Bill Williams' car is a complete car with a possible oil pump problem. Alan Barker says just remove 2 carb side bolts and drop / raise the engine. But a +2 chassis is wider at that point, so is irrelevant.
Perhaps I should have explained better, the circumstances in which I was replacing the oil pump.
The car was a 22k mile from new, 2 owner Sprint, that had just undergone a complete restoration. It needed to be restored because the paint had all cracked and the car had not turned a wheel,for 30 years.
The car had been driven for some 500 miles after the restoration, but low oil pressure, 30 psi., was noted. This was not acceptable, as the car was being sold, so after checking various things, the oil pump was identified as the culprit.
So to those that can carry out an oil pump change on a Sprint without removing a single bolt, I say good for you. And to those who can change a pump on a Sprint by only removing the 2 engine mount bolts on the carb side, leaving the LH bolts done up, I say good for you to. The same with removing the end plate of the pump.
It has been stated that engine mounts can withstand the rigors of the engine being jacked up, and down, without bolts being removed and all the other computations you care for. Well I can tell you, that old stock, Quinton Hazel mounts that were used on the car, stamped with the correct part number, cannot. The rubber used in them is stiff as a board, and the centre plate has virtually NO give at all, compared to modern repro ones, where you can press the centre plate with your thumbs and deflect it a distance. That is why engines fitted with old stock QH mounts rock minimally when reved. So therefore, I prefer to remove bolts, mounts etc, to avoid stressing quality mounts which are hard to find now.
I would also be interested to learn pharriso, how you can jack up, or lower an engine with the original setup of a hard line into a rubber hose for the clutch, without bending the copper pipe. So I undo the pipe from the master. Maybe you don't have an original setup, or maybe you did not have that connected either
Would I jack or lower the engine with the hoses, choke cable etc. connected? No I wouldn't. The car was restored at that point and no chances were being taken of damaging anything. The radiator was drained and removed. My time is my own, and I do not care how long a job takes, but it is done properly.
At the end of the day, folk will do a job how they see fit.
The car was sold within 2 days of it being on the market, for £57,500, which was a bit disappointing considering the quality of the work.
If I were you Bill, I would pump some oil into the oil galleries from the take off before spinning it over any more. Simple enough to do.
Leslie