Hi,

You've probably done the job already, but I couldn't help but to respond to your i like the bellhousing to oilpan idea.

I have a very convenient $12 Home Depot motor supporter you've no doubt run into in the 7/9 FAQ or on my web page so I figure I don't have to learn by experiment whether resting the motor's weight on the old oilpan gasket might start it leaking. Now when you see these pictures, don't laugh about leaking gaskets!

However, yesterday, I was wanting to remove the passenger side mount, just to clean it and behind it, and all the lifting eyes (and most everything else that is still in your way) had been stripped from the top of the motor.



I really did not have to lift it much - just take the weight off the mount. Just putting a 15mm wrench on the mount's nut showed me it wasn't a lot of weight-- not like you'd be lifting both sides -- just shifting the weight on the passenger side.

Here's where the reference to your bellhousing-to-oilpan stiffener comes to mind. Yes, the access for me was a lot simpler with the exhaust system gone, but the weight was really very little, i.e. I could crank that scissors jack without even extending the lever, until I saw the rubber of the mount relax. Really, if the jacking can be done far enough from the center of the motor, the support needed is minimal. I chose the mechanical scissor jack to avoid any leakdown of a bottle or other hydraulic jack.



This is the time to loosen some nuts. First I broke loose the two locknuts on the mount studs. Just a half turn.





Then I removed the nuts under the crossmember from the lower mount.



With the an eye on the motor and a hand on the mount, I cranked a turn or so on the jack until I could feel the mount was loose, and no longer supporting the motor.



Simple to remove it then (of course, you say, no accessories, no oil filter, no alternator...)







But the point is, I could defer the stress from the oilpan to the widest part of the supported weight, at the outer reaches of the bell housing, and save my concern for the gaskets for some other hazard. Well, once it is clean, I'll maybe be happy about that.



--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their maker.