Hand me the shoehorn please…

Hand me the shoehorn please…

Well the weekend finally arrived and as planned we got the engine installed. Destinée was off today so she was around to help me. Add in the great weather today and it was a perfect day to take this next major step. Our first step was to prep the engine bay by masking off all the areas where we might ding the powder coat. Destinée got to work on that part while I prepped the hoist for the engine.

Preping the Engine Bay-0001

Here is the result. We are using a combination of regular blue painters tape and then we put another layer of exterior blue tape on it. The exterior tape is a plastic and it’s really tough. I found out when I installed the differential how tough it was. I banged the frame pretty good getting the diff in and expected to have some chips in the powder coat but the tape took all the beating.

EngineBayPrep-0001

Now that the bay is ready, we lifted the engine off the stand and moved it around to the front of the car.

EngineOnHoist-0001

You might notice in the pic below we had the stand under the engine again and the chains are shorter. We raised the engine up only to find that the top of the hoist was going to bump into the garage door. Since I needed the door open we had to lower it back down into the stand and shorten the chains.

DCIM100GOPRO

The next series of 5 pics show the lift and install. Overall it went in pretty easily with only a minor amount of jiggling around to get it in place. In the last pic you can see where Destinée used a cargo strap to help lift the rear of the tranny to get it over the tranny mount. At that point everything slipped into place.

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

DCIM100GOPRO

And there was a moment to celebrate.

DCIM100GOPRO

Did I mention that this engine was going to be a tight fit. Well here is how tight it is. That’s the driver side head touching the driver foot box. I’ll have to add a little relief so the head doesn’t touch.

EngineInstallTightFit-0004

Driver side

EngineInstallTightFit-0003

Passenger side engine mount.

EngineInstallTightFit-0002

Destinée and the always present and helpful Precious checking out our handiwork.

EngineInstallHelpers-0001

And here it is nestled in its place.

EngineInstallTightFit-0001

Next steps mount the fuel pressure regulator, finish the fuel lines, start fitting the wiring harness, mount the heater core and……. Stay tuned.

9 Comments

  1. Bob
    Nov 4, 2013

    Are we talking solid motor mounts on that? Better keep a can of lube with you, that looks too close!

    • admin
      Nov 4, 2013

      No they’re not solid and yes it’s too close. I’ll have to remove that panel and add a little relief in the area near the head. It’s a common problem with the fit of the Coyote engine in this car since it’s so wide.

  2. John
    Nov 4, 2013

    Where are the headers going to run on that driver side – it looks as if the rear two exhaust ports (on the head) may be blocked. I guess you could run straight pipes out the bonnet!

    • admin
      Nov 5, 2013

      The heads have a pretty steep angle on them you can sorta of see it on the passenger side pic. The headers will actually go forward and then down in front of the foot boxes and out the side of the car into the side pipes.

  3. Terry
    Dec 17, 2013

    Your progress looks great. I didn’t realize just how wide the coyote would be in the engine bay. It’s nice to have a preview.
    Question: Where did you get those engine lift brackets? I’ve searched high and low and I can’t find any.

    • Terry
      Dec 17, 2013

      By all accounts, those brackets are almost illegal to possess. According to FRPP, those brackets are used on the assembly line and are “highly, highly regulated”. You must have mob connections or know Alan Mulally personally. Let me know where you got them…that is if the Godfather says it’s ok.

      • admin
        Dec 17, 2013

        Well it’s a loooong story that has many twists, double crosses, midnight meetings and pay offs. Or actually it’s really quite simple, they came with the engine when I bought it. Are you doing a Coyote as well, I don’t recall, but when I ordered the crate motor they were already on it. I got my Coyote from Summit Racing.

        • Terry
          Dec 17, 2013

          Yes, Mark had me convinced about buying a coyote before the class ended. My coyote arrived Friday with the rest of the drivetrain. I saw when your coyote arrived and I check back to see your progress every now and then. I thought I’d see if you had some pics…lo and behold. I assume you’re going to keep those. If not or you’re willing to temporarily take leave of them, email me and we can work out a deal. Nice job installing that beast.

          • Terry
            Dec 17, 2013

            By the way. The customer service rep at FRPP told me “If you find a set of those, go buy a lottery ticket”…I thought I’d pass that on.

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