The Ford Capri Laser Page

Good luck with it Dave, hope all goes perfectly. Your wheels are doing the miles, could do with a clean though

Good to hear

pbar wrote:

340truck wrote:Engine out is easy - remember it can be done in a field in 2 hours!

That's by you though, you've probably done over a million of 'em!

Dave only watched that one - he could have done it of course but he watched

Looks like you can get to a lot of the bell housing bolts from the engine bay?

A pinto engine out is easy peesy, bonnet off is a must, the fastest I've unbolted one then engine out and a new one bolted in topped up with fluids and running is 40 minutes, they were both built up engines with carbs

Wow! That's good work!

I've finished prepping tonight. Everything is detached.put some blocks and wood under bell housing.slacked bolts a bit.Just need to attach hoist under engine mount bolts, lid off and lift..

Sump off down to mates, welded return pipe and sump bsck, engine back in.

fordperv wrote:...the fastest I've unbolted one then engine out and a new one bolted in topped up with fluids and running is 40 minutes...

It's always impressive to hear things like this. But if I took my car to a garage and they told me they had swapped my engine in 40 minutes I'd be worried!

i recently took my engine out my 2.8.
you have to take the bonnet off but DONT stand it up on the corners. even if you put towells, foam etc the paint on the corners will chip off due to the weight in itself.
to take your engine out its bnest to jack the car up high on all 4 axle stands and take the battery and starter motor and prop shaft and gearbox off first

Cheers for the advice gents.

I'm looking forward to out now

First engine out job so will be a nice achievement for me.

Hi you also need to undo and take off the clutch cable from the gearbox if you haven't done so already. with it i hope it all goes to plan. Dave (340 truck) replaced my capri's 1.6 pinto engine about 3 years ago with a 1.6 he rebuilt and tuned nicely, he did a great job and the engine's never let me down since. we did 340 miles in the capri over one weekend and it never missed a beat. i would definitely recommend him to swap or rebuild an engine.

Hi Dan,

Yep, removed the cable. Cheers for the tip though.

All sorted and ready to get cracking got myself a new sump gasket from motor factors as well as I can't be arsed to put it back together and have a leak!

Literally took my Essex out last night....It was a bit of a bugger being auto as the kick-down cable was sieved and taggled around the engine loom. The speedo cable was also bent and I couldn't find my circlip removers as well.

Essex is an heavy lump but doesn't nothing on a Clevo 351 V8.....Absolute nightmare with a leaky engine crane. I had to strip a drag car a year ago (donor for my Perana project). The weigh was way too much so I ditched the idea for a traditional Windsor V8 (302)

Pinto will be a breeze. Have whipped heaps out of Escorts over the years (we got 2.0lt Escorts over here in Aust.....Not just RS2000s) Did a leisurely engine swap over 2 weekends once and replaced all the gaskets at the same time.

Good luck with the project.

DaveSimpy wrote:Thanks for all the points gents.

I've stripped everything out the bay so I think it's engine out.
Not sure I'll have time to do the clutch as I'm hitting the hoist for a day.

Sump out to weld a oil return from turbo.knew I'd have to do it at done point.
Plus point, it's the last thing before the mot

Isn't the clutch pretty easy once the engine's out anyway?

pbar wrote:

fordperv wrote:...the fastest I've unbolted one then engine out and a new one bolted in topped up with fluids and running is 40 minutes...

It's always impressive to hear things like this. But if I took my car to a garage and they told me they had swapped my engine in 40 minutes I'd be worried!

Completely agree, If it was someone doing it for me I'd be worried as you would be questioning if everything had been bolted back up correctly etc it was on my own capri when my oil pump failed while driving and the engine seized, to see how fast I could get it done realisticallywithout cutting corners, i was having a bit of a conversation with members of my local car club on how simple a pinto engine is and you could probably swap one in under an hour start to finish, there's people out there who've done it quicker

-JC- wrote:

DaveSimpy wrote:Thanks for all the points gents.

I've stripped everything out the bay so I think it's engine out.
Not sure I'll have time to do the clutch as I'm hitting the hoist for a day.

Sump out to weld a oil return from turbo.knew I'd have to do it at done point.
Plus point, it's the last thing before the mot

Isn't the clutch pretty easy once the engine's out anyway?

yup, takes about ten minutes if that.

Hi mate, great post, I'm attempting the exact same thing next week.

The Haynes gives a pretty good step my step guide to follow. I've decided to remove the gearbox too as gonna give it a nice paint job. Might be worth considering ?

I'm on a pebble drive too! Excited to see how I get on

Sam

I've done a few without taking bonnet off (terra had engines in and out around 15 times). But if you don't have the under bonnet sound deadening the arm of the crane can dent it.

All sorted now.engine out wasn't too difficult.getting it back in was a bit trickier but with a bit persuasion it went nacho in ok.

Gotta bolt all the bits back on and should be sorted.No more leaking sump from the return now it's welded

Even though I didn't have a hoist and had the hire one, if say engine out was the best option.

Don't think I could have done it single handed, so a mate it's a must.

Cheers for all your help.

Glad you did it ok Dave. Another Capri first for you ticked off the list then.

Yep, pretty pleased with it Paul. Just gotta bolt all the other bits on tonight