18 classic engine removal tips

[slownsx]

I'm pulling motor on Friday if schedule allows. Any tips on this would be nice, 1994 350 mag alpha1.

[DonziDave]

Several years ago I had to replace the coupler on my 18C. My marine mechanic buddy pulled the engine with the exhaust manifolds in place. He used a hoist that allowed him to raise the front and rear of the engine as he needed. Came out easy in a nose up condition.

I pulled into his shop at 8:00am. He pulled the drive, unhooked all the electrics, hoses, fuel line, exhaust hoses, shift linkage, motor mounts, etc.
He installed the new coupler, installed a new bilge pump, reinstalled the engine, spent 30 minutes aligning the engine, hooked everything back up, reinstalled the drive, and test ran on earmuffs to assure that everything worked.

I drove out of his shop at 12:00 noon......!!!! 4 hours start to finish....!!!
What a great mechanic..... :biggrin:

[bobwpe]

Do a search for engine removal and you will find an excellent step by step procedure by Rootsy. I used it to pull a 350 MPI out of a 2004 18' 2+3 about six weeks ago.
Good luck.

[Kirbyvv]

I just put the engine back in my '78 X-18, yesterday. 1.5 hours out, with the manifolds and risers still on, about 45 min back in, with 4 people. This does not include wiring, linkage etc. We put the trailer wheels on rollers so we could move the boat back and forth under the hoist. That worked great, because with the manifolds and risers on it was a really tight fit. I'd never do it without the rollers under the trailer. Needed a few hands to hold the engine and tip it in various dirrections as it was lifted. I'd never done anything like this and it went very smoothly. I used Rootsy's step by step as a base, and some other threads on the site, but mine was different (easier I think) being an older boat. Don't know what year you have, but mark the locations all the motor mount bolts, washers, etc so when you put it back in it will be as close as possible to being aligned. When I put it back in we didn't even have to move the engine to align with the Volvo drive.
It did take us 3 hours to figure out that one of the wire connectors wasn't making good contact and had to mess with the throttle linkage and now the bilge pump doesn't work, but we'll get that firgured out.
Good luck.