Register now to get rid of these ads!

Safe to pull 390 engine this way

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Vetteman61, Jan 21, 2009.

  1. Sir Woosh
    Joined: Dec 1, 2008
    Posts: 2,273

    Sir Woosh
    Member

    If you would even consider pulling an engine with a rope, what are you using to do the lifting? Cherry pickers are easy to rent and use. Just hoping you don't use a come along on a tree branch. Yep, been there and I'm sure others have too. Just glad the tree held up till the pickers came along............... Good luck!
     
  2. zbuickman
    Joined: Dec 9, 2007
    Posts: 465

    zbuickman
    Member

    we use electric capstan pullers and rope all the time at work. over 8000# of pull, just dont rig it to the rail road tracks. the tracks are decieving light and just sitting there:eek:.....oooops I plea the fifth;) soo yeah you could safetly pull an engine with a rope:)


    I use a block and tackel to lift my engines and trannys up in to the loft of the barn/garage all the time.... Fully dressed Pontiacs
     
    Last edited: Jan 21, 2009
  3. Vetteman61
    Joined: Oct 28, 2008
    Posts: 248

    Vetteman61
    Member
    from Tennessee

    Thanks for all the tips and experience.
    Nearing the time I was about to pull the engine, I noticed part of the manifold had broken. Nothing that would effect performance, but a part in between the front and rear ports.
    I went down to the parts house with intentions on getting a manifold plate, but considering they aren't usable on aluminum manifolds, I opted to go for an engine chain. It has plates made into it and a notch for the chain so it doesn't slip and tilt.
    I'm sure wrapping a chain under the manifold would have worked from hearing so many who have done it, but after hearing about how easy it would be, even for future projects, to just buy a purpose built chain for 9 dollars it seemed the quickest route. I had neither the materials or time to build anything.
    I don't have a strap, but I would be confident in using a strap. I've seen what they can hold up to when pulling 4x4's out of stick situations. I can't imagine a couple thousand pounds of force (when you factor in an engine potentially dropping and the strap catching the momentum) would be much worse than ramming the throttle of a diesel truck with slack in the rope.

    Thanks again for the help,


    Brandon
     
  4. Abomination
    Joined: Oct 5, 2006
    Posts: 6,719

    Abomination
    Member

    Are you rebuilding your 390?

    Lots of folks have aspirations to put a Cadillac 500 in their '60. I decided against it - cutting that much out of the crossmember really freaks me out.

    ~Jason

     
  5. Vetteman61
    Joined: Oct 28, 2008
    Posts: 248

    Vetteman61
    Member
    from Tennessee

    Yep. Definitely going to keep the 390. It's served me well. It had a blue-million miles on it when I got it, and I drove it all over the southeast for the last 9 years, making close to 10 trips to the smokey mountains and florida and georgia several times.
    I did have a bracket made and switched it to an alternator... that was recently, but other than that and a set of radial tires, it's all stock 1960.

    I'd love to try to rebuild the engine myself, but I just don't have the time. My father owns an automobile dealership, and over the years I've cleaned and claimed a small corner. The city wants to build a courthouse where the historic garage is, so it will become a parking lot and I have to get the car done before they take the building.
    The building started as a horse barn before the civil war, and continued to be updated, always being a dealership. The last person in the basement in the 1980's said there were model A parts down there, fenders and the like, that were so rusted from the leaky basement that if you touched them your finger would go right through them.
    Before they tear the place down, I want to venture into the rat infested basement.
    The entrance is boarded over with an immovable key machine on top of it.
     
  6. Abomination
    Joined: Oct 5, 2006
    Posts: 6,719

    Abomination
    Member

    Man, that's awesome!

    Salvage what you can - hell, the stuff down there may be better off than they said! LOL!

    Do you still have those generator brackets? You'll have to post us up some pics of your ride, man!

    ~Jason

     
  7. Vetteman61
    Joined: Oct 28, 2008
    Posts: 248

    Vetteman61
    Member
    from Tennessee

    Well for the last 3 days I've been owrking in a Tshirt and dickie pants in front of a heater blowing hot air in my face.... so I went and got a cold.

