunnel access hole.

I think I did it as a fitted the engine/gearbox unit.

[SENC]

Is it back in?

[tdskip]

Is it back in?

Nope!

I had a couple things to get sorted the Fresno 914 today, but I did get the old axle flanges off so I can install the new CV’s!

I also moved the mounting point for the engine hoist so that they are both now on the engine mounts which will make rotating the engine and tilting it easier .

The last thing I did is I put a big piece of painters tape on the starter with “remove!” on it so that’s also going to help get it installed.

Thank you for checking in, hope you’ve had a great weekend so far.

[tdskip]

Still stuck - thread rod is fouling the “step” in the body.

Even if I rotate the engine 30 degrees off vertical it isn’t enough and then just the frame.

[MarkDa]

You've got to remove the nylon ball and the lever into the gear box.

See this thread - first pic shows them removed

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=40453&start=

[TBG]

It is just soooooo much easier to pop the engine in with the gearbox already in place.............

[tdskip]

Thank you for the responses – I just, apparently, didn’t understand what the workshop manual was saying.

The pictures in the link are very helpful in understanding what I’m going to doing.

Because I removed the gearbox after the engine had already been separated 20+ years before I bought the car I had a incorrect understanding of the geometry of it all.

[MarkDa]

As I said the manual was written before the gear lever became two piece.
So on early boxes the only way to remove the gear lever was to unscrew the nylon cap.

[miked]

As TBG says.
Gearbox in first. Engine to follow. No shame in doing it this way.
There seems to be some rite of passage in struggling with it in one lump.
Call me a big girls blouse but only tried it once with Plus 2 and there was no way. Sandwich plate fouling on engine mounts. Never again. Two of us.
I can "engine out and in" on my own doing them separately. No bother.

[MarkDa]

I've taken engine and gearbox out in 45 minutes - but somehow putting them back takes forever and then just minutes!
A definite tite if passage and test of patience

[rgh0]

I have pulled and replaced engines and gearboxes on my Elan and Plus 2 and on other Elans at least 20 times and probably more as I have lost count. Once I did the remove and replace exercise on my Elan with the gearbox connected to see how it matched my experience doing it separately and after that experience I have stuck firmly to doing it by separating the engine and gearbox.

Just my personal experience ... your mileage may vary ..... maybe with practice and the right lifting gear and helping hands, it can work effectively with the gear box and engine together but working alone I find doing it separately is definitely easier IMHO

cheers
Rohan