Man I am sorry to see that teal car get damaged. Bryan's not so much. ;) Just kidding Bryan! You have a tub already dont you? I'll bet you're back on track in less time than Covini's record.
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Man I am sorry to see that teal car get damaged. Bryan's not so much. ;) Just kidding Bryan! You have a tub already dont you? I'll bet you're back on track in less time than Covini's record.
Thanks guys. It was good to have Mitch at the track helping me like old times but apparently you haven't seen me dance. Still sitting on a donut cushion but I'll be fine. Yes, I hope to hop in the saddle and am looking for Enduro openings at TWS since Randy had to leave the country. More thoughts of the future than what happened. Funny afterwards still having a desire to work on the car and find out if the motor is okay. I'll stick with the LS1 since I know it and have tons of spare parts. I don't think you are getting rid of me that easy. Al will be filling out a body contact form whenever he graces us with his presence.
If anyone is interested in coming to a teardown/swap party in Plano let me know. I'm thinking of trying to do something Sunday March 30 or Sunday April 6. Bonedaddy's and Chuy's are across the street for lunch, too. I'll have a cherry picker on hand. Goal is to be able to get the car torn down to a shell so it can be carried out and dropped on a flatbed. I'll plan to have a roller sitting next to it so parts can be swapped or put in the car for storage. I would like to keep all the suspension parts so it wouldn't be a roller. Anyone have any experince picking up a shell to set on a trailer? I have never torn a car down like this so any suggestion on procedures are welcome. How hard would it be to drop the motor/trans out the bottom and keep them together? Also, let me know what kind of prep I should have prior so things go quicker. My thought is swapping the motor would go quickly with a few people helping. Since I live in a neighborhood with an HOA and alley it would help to try and get a car in and the wrecked car out in one weekend which seems possible?
Does anyone have a 110 plasma cutter I could borrow? Even a 220 might work since the dryer outlet is just inside from the garage. Planning to find out if the motor is okay this weekend.
I'll likely be available, unless that's the week my engine returns from the shop. Call me when the time comes. Swapping the engine is totally doable in a day, so long as you do all the detail stuff later (exhaust, hydraulics).
Dropping engine/tranny out the bottom is my preferred way to do it. Here's how I do it:
Put back tires onto an upside-down wheel and tire to raise the back end, and allow it to safely rotate.
Drain oil and tranny fluid
Remove driveshaft, exhaust, etc.
Disconnect wiring harness that goes into firewall on passenger side.
Disconnect Power Steering cooler lines, oil cooler, etc.
remove steering shaft bolt, and loosen assembly.
Remove clutch hydraulics
Unbolt 4 bolts holding each upper control arm to the body.
Unbolt transmission brace
use cherry picker to lower the front end onto a furniture dolly. Use a car dolly under the transmission.
Undo 6 K-member bolts, and slowly raise the body back up. Find anything you forgot, and undo it. Raise the front end super high, and drag the engine assembly out the side.
Only shell I had to move was a Miata. I put the shell on 3 car dollies, and it rolled around quite easy. Rolled it onto the flatbed trailer of the guy that bought it, then used a jack and some 2x4's to remove my dollies.
I have a 4 wheel dolly made to set a 4th gen shell onto and allow it to roll around. Works very nice.