A friend of mine here at work needs to rebuild his daughter's 4 cylinder engine. Can he remove the engine from the top or does it have to come out the bottom? He's a little better than average as a backyard mechanic ans was alos interested in about how long the removal process takes.

Hello,
I have heard that it can be done from the top. But, from my personnel experience it is better to remove the whole cradle. The Haynes manual does an okay job of describing the job. The one thing that it does not mention is instead of removing the struts from the wheel - remove the 3 bolts holding them on to the body, this way you don't have to realign the car.
If you remove the whole cradle (instead of just the engine) it is a WHOLE lot easier to work on, plus you can clean everything easier, see everything easier and replace anything else that looks like it might need it.

My .02cents - I am sure you will get a lot of other thoughts.

You could also use the search function (top right) there is a LOT of stuff on this topic

edited because I missed part of your question. Two of us did this job in two days. Actually we pulled two cradles and reinstalled to cradles (long story as to why).We also replaced the clutch in the one engine/cradle. If you take your time I se no reason that you couldn't have the engine/cradle out of the car in less than a day.
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1984 SE - 30800 out of 136840. About to be modified!

[This message has been edited by KlingonFiero (edited 04-24-2002).]

It is about a one day job to remove the cradle and another day to put the rebuild back in. Lots easier than removing it out the top. If you disconnect the cv joints (after draining the tranny fluid) you don't have to do the rear wheel alignment when you put it back in. Another advantage is the wheels can stay on and you can roll the car.

You will need a come-along or a hoist to hold the engine for the disconnect. A pallet with wheels can be used to drop the cradle on. Make sure that the wheels allow you to slide a floor jack under the pallet. I also use 2 floor jacks. One to control the cradle/pallet and another too control the body. I use a 4x4 fence post on the jack I use to control the body. Doing it this way it is a one person job.

Don't forget to replace the fiber cam gears with metal ones. Put new rod bolts on if you rebuild your rods. The heads are prone to cracking so have that checked and be prepaired to replace the head. I would also add a mild cam.

Do a search for modifications to the duck as it has been well covered here. Sometimes the mod is not much more expensive than the original part.

This isn't a hard job, to do the removal or to rebuild. Just make sure you use a good machine shop. They will help you with any questions/problems you may encounter. We offer good advice here, too.

Good luck.

Ive done it both ways but with the 6cly

out the top is an OK job but out the bottom IS easier. But if circumstances need the motor to come out the top i wouldnt worryabout it to much

quote Originally posted by KlingonFiero: The one thing that it does not mention is instead of removing the struts from the wheel - remove the 3 bolts holding them on to the body, this way you don't have to realign the car.

You cannot remove the cradle without the need to realign the rear wheels. Removing the struts from the body by the 3 bolts will allow you to put it back close enough to be drivin safely but the alignment will be lost. Been there done that and checked it. The toe is what suffers the most.

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