Setting Up the Garage

Before I brought the engine into its new home, I needed to set up the garage. I was lucky to have found a large garage space that I could use that was close to my house, but it was not outfitted with anything other than some rusty garden tools and a few cobwebs.  I needed proper tools in order to make this possible.

The first things I tracked down to use were an engine lift and an engine stand to make the project easier. The engine lift would allow me to lift the engine out of the truck and get the 500lbs beast off the ground once it was out of the truck.  Once I had it in the garage and the transmission was removed (the first step), the engine was lifted back up and put on the engine stand to make it easier to work on. I borrowed the lift and stand from a friend who owns a local auto shop I actually pushed the engine stand and  lift 5 blocks to my friends garage where I would be working.  I should have brought a bottle of WD40 with me.  The lift made a horrible noise as we pushed it.

If I hadn't had a friend to borrow these tools from I would have had to rent them or buy them.  They are easily available and range in price from $100 - $400. 

Garage with the Space Needle peaking above the trees.

Casual walk with my engine lift and engine stand.

Riping its Heart Out

The madness began on September 25, 2014, I had found a perfect engine in a wrecked car and we arranged to remove it from the donor car that day. The donor car was a 1994 BMW 535i.  This is a fast engine that is one of the best BMW has made.  With some minor modifications, it can be made to fit into my 318is and will give it even more power than it already has.

To get the engine out of the car, we started by taking off the front grill and removing all of the engine mounts and transmission mounts.   at this point the engine was not completely free it was still connected to the driveshaft but we considered that unimportant becuase we had the power of a tow truck to remove it.
     Now your probably are wondering why we have and why we would use a tow truck to take an engine out of the car... well earlier a crazy ex criminal showed up in his tow truck and said he would take it out so why wouldn't you take up the crazy ex criminal on an offer like that. The engine came out on out second try and actually broke the differential when it came out, we were expecting the driveshaft to break not the differential.
    Once the engine was out it was loaded into our truck and drove it home to Queen Anne where I had found a spot in a friends garage to work on it.

Removing the front of the car.

Front removed.

Engine ready to be removed.

We used a tow truck to lift the engine out of the car.

Engine finally out