Tip: My version of engine hanging........

[chrishalfman]

Here?s my 2? on hanging an ECi Titan O-360 in my -7A. I know there will probably be a 100 people say I shouldn't have done what I did because I?ll damage ?something?, but I?d do it again. Not counting having to add washers back under the nuts, took about an hour.

I was told, ?Don?t try to mount the engine yourself, it?s a real pain [and impossible] to do.? Well, I worked a car garage in high school and when we pulled an engine, we split the engine and trans and I could take them apart and put them together by myself. Yes, rear wheel and front wheel drive vehicles. Van?s recommends starting with the bottom mounts first. There?s a reason they say that-squishy engine mounts.

I thought I?d do what many people mentioned on VAF and start on the top mounts and finish on the bottom mounts. It seemed somewhat logical to me-use the engine weight to get the engine pivoted down to make a nice snug fit on the lower mounts, hopefully allowing the bottom bolts to go in easier.

I started on the top, right but didn't snug it up. Tried to get the left, top bolt started. Not even close. Cinched down the right, went back to the left. Had to man handle it a bit, but it went in. Probably the hardest bolt for me to get in, actually. Decided that should probably be tightened down, too. Next, the infamous last two bolts.

I did the left bottom. Because that's where the tools were on the floor. I let pressure off the hoist to get the engine to pivot down to make contact at the bottom two mounts. But, the rubber mounts let the engine sag-a lot. Like half a hole. There was no way in eternity that was going to work. The hole was perfectly lined up side to side-but there was no way to get it back up. If you lifted the hoist to raise the engine, the bottom of the engine pivoted forward. So, got out the floor jack, chopped up a 2x2 (from one of Van?s crates) and put some pressure on the sump. (They?re pretty tough, but still be careful. I?m not paying for a sump if you shove a 2x4 through the bottom of yours. I put it near an edge for more strength.) I put it on the left side (near the mount) to get as much direct pressure to that area as I could; ie, counteract the squishiness of the upper mounts. Sweet! With a little adjustment of the floor jack, the hole pretty much lined right up! I did have to ?twist? the bolt in to get things going, but it wasn't that bad. Cinched it down.

The last bolt. Well, let me tell you-without the floor jack-the hole was in a different zip code. Jacked up the right corner a bit?.. Still not good. Still about a half a hole off?.. Got out a drift punch, pulled out the rear and center parts of the mount. Got the punch through the rubber mount, spacer washer, and engine mount hole and wiggled it around a bit. There was a slight bang, got out the mirror and the rain stopped, the clouds parted, the sun came out, birds chirped, there was light airy music in the background...... You get the idea. I think the washer wasn't in place and when it got in place, everything lined up to the point I couldn't figure out which way to try and move the engine to get the bolt in. So?.. I did use a little persuasion on the last bolt, even though they tell you not to. But, it did go in quite easy and the threads didn't look buggered up and the nut spun on with my finger tips. The bolt will fail before the fine threads ever will.

That?s it. Easy, peasy.

I did have to go back and add a washer under each nut to get the castle nut high enough on the cotter keys. I'd highly recommend keeping the hoist on the engine while you do that. To hang the engine (minus the second washers) only took about an hour. Like I said above, if it did it again, I?d start on the bottom and see how that would work-might not need the floor jack.

[bkthomps]

i hung mine solo too, it's not all that difficult, just requires patience and observation

[foka4]

+1. With the right tools and patience, there's no reason you can't do this yourself.

Keep the hoist around after the aircraft is flying. Nothing works better for lifting the airframe to repack bearings at annual inspection time. Just loop a lifting strap around a sturdy spot on the engine mount (on one side) and lift with the engine hoist.

M

[deek]

I've done this many, many times solo. Bottom first; and pull-up with the hoist until the top holes line up. Use a tapered drift or a sacrificial hardware store carriage bolt with a taper ground on the threaded end in one side while you place the AN bolt in the other side. After you do this a few times hanging the engine becomes routine.

[longranger]

On a taildragger at least, how well would it work to install the mount to the engine first, then install the assembly to the fuselage? I've installed the engine on my 170 (bed mount as opposed to dynafocal) that way at least four times and it works great.

[Loman]

Originally Posted by longranger

On a taildragger at least, how well would it work to install the mount to the engine first, then install the assembly to the fuselage? I've installed the engine on my 170 (bed mount as opposed to dynafocal) that way at least four times and it works great.

That's exactly what I did.

My engine hanging was 'accidental'. I hadn't intended doing it that evening so I was alone in the shop. Literally the only problem was not having anybody to witness the big moment.

You might think that having the engine dangling from the hoist would rob you of the ability to push it into position but I didn't find that an issue.

My sequence was top right, top left, bottom right, bottom left. I found it helped to snug up each bolt to draw the engine towards its final position and then release it by half a turn or so, which seemed to provide a little 'wriggle room' for the next bolt. I used a quarter inch store bolt with the head ground smooth as a drift pin. That got me close enough to get the first thread onto the engine hole. From there, I screwed the bolt in.u

The firewall was already drilled (and populated with pretty much everything I need to put on there, including Fiberfrax/foil fire protection).

Great access is the main advantage of this method. Clearly it's not the only way but it is certainly possible to do it solo and it sure worked for me.

[gstone]

beside having to pay attention and watch what you are doing is not having friends there to share in that BIG pivotal moment!!!

[Subwaybob]

+1 On the solo. Spent 2 hours looking and when I actually hung it I think it took 30 minutes. Of course I had a 100lb wife with a 10lb sledge hammer standing there and I told her "If this thing falls on me, beat it till I stop crying and it starts. Needless to say engines can hear too...

[larrynew]

First engine change in the Dart took two days. After a few, we had it down to 75 minutes.



The experience sure helped. Solo took about two hours including a lunch break. Notice the same spot in the driveway and same hoist? Not near as much transmission fluid spilled, though!

[N941WR]

I too hung my solo. It took me exactly 45 minutes from start to finish.

Well, not exactly, it look me a little longer, if you count the beer I had after the engine was hung.