Now it is true that I have removed and dismantled an engine before - rebuilt it too - but then it was a lawn mower. This engine looks like a serious weight of metal. It‘s time to get in with the big boys and get it out.
So what do you do? You borrow the engine crane and some enormous axle stands from Fred and a trolley to put it on from Tony (along with a chain to swing it from) and you stand with the instructions wishing you‘d never said ”of course I‘ll be OK."
Actually the manual is quite good at this point and accessories like carburettors, hoses, master cylinders, servos etc came off quite well. The bit where it says ”and now remove the fan" is a good joke (half an hour later it came off and I had bent my best pry bar in the process) but on the whole taking bits off went well. All the nuts, bolts, bits and pieces went into labelled plastic bags in the approved manner and stored safely away in boxes, (are you paying attention Ed.?)
To the credit of the manufacturer even the exhaust bolts came loose without too much effort and once a tricky access problem was overcome so did the engine mounting bolts. So all that‘s left is to undo the prop shaft bolts at the back, drop that out and lift the engine. I know that‘s all because it said so in the book! Sadly it didn‘t say what to do when one of the nuts goes completely round!
Yes I tried everything from bashing on a smaller socket to a hacksaw but access to the nut is restricted and I don‘t have heat, (Not yet anyway - more of this later)
Nothing else to do then but ring your trusty editor and ask what to do. ”Easy" he says ”Just pull the engine forward and the prop shaft falls out of the gear box. No problem! BUT READ THE INSTRUCTIONS" OK no problem! The instructions say after you remove the gear lever and all that stuff just remove the prop shaft dust cover. No bother - have a look - no sign of a dust cover. Read it again - still says the same thing - look again no obvious dust cover. That will be some rubber gaiter like job won‘t it? Definitely not there - must be missing. OK just pull on the engine then.
Now I know now that you know what‘s coming next. Or you will if you think about it. The prop shaft with three bolts out is a little loose and permits some forward motion of the engine. Fast motion since the heave was a mighty one. Then when linear motion is exhausted the lump on the end of the tether pivots around it‘s fulcrum (The back bolt) resulting in a hell of a lot of weight moving upwards and backwards. This happens repeatedly because I‘m a bit slow on the uptake and the heater box got a fearful battering before it dawned on me that something was still tethering the engine.