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Fri Apr 01, 2011 1:14 pm

hank0306 wrote: The previous owner did this to mine, makes it real easy to pull the engine.
Photos are from when I restored it..I thought all Things were like this until I looked at this site. It makes it easy to pull the engine.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55212378@N02/5579519245/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55212378@N02/5579517235/in/photostream/

good idea. i am working on a fix right now 8)

Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:00 pm

That is what I want to do. How does the rear member re-attach to the car.

Sun Apr 03, 2011 4:58 am

hi guys~ sorry for being awol, i have been cleaning and painting tin. if the thing wasn't already painted (and presentable, mind you) i would totally make a removeable apron. you could cut the body a bunch of ways, and make it look OE pretty easy. i just drilled the spot welds in the engine latch bracket, and am making the bracket a removeable part.

fwiw, i vow to NEVER clean tin again. i will drop it off at a machine shop and pay them for their high pressure hot wash. i was pretty much in the shop all day yesterday cleaning the worst goo out of the fan shroud. i used everything at my disposal, my parts tank, pressure washer, super clean, carb clean you name it, i used it. never in my life have i ever seen tin's that bad. it was like someone took a tub of wheel bearing grease to the fan and let it spray its way into the fan shroud.

the backing plate for the generator was 100% clogged with this shit! anyway, pix to come

Sun Apr 03, 2011 5:31 am

kubelmann wrote: Can you post pics of this modification? I would love to do that to one of mine.

you can see the metal plate that secures the cut section. i can drop the motor with no hang up issues

Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:04 am

hank0306 wrote:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/55212378@N02/5579519245/

After banging this engine aroung trying to remove it(mine Had a rear collision 30 yrs ago) i decided to make the lower cross section removeable. I don't want my new pretty painted engine getting dinged up going back in!
Very close to the above posted pic.... Although I am going a little wider(almost to the apex of the opening) to hopefully be able to install with carbs attached! I'll post up when I get some progress on it. It will look pretty close to factory designed when I get it done!
I'll try and document for posterity as well!

Mon Apr 04, 2011 6:33 am

yeah, wider would be nicer

Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:07 am

This is good information since I will be attempting a engine removal here shortly. I must have watched the Bug Me video on its engine removal. The guy makes it look so simple. Are you saying it is not that easy on a Thing? I thought all the engine compartments were similar in clearances.

Tue Apr 05, 2011 8:37 am

Bohdan wrote: I thought all the engine compartments were similar in clearances.
Nope. The hole the engine sits in is generally the same, but the stuff around it varies quite a bit between body types. For instance, dual carbs in a bug can be a pain as there's not much room for them in the left and right of the engine bay, but in a Thing it's not a big deal at all. The Thing's latch stand juts out and gets in the way during engine removal, but the bug's is a different design and isn't even close. If you pull the carb(s), intake manifold, fuel pump, distributor and generator (alternator) prior to removing the engine, then it's pretty easy as nothing should hang up on that tab - but that's a lot of stuff to pull off prior to an engine pull.

Tue Apr 05, 2011 10:44 am

I put my engine back in yesterday, and paid attention to the technique I used (distributor on, cap off, belt and outer pulley off).

...bring the motor up into the engine compartment tilted forward, until the generator pulley clears the sheet metal... continue jacking, and tilt the motor towards the rear of the car, and guide the engine studs into the holes in the transaxle. As I raise the motor, I push forward. Once everthing is level, I jiggled the motor to fit the pilot shaft into the clutch, and it was done.

Went in real easy, but just now I remember that I forgot to put some grease on the gland nut :-(

Thu Apr 07, 2011 5:15 am

I need to take a look at that latch again. That is what gets hung up? I see that you have taken off some of the minor parts. I have the single carburetor. How far out horizontally does the engine need to come out to clear the transmission? Mighty obliged.

Thu Aug 25, 2011 7:28 pm

OK. Got my engine back in and it went SOOO much smoother with the apron removed!!
With my design, AND this particular muffler, I will have to remove the muffler in order to install the apron, so I will leave it off until I know everything is sorted. No point in removing the muffler any more than once. Wouldn't feel right to scratch up that ceramic!! LOL!
Here's a pic from install of the engine.
I'll add detail of mounting provisions later.
Original dream was install without carbs removed, but that just Won't happen. The engine bay opening just isn't wide enough. Oh well, no worries!
First one shows the engine sitting Just inside the opening.

Here it is fully mounted.

Thu Aug 25, 2011 8:51 pm

Nope, sorry this does not count as you have the rear apron removed.
I have never understood this as my 1959 Tranporter had a removable apron. GI Joe wrote:
Here it is fully mounted.

Thu Aug 25, 2011 11:16 pm

Nice! And you even did it with all the tin in place!

Ferretkona wrote: Nope, sorry this does not count as you have the rear apron removed.
Doesn't count as a challenging job anymore? :lol:

Fri Aug 26, 2011 5:40 am

How about some drawings and instructions for performing this mod to our Things?

This would REALLY help me out. I would be able to pull the engine and get the area cleaned out, add new seals, etc. etc. so much easier than I could by dropping the engine under the car.

I am hoping some clever folks step forward with some good ideas.

Mark

Fri Aug 26, 2011 4:41 pm

am i missing some thing ? dose it make a differance that i have dual 40 webers and they are installed after engine? it is a 74.

Sat Aug 27, 2011 5:20 am

Ian Epperson wrote: Nice! And you even did it with all the tin in place!

Carbs were the Only thing removed.Very nice to not have to pull the engine half way down!!

mtwrench540 wrote: am i missing some thing ? dose it make a differance that i have dual 40 webers and they are installed after engine? it is a 74.

Yes, you're missing something. :wink:
Not understanding this post. Does What make a difference? Your carbs Are different, if that's what you're wondering.
:?: :?:

Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:29 am

So GI Joe, I didn't see your remark earlier in this thread that you performed that modification yourself and would tell us how you did it in a later post.

I look forward to seeing what you did.

Thanks, Mark

Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:10 pm

Double post??? weird

Tue Aug 30, 2011 5:16 pm

Hey mark,
Best I can do on description....
The Bottom of the outer side was opened up to allow the New mounting tab to slide UP into it. A plate of steel was welded on the horizontal plane of the apron and it bolts up to the adjoing area in the engine bay.

Here is the tab welded inside the cross bar, and a nut welded to it. There is a corresponding hole on the vertical plane inside the engine bay(near the prop rod on the PS, and opposite on the DS)

And here is a shot showing relation of how the two peices join. I will be mounting the apron when she gets back from the Speed Shop, and I'll add a pic of it installed.

Clear as mudd???? LOL
Oh, with this mod, the brakelight wiring was moved to the "ceiling" of the engine bay.

Wed Aug 31, 2011 4:29 pm

So it looks like you also added a kind of extension (or tab) to the vertical plane sheet metal so that area is secure too.

Funny, a ceramic coated Tri-Mill exhaust is on my list to buy in a month or so and that is why I am interested in getting the engine out easier so I can clean it and the engine bay. Well, that and the replacement of the gasket.

And I guess you just cut the gasket at the appropriate places.

Looks good. Please remember to post photos when you get it put back together.

Thanks,
Mark