    I've only got 2 bolts left and the engine's ready to be yanked out, but I've been stuck inside all day and it's driving me nuts.

    I kept everything the same when i swapped it to an alternator except for the flat piece of metal the generator bolts to. I bought an "alternator" bracket that bolts to the manifold, but it wouldn't work. I had to have some modifications done at the machine shop and make a couple custom washer.

    I also had a problem with the pulley not lining up with the rest of the belts. Because of how the mount is made and the bolts mount to the manifold, there wasn't room for adjustment forward. This was all on the day before I was supposed to leave for a 200 mile trip the next day, so I laid some tracks over to a nearby town to a guy who has a junkyard. Beside his junkyard is some old stuff, and I explained what I was doing and he let me go through it. I found a double pulley off of.... I think it was a 66 or 67 buick. The double pulley gave me just enough extension to line things up.
     
  8. Wicked Tin
    Joined: Oct 17, 2007
    Posts: 1,153

    Wicked Tin
    Member

    Good luck with the rebuild and maybe post some pics of the pull and reinstall.
     
  9. S.F.
    Joined: Oct 19, 2006
    Posts: 2,895

    S.F.
    Member

    It hook one end of the chain to the generator bracket and the other end to the coil wire.
     
  10. Abomination
    Joined: Oct 5, 2006
    Posts: 6,719

    Abomination
    Member

    Man, that would be AWESOME!!!!

    A pictorial, step-by-step 390 rebuild, here on the HAMB!

    Even built bone-stock, people would crawl out of the woodwork to see that one! :D

    ~Jason

     
  11. Truckedup
    Joined: Jul 25, 2006
    Posts: 4,661

    Truckedup
    Member

    I retired from big construction and we used ropes for all sorts of lifting and moving stuff that was the size and weight of a 59 Buick.Some of these were super quality thick ropes with a breaking strength of over 18,000 pounds .We were taught all the proper knots and lifting techniques in the trade apprenticeship.Before use the ropes were inspected for defects,they have a colored tracer thread that breaks first telling you the rope is at it's service limit. I doubt a guy in his garage is gonna spend more on a rope that a DOT quality chain costs per foot.And rope gets rotted with age .Leave the rope tricks to those who know how to use them properly.But lifting a 100 pound intake with a rope is fine.
     
  12. timothale
    Joined: Feb 3, 2007
    Posts: 234

    timothale
    Member

    I have the engine leveler-lifter...4 chains hang down from the adjustable bar... chain to each corner.....turn the crank to tilt the engine...and you can use it to lift or position other stuff. I have had loose studs on an intake manifold. I will never use an Intake plate., for the difference in price go for the adjustable lifter.
     
  13. Little Wing
    Joined: Nov 25, 2005
    Posts: 7,505

    Little Wing
    Member
    from Northeast

    Those things are unsafe,,pulled a 460 with it and the damn thing tore,,,
     

    Attached Files:

  14. HotRod33
    Joined: Oct 5, 2008
    Posts: 2,570

    HotRod33
    Member

    Right before it happened He said hey BillyBob watch this.........
     

  15. He might say................ You guys get under the motor and be ready to catch it if this rope breaks!!
     
  16. Vetteman61
    Joined: Oct 28, 2008
    Posts: 248

    Vetteman61
    Member
    from Tennessee

    I WISH I was rebuilding the 390 myself. I'd love to have the experience and learn how to do it.
    I use a corner in my father's GM dealership, and it's closing by the end of March, so I'm on a deadline to get all my stuff out of there. (I also have a '57 Chevrolet 150, 235 6 cylinder with the engine out of it as well).
    The shop has been there since before the civil war, when the building was used as a horse stable. It has, since that time, been used to tend to horses in one form or another over the years.
    The city has decided to make a parking lot of the building.

    When Photobucket gets rid of it's virus and pop ups, I'll upload some pictures.

