Need Engine out of the car

[Arne Eriksen]

Hi.

I have a 51 Dodge Coronet D 42 with fluid drive under restoration.

I need to take the engine out of the car and wonder where to seperate it. Between engine and the clutch house, or between the clutch house and gearbox? It seems difficult to seperate between the engine and clutch house. Hopefully I`m not have to take it out with the gearbox also. 

I need some input here please.

 

Regards Arne

[Saskwatch]

   Greetings Arne , Welcome to the forum !

      As far as your engine removal , I’m probably not qualified to give much advise , I’m not familiar with the fluid drive. 
    I learned here on the forum , when removing the transmission to install long guide pins to slide the transmission straight back to safely clear the bell housing before lowering on a cradle fashioned on your floor jack. 
    I hope it goes well for you, let us know how you make out ??    ?

[andyd]

The general rule of thumb would be to remove the gearbox from the bellhousing from underneath then lift the engine/bellhousing as a unit or whilst underneath undo the clutch & flywheel after the gearbox is off then undo the side bellhousing bolts onto the crossmember and the front engine plate either from the chassis via the upturned U bolts or via the top of the engine mount via the 2 bolts under the water pump......then lift the engine out..............of course you could do what 16yr old me did back in 1970 when I decided to pull the 1940 Oz Dodge Coupe I had just bought apart..........

..............so I started by undoing the driveshaft mounting plate onto the diff.......4 bolts came undone.......then moved onto the front plate that sits into a recess in the brake drum.....oops.............it got stuck in the recess so I couldn't remove the driveshaft.........so I decided to undo the gearbox and after undoing the 4 gearbox to bellhousing bolts and pulling the gearbox back it got jammed by the input shaft in the clutch plate................I'll fix it...says I.............lol.............so after rearranging the gantry my brother & I had welded together we  removed the engine/bellhousing/gearbox AND driveshaft in one LOOOONNNGGG "SAUSAGE"............lol........off course when the lot was lowered onto the ground the offending articles all came apart easily........lol......and the lot was eventually uncerimoniously dumped into a large hole especially dug for such an interment.......

............now should I tell you about what happened a few yrs later when my brother & I decided to build a 30x20' garage in this area and had to dig footings for the garage wall.........do you want to guess what we found when digging?.........lol.......yep....you're right..........lol.........and then we had to did a DEEPER hole beside said article & roll the damn thing into said deeper hole..........AH!!!!!........the joys(and fitness) of youth........lol..............I was once young & silly.......50 yrs later I'm just as silly.........lol......and here is the only pic ever taken of the engineless 1940 Dodge Coupe & one of 19yr old me taking the 1940 Dodge Sedan I still have out for its 1st post V8 installation run around the block in 1973...............regards from Oz........Andyd  

Edited November 20, 2022 by andyd
more info.

[Dan Hiebert]

In my opinion, how you remove the engine depends somewhat on what equipment you have to do it with.  The service manual says to take the engine, clutch / fluid drive, and transmission out as a unit.  But the service manual also assumes you're doing this in a fully equipped shop, and generally details the quickest way to do something, not necessarily the easiest or most convenient.

 

We have a D24, it has a cross brace over the radiator that makes it really difficult to pull the whole driveline out.  The engine, fluid drive, and transmission are much longer than the engine compartment, and I don't have one of those whiz-bang tilting jigs.  I don't know if a 51 Coronet has the same constraints.  Anyway, removing the transmission first is so easy in my case that it only makes sense to take it out first.  The fluid drive housing is a tad more difficult, as the rear engine mounts are on it, so the engine has to be supported to remove it.  But still quite doable.

 

In other words, the engine, clutch / fluid drive bell housing, and transmission do not have to remain as a unit to pull them, it's just the quickest way to get the engine out since you don't have to take the time to remove them first.  Just make sure to mark the alignment of the flywheel and pressure plate before you separate them. 

 

In my case, having an assistant (part of my "equipment" list) is questionable at best, so I always plan for a solo job.  I also don't have the equipment to pull the whole shebang out at once.  But I do have the time to remove the transmission, then clutch / fluid drive unit and bell housing before pulling the engine.  I've had all that stuff off the engine without pulling the engine, and when I pulled the engine (many years ago), I took all that off first.  In my case, it added half a day to the project, but I had the time.

[keithb7]

I am of the belief that a person with an engine hoist at home, and a load leveller, would still be better better off to remove the tranny first. Then lift the engine, clutch and FD out together. 
 

If this is video of any use to you, here is what I did. 3 speed manual though. No fluid drive. When I put my engine back in, I did remove the rad nose cone. Much easier. I realize you have a later model ‘51 year car.  I just thought this might give you some perspective.  Also see the tools and safery tips I recommend. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by keithb7