Well, I finally got the engine out last week - I really feel like I have turned a corner. I know that I am still barely scratching the surface of what needs to be done, but getting the engine out was always one of my mileposts.
I was given an engine crane, part of the delay was waiting for it to be dug out of storage and ready for collection, but still, a free crane was worth waiting for. The crane itself turned out to have a bit of a slow leak in the hydraulics - not serious enough to be a problem, but bad enough to be an annoyance. I had everything undone and ready to go and had the crane in place - everything was going smoothly until the gearbox mount snagged on one of the exhaust U-bolts - every time I got under the car to try and release the mount the crane would gradually lower the engine making the problem a tiny bit worse. I ended up with a bit of a dent in the slam panel where the engine came to rest - good thing I planned on some body work!
It was the end of a long day - I woke up to a flood and we had to have the carpets pulled up, but that's a different story. The whole thing was really getting under my skin, so the angle grinder was brought out and the offending U-bolt dealt with. After that it was relatively plain sailing and the engine came out without a bother.
I bought a cheapish engine stand yesterday - $50 with a 750 lbs capacity - I tried to get an idea of the engine weight, but there seemed to be some minor differences of opinion out there. Eventually I found this
http://www.v8register.net/subpages/v8en ... nsions.htm and as it had a diagram I decided it must have some authority, so I settled on 230 kgs or 506 lbs in old money. I had planned on buying the stand with 1000 lbs capacity, but they were out of stock. I figured I had a 30% margain of safety and just bought the cheaper stand.
Anyhoo, the engine now resides on it's stand and is quite easily moved around to where I want it. Next will be a strip and rebuild - all of which will take some time as money will be a controlling factor here. Can anyone recommend a good book that will explain rebuilding the Rover V8 at an idiot's level of comprehension? I know I have seen one or two out there, but recommendations would be very helpful.
I have also pulled the front right suspension to pieces - you may have seen the spring photo on another thread - for those who missed it, here it is again: I was really quite surprised - I knew all the bushes and ball joints were toast because of the fire, but I really didn't expect that :shock: If there was a strawberry with a moustache on top it would look a little like Zebedee.
I had sort of planned to put HD springs all round, so I guess this just made my mind up for me.