I had pulled all the ancilleries of the engine (wiring, clutch/fuel lines, steady bars, gear linkages, subframe bolts) and drained the tar-like oil but before pulling out the engine, a lifting bracket had to be made as the Mini engines don't have any convenient lifting points (like most modern engines, a lot of which have the brackets left attached when the engine is installed). The recipe : add one piece of 40mm or 50mm angle iron (scrap piece for free), a large 13mm D shackle ($5), a drill, welder, grinder and voila - a $5 lifing bracket. The position of the holes means that the rocker cover does not need to be removed to attach the bracket. The rounded lugs are cut off the shackle and welded to the main piece, 60mm from the flywheel end of the bracket. This is to offset the extra weight of the clutch end of the engine to make it level when lifting.
I was hoping that the inner CV pot joints would just lip apart when lifting the engine out so I didn't need to break the lower ball joint taper and pull the driveshaft. One joint did, the other didn't so out came the ball joint splitter to be able to pull apart the inner CV ... and promptly snapped! Bah - that will teach me to buy Super Cheap Auto crud - will be getting a refund tomorrow. No problems, I lifted the engine again and pushed it heavily to one side (I do NOT recommend this when an engine is being hoisted) and the second pot joint came apart. My $5 lifting bracket worked a charm though!
The engine is ceased, rusty, corroded and useless but I have a guy who wants it "just to pull it apart", picking it up next week for free. Great! It saves me trying to dispose of it or taking to a scrap metal merchant.
I was hoping that the inner CV pot joints would just lip apart when lifting the engine out so I didn't need to break the lower ball joint taper and pull the driveshaft. One joint did, the other didn't so out came the ball joint splitter to be able to pull apart the inner CV ... and promptly snapped! Bah - that will teach me to buy Super Cheap Auto crud - will be getting a refund tomorrow. No problems, I lifted the engine again and pushed it heavily to one side (I do NOT recommend this when an engine is being hoisted) and the second pot joint came apart. My $5 lifting bracket worked a charm though!
The engine is ceased, rusty, corroded and useless but I have a guy who wants it "just to pull it apart", picking it up next week for free. Great! It saves me trying to dispose of it or taking to a scrap metal merchant.
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