Advice For "Shade Tree" Engine Swapping
#1
Advice For "Shade Tree" Engine Swapping
So we've all heard the term "shade tree mechanic," but I'm just curious about any innovative ideas some true shade tree mechanics, like me, have come up with to perform fairly extensive work, such as swapping engines/transmissions, etc. I have no garage or paved area to work in, my Miata is currently immobile, and I'd like to drop in a "fresh" 1.8. The issue is, with just a jack and some jack stands, it's a little stressful getting up under the car on hopefully solid dirt. Luckily, the Miata is light enough that the jack never really sinks or anything, but I really hate jacking it up on dirt. I had a MK6 Golf TDI for some time and I hated doing anything that required jacking up the car because it would start to sink my jack. I'm on the road to purchasing a house, garage being an absolute must, but for now I don't really have any good options or ideas for safely getting under my car(s).
So my question is, who here has been in a similar situation and found ways to perform engine swaps and other extensive work? How did you do it? Mostly, how did you comfortably raise the car?
Thanks for any help in advance!
So my question is, who here has been in a similar situation and found ways to perform engine swaps and other extensive work? How did you do it? Mostly, how did you comfortably raise the car?
Thanks for any help in advance!
#2
You're going to want to use an engine hoist, which requires smooth ground to roll back. Don't do something that is unsafe that you hate anyway. Be safe, go to a friends house, rent out some hobby shop space, or just get an experienced shop to handle it. I hike my stuff up an hour away for major things because I'd never trust my car sitting jacked on a bunch of mud/gravel/sand.
#18
Thanks for all the feedback! Safety is always my number one priority, hence me trying to find a safe solution for my current situation. If I had a readily available (aka cheap) option for towing, I'd take it to my buddy's shop that's a couple hours away.
I've got an unknown mileage 1.8 with a blown head gasket that came swapped in my NA6. I've kind of got everything taken apart for a head gasket repair, but I'm on the fence about repairing the head and refreshing the engine when there are a couple lower mileage replacement motors fairly local to me I could confidently spend money refreshing. There's just something about having no idea where my current engine came from that makes any semi long distance drives more nerve-racking than I'd like them to be. It's one of those situations where I wake up one day wanting to just rebuild my current engine, then the next day it makes more sense to drop in a "new" one. Either one will be a pain in my ***.
I've got an unknown mileage 1.8 with a blown head gasket that came swapped in my NA6. I've kind of got everything taken apart for a head gasket repair, but I'm on the fence about repairing the head and refreshing the engine when there are a couple lower mileage replacement motors fairly local to me I could confidently spend money refreshing. There's just something about having no idea where my current engine came from that makes any semi long distance drives more nerve-racking than I'd like them to be. It's one of those situations where I wake up one day wanting to just rebuild my current engine, then the next day it makes more sense to drop in a "new" one. Either one will be a pain in my ***.