Removing the engine for a straight swap, not having fun :(

[Seymour43]

Hi there, been browsing the forum without any success, most of information seems aimed at the K series so hoping this subforum will get seen by someone who has been there and done that..

Backstory, son bought ZR, loves it, exhaust goosed, new powerflow backbox made it sound rather lush, week later, accident, body damage terminal.. Have bought another ZR with wrecked engine to make one good one from the two, now regretting it..

Im almost ready for lifting out the fubarred engine from the new ZR, just the pesky rollpin to sort, driveshafts to disconnect, top two mounts to undo, everything else is off.

That front plate with the alternator powersteering and aircon pumps is an absolute ****er and no mistake, i was hoping to leave those connected up but i think that will be impossible, i cant even figure how to get the power steering pump off, unless its the 5 bolts but they are fouled by the pulley anyway, thats not really the problem but im looking towards the future install with some fear.

First of all, bearing in mind this will affect some following questions, can the engine/box be lifted complete from the car?? Dropping it will be rather tricky as im working on a driveway. Have an A framed engine hoist assembly. It looks to be a 'very' tight squeeze. Ive undone the oil pipe that loops outside of the filter to narrow the engine profile. The engine and gearbox are drained of oil. Im still sure it will be mighty heavy. I could split the engine from the box but not sure i will use either again so it might be effort wasted.

Driveshafts, i used to 'pop' them from the gearbox in my mini days, these seemed much more secure on a recon mission with a crowbar. Better perhaps to split inner joints and leave seals as are without stressing?

The donor engine is (i think) a 115bhp Trophy SE model, this one again i think the 105? Only a mapping difference yes?

I was thinking of going 'enthusiast' so if this information is available in that section please say so and i'll part with more money If not available i will get some pics taken on the second removal and produce a loose 'how to' guide

Corin

[JOHNDQ]

To be honest easiest way is just pull it all out together saves so much messing about. You can leave the driveshaft ends in the box if tight just cut the c.v boot clip off and remove the shaft from the joint....

[Seymour43]

Thanks very much, that's the decision I was leaning towards, that is a different lump tho yes? Mine was much more 'lumpy' around the front with the aircon and all but when the turbo is off the back there is more room to swing it back. Will try this next day off then. Thanks for pics

[Levaz]

That's a 1.8 k series on the crane ^^

[JOHNDQ]

Yes you should still be ok i dont have any pic's of the diesel lump, was just using it as a ref because some people will say they need to be removed from bottom but we have removed them the same at work out from the top as long as you have someone to help move the engine about a bit while lifting will all be fine

[Seymour43]

Well I got the blown lump out relatively easily as I'd stripped off pretty much everything, struggled to get it free with gearbox so I dropped the gearbox off, had already done most of the bolts.. Similarly, getting the lump out of the donor wasn't so bad as I had cut away the front scuttle which would be so much better removable
removable...
Then, after new cambelt, waterpump, aux belt, almost fitted a new clutch but the one in there looked fresh so left it in, went to fit the donor lump, complete with aircon power steering and alternator in situ...
What a pig hahahaha. Real struggle. Ended up removing the two low profile torx screws in the aux belt side of the chassis rail. Also removed the blanking bung from the opposite end of the gearbox, that reduced the width by some 2mm. Then with a little bit of creative cursing and some moderate violence, it slipped in. That is one harsh design tolerance hahaha. So yes it can be done, but literally by a gnats whisker. Thanks for the guidance, back later to ask some "what's this leftover bit" kinda questions lol. Cheers, Corin.