jacking car during motor swap

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MaxwellVW

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Joined Jan 8, 2009

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495 Posts

Discussion starter · #1 · Mar 2, 2009

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I am about to swap a 2.0l into my coupe. Since I will be swapping the entire exhaust and cranking my coilover all the way down during the swap I figured it would be best to remove all of the wheels at once and leave the car on 4 jack stands along the seam on the sides of the car. Would this be safe considering the car will be bumped around a bit when the motors are pulled/installed or is it recommended to buy some wheel ramps or leave two wheels on the ground at all times? I am doing this swap pretty much all by myself and do not want to risk doing anything dangerous.
I do not have an engine hoist and am working in my parents garage so I will most likely have to improvise to lift the motors and don't want to knock anything over by accident. I will be researching local rental places to borrow a hoist for a day if possible.
TIA

 

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mgyip

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Joined Dec 15, 2000

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#2 · Mar 2, 2009

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Re: jacking car during motor swap (MaxwellVW)

The body seams aren't the best support points as the points tend to bend and flatten out due to the weight of the car. Hopefully you have a Bentley manual which should identify the jack points on your car.
When I put the car "all four in the air", I tend to use the front subframe spars that extend underneath the front floorboards and in the rear, I use the rear suspension box that is directly in front of the rear axle pivot mounts.
An engine hoist, while not a must, is certainly a handy item - they're not incredibly expensive and if you're planning on doing this type of work in the future (or have friends who may want to share a hoist), it would be a good investment.

 

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fakeDE98

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Joined Mar 14, 2007

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#3 · Mar 2, 2009

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Re: jacking car during motor swap (mgyip)

Quote, originally posted by mgyip »

The body seams aren't the best support points as the points tend to bend and flatten out due to the weight of the car. Hopefully you have a Bentley manual which should identify the jack points on your car. When I put the car "all four in the air", I tend to use the front subframe spars that extend underneath the front floorboards and in the rear, I use the rear suspension box that is directly in front of the rear axle pivot mounts. An engine hoist, while not a must, is certainly a handy item - they're not incredibly expensive and if you're planning on doing this type of work in the future (or have friends who may want to share a hoist), it would be a good investment.