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MG MGA - Is an A engine too heavy to lift?

I have stripped everything off my car and am down to the chassis, engine and transmission. I dont have a hoist, but I do have 2 strong sons. Can the 3 of us, and perhaps a friend, lift the motor up and into a pickup? Let me know what you think, or any ideas.

Tom
Tom Going

Tom, the the engine and transmission together are extremely heavy. I doubt if four men will be able to hand lift them. Perhaps lifting the engine alone by separating it from the box would be much lighter to lift manually. The transmission would pose no problem for two healthy young men to lift out.

Frank
F. Camilleri

Bit of a grunt. It must weigh around 400 pounds with a 28 pound flywheel and 10 pound clutch attached. With a cross timber and chain two burly guys might be able to lift it out of the bare chassis with a third person to guide it. Not so likely to be able to put it back in that way.

If you have a substantial beam in the ceiling where two guys could stand on it, you can use a cable jack like this: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/engine/be105.htm

It will not sit flat on bottom of the oil pan. To move it around a roller dolly is cheap: http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/tools/ts200.htm

For manual carrying (short distance) and transport, a simple wood frame work well:
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/tools/ts201a.htm
http://mgaguru.com/mgtech/tools/ts201f.htm
Barney Gaylord

Many years ago I did lower a complete MGA engine from my workbench down onto a wheel barrow so that I could then move it along to the chain lift to refit it arfter a rebuild.
The weight kind of took me by surprise and the best I could manage was a kind of controlled fall down from the bench, it was just so heavy!

In the process I trapped the skin on both my thighs between the sump and the bench! I finished up with a matching set of blue-back bruises on the front of my thighs that my wife thought could possibly have been caused by some weird kind of extra-marital activity???

So I dont think that you can move your engine without using lots of help and to install it you will need some kind of lifting gear.

(Its significantly lighter to move around if you take the cylinder head off first)

Colyn

Colyn Firth

I would by an engine hoist - you will need it to put the engine back in later anyway and they fold up to a relatively small foot print for storage. You can always sell it again after you have the car on the road.
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-ton-capacity-foldable-shop-crane-93840.html
Mike
Mike Ellsmore

If you have an engine in the pickup, two people can put it onto the floor no problem. Lifting out of the car is not feasible without a hoist off some sort. Installing requires controlled manipulation, and would be dangerous without a hoist.

The feearbox can be easily handled by one person
dominic clancy

Tom - you should be able to rent an engine hoist from a local rental place. You can generally rent them for 4 hours, which is plenty of time to pick the engine and place it where you want it if you have everything unbolted and ready to come out of the car before picking up the hoist- I have done that many times for out MGB engine. Cheers - Dave
David DuBois

Dominic, your word "feearbox" perfectly describes the way I have always felt about taking apart the gearbox!
Brilliant

Colyn
Colyn Firth

With two people, it's possible to use a 2x12 plank and slide the engine up onto a pickup bed. With three people, it's easy. I'm assuming you have the body off. Physically lifting the engine and transmission into the air off the chassis, even with 4 people, would suck and may result in injury. I regularly rig and lift objects much heavier than MGA engines and I'd advise against picking it up. I have pulled engines by building a supported 4x4 truss over the engine and rolling the car away, but you're still going to need rigging equipment that you don't have. My advice is to invest in an engine hoist because you're going to have put that sucker back in again eventually.
Mark J Michalak

OK - here is a photo to confirm Barney's guess at 400 lbs - spring balance is x100.


Cam Cunningham

I recently took delivery of a 3 bearing B engine, no flywheel etc. It arrived in the back of a large van strapped to a small pallet. The van driver assumed he would just pick it up out the van, at about his mid chest height, and carry it up my steep drive to my garage. It didn't even move so he decided he would use the tail lift after all and he regretted having forgotten his troley. The 2 of us then dragged it up the drive on its pallet. His manhood was dented and he assured me that he had lifted engines before on his own. I was left wondering how he got on with the life size luminous reindeer that was also in the van.

I have several times in the past lifted up one end of engines (without starters, etc) but only a few inches to move it slighthly. I guess this is lifting about half the weight.

Paul
Paul Dean

save your back - buy a hoist for about $120 ('big red' type at any auto parts store). works great and you'll not regret it...remember you have to put it back in again!

JIM
AJ Mail

I vaguely recall in the early '70s a very stout friend of mine lifting a stripped engine from a pickup tail gate and carry to a belly high work bench a distance of about 15 feet.
JM Morris

I can do that with a VW engine....
Mark J Michalak

Ended up using my car lift to pull the engine. Worked like a charm. Thanks for all the imput.


Tom Going

Back in '65 I well remember we had 2 Aussie flying trainees at RAF Syerston who had an MGA Roadster between them.It was a bit scabby,dark metallic blue and they needed to change the engine.They were like Little and Large.One smallish but the other a huge,quiet guy.I can picture them now somehow hoicking the engine up above the bay and the big lad with a rope around his shoulders standing with one leg on each wing lowering the motor in while the other bloke guided it into place.

They did it.I think they both ended up on F-111s.

Happy Days.
M Blencowe

This thread was discussed between 28/12/2012 and 31/12/2012

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