    Brandon
     
  17. lostn51
    Joined: Jan 24, 2008
    Posts: 2,178

    lostn51
    ALLIANCE MEMBER
    from Tennessee

    I made mine because I have a hard time trusting somebody elses welds especially if it comes from somewhere other than the USA. I even built one for a 2X4 intake since thats what I usually run on all of my cars.

    That and a reamer is got to be the handiest tool in the shop:D
     
  18. Joe T Creep
    Joined: Jan 1, 2003
    Posts: 1,145

    Joe T Creep
    Member Emeritus

    You guys with your plates and levellers. Sheesh. I just lift engines out by myself. Just make sure you use your legs and not your back though.
    :)
     
  19. Vetteman61
    Joined: Oct 28, 2008
    Posts: 248

    Vetteman61
    Member
    from Tennessee

    Bah... you and your "legs no back rules." That's for women. Haven't you ever heard, "put your back into it."

    Just lean over the front of the car. keep your knees straight and pull up with your back... no problem.
     
  20. G V Gordon
    Joined: Oct 29, 2002
    Posts: 5,713

    G V Gordon
    Member
    from Enid OK

    Only thing I can speak from is personal experience. I pulled a 390 AND tranny out of a '59 Caddy, Lifted the same rig out of my truck, then lifted it again when I crated it to ship to Cal. all with no distorion to the plate. I am sure quality varies but mine was the run of the mill parts store item.
     
  21. ComingApart
    Joined: May 30, 2004
    Posts: 147

    ComingApart
    Member

    I used the intake lift plates a few times on BBC's with no issues.

    After years of pulling engines with A frame's and chains and washers through intake bolts, i finally bought a proper engine hoist, with a load leveler to hang off of it.

    I WILL NEVER PULLED ANOTHER ENGINE WITHOUT ONE.

    Sure, you can do it without a load leveler, but once you use one, you'll never want to again. Get a decent one and it'll last you forever and is a great investment for a shadetree wrencher.
     
  22. draggin'GTO
    Joined: Jul 7, 2003
    Posts: 1,792

    draggin'GTO
    Member

    The hand-fabricated heavy-duty load leveler.

    Best tool I own for the heavy lifting jobs, it makes installing an engine/trans combo an easy one-man job. There's just no better way to do it.

    [​IMG]
     
  23. onovakind67
    Joined: Dec 10, 2005
    Posts: 13

    onovakind67
    Member

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    I've got a Myk's pivot plate. As the pull-out resistance of a 5/16" bolt in cast aluminum is more than 5,000# and I use four of them, I don't hesitate to use it with any engine/tranny. Of more concern to me is the load rating of the hoist, which will fold up long before the bolts pull out.
     
  24. LUX BLUE
    Joined: May 23, 2005
    Posts: 4,407

    LUX BLUE
    Alliance Vendor
    from AUSTIN,TX

    That's pretty swanky!
    where did You get that fancy lookin doohickey?
     
  25. onovakind67
    Joined: Dec 10, 2005
    Posts: 13

    onovakind67
    Member

  26. LUX BLUE
    Joined: May 23, 2005
    Posts: 4,407

    LUX BLUE
    Alliance Vendor
    from AUSTIN,TX

  27. Abomination
    Joined: Oct 5, 2006
    Posts: 6,719

    Abomination
    Member

    Only $100?

    ~Jason

     
  28. VNCduke
    Joined: Nov 22, 2007
    Posts: 659

    VNCduke
    Member
    from Washougal

  29. zbuickman
    Joined: Dec 9, 2007
    Posts: 465

    zbuickman
    Member

    I have already posted about the rope part BUT, When I pull an engine I use a picker and a leveler. Its been posted about how well the leveler works, how about pulling a 454 with the hood still on?? Yep they are the cats ass:)
     
  30. JeffB2
    Joined: Dec 18, 2006
    Posts: 9,484

    JeffB2
    Member
    from Phoenix,AZ

    If you have Windows XP you don't need Photobucket,pm me and I'll tell you a EZ way.
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.