I'm doing another swap this weekend by myself. I've had better luck using a hoist rather than dropping and installing the motor/tranny from below. Maybe I'm doing it wrong? I had to build a platform out of wood to put the floor jack on to get the car high enough to slide the engine under the car on a piece of cardboard last time I went under. Do I just need a jack that goes up higher? Since it's july 4th weekend, I don't think there will be places to rent a hoist from. How do y'all do it?

 

I put my ls into my ej1 from under. I had the motor on a furniture dolly to roll it around. I only have a little simple jack so when I wanted to go higher I set it on top of cinder blocks. I had the passenger side higher then the driver's side and just slide the motor under the pass. side. Dropped the car on it's belly and bolted up the 2 side mounts. Little quick run down of what I did.

 

Thanks for the reply. That's basically what I did last time. It just kinda makes me uneasy having the jack off the ground for whatever reason, but then again, I'm kind of a *****.

 

i used the hoist to lift the body when i did mine and after i got the body high enough, i just put jackstands under it


good luck with your swap

 

As fatjodz said use the engine crane to hoist the car then slide it underneath


Modified shopping trolley


If you have an engine stand you can use the bottom section of it as an engine dolly. Or get a pallet and put dowel underneath so you can roll it in place (think of the roman, mayan, egyptian builder techniques lol)

 

haha You mayan freaks are ridiculous. I'm going to use a hoist, but I'm going to go from the top as usual. The only reason I wanted to know about going underneath is because I thought you wouldn't have to use a hoist. As long as you have a load leveler (and a hoist), going from the top is cake.

I got the motor and tranny today from HMO. I have an event coming up on the 11,12,13

 

Jack car up high enough, roll the engine under on a dolly, lower the car down. Back in the broke college days, I did probably 20 swaps this way.

 

I also used a hoist attached to factory tow hooks.

First i hooked the hoist to the motor and set it down on the ground (on a rug), then hooked to the car, and lifted the car up

A few pics:

 

wow that car does not need to be high to put the motor in...

 

I usually install the motor according to the cars engine bay. In my civics I have always put them in from the top, my MR2's always from the bottom. Its just what ever is easiest.

 

Just wanted to update this thread with my swap experience. I installed the motor from above using a load leveler. I'll always do swaps like this from now on. Absolutely painless.

HMO has a great rep for a reason. The gsr I got from them is the nicest looking, best running swap I've ever owned. The customer service there is top notch, too. I'd recommend them to anyone who demands perfection from their cars.

Converting the motor from jdm to usdm obd2a emissions was more work than I realized. Swapped the crank pulley gear, oil pump, dizzy, vtec solenoid, intake manifold, and engine harness. Started up without a cel, pulls hard and passed emissions.

I also did a timing belt, water pump, tensioner, set of plugs and wires, and used the usdm timing cover. If anyone has any questions about how to do any of this, pm me.

 

when i took my engine out i hooked the engine hoist to the engine, dropped it on a dolley, then lifted the whole car and pushed it out, I will be doing it the same way when i put it in, less damage to painted engine bay and less damage to engine if it starts swinging or anything.