dropping rb20det in with tranmission still on

[Vkoslak]

anyway to do this?

going in an s13 btw.

I have the car sitting on the ground, I tried jacking the rear of the car up to increase the angle of the opening for the transmission. I also have the engine heavily angled from the engine hoist. What concerns me, is that with the transmission in the tunnel, and the head pretty much as far back as it can go, there seems to be no way to swing the front of the engine down without hitting the radiator and the part of the car directly in front of the radiator.

I really don't want to take the transmission off. Putting a ka transmission back on was a pain. I can only imagine how hard it would be to put an rb20 transmission back on.

Im hoping to get it in soon so I can reclaim some garage space!

[Joe]

lol

take the radiator out

its 2 bolts.

[Yellow4g63]

in through the top with the hood off. easy as 1 2 3.

[SeVa-S13]

in through the top with the hood off. easy as 1 2 3.

Pretty much. Anything even remotely damagable easily should be removed from the bay, especially the radiator. I did it in the street with a non-adjustable lift/chain. Muscle and some brains will get it done.

[NightKids2]

Maybe were just idiots, but it took us well over an hour to get motor in the car and correctly seated on the mounts (partly because the firewall wasent indented enough). We put a decent size dent in my radiator support getting it in there, and some minor damage to the A/C pulley... like anyone uses it.

[jdmser]

Took me about 10 minute to jack the car up high enough, roll the motor under it, and pick it up into place. I put mine in with the transmission and engine crossmembers still attached.

[Vkoslak]

I'm planning on using ac.

[OKCA18DET]

Took me about 10 minute to jack the car up high enough, roll the motor under it, and pick it up into place. I put mine in with the transmission and engine crossmembers still attached.

to me this is the SMART way to do it , might take a lil more work for those who dont want to unbolt the x-member and all that stuff, but u sure wont dent your core support or anything like that

[Vkoslak]

I dont think I can "safely" jack my car up that high. plus I dont have anything to roll the motor around on to slide it under the car.

[Carl H]

if you are careful about dropping it in from the top then there is nothing to be worried about.ive put in tons of motors (sr,ca,ka,rb) putting them in thru the top, its not hard and as long as some one is on the back to make sure nothing hits then you are good.besides nothing like a few dents and battlescars on the rad support to show how hard core you are.

[Andrew85cm]

I dropped my RB20 motor through the top like 3 times, don't ask. Yeah that is the best way. Removing the crossmember and jacking the car up that high would be a *****. Do it transmission and all. I tried doing it with just the motor but the transmission flange sits in front of the firewall and the flange will hit the tunnel and the shaft wont go in. This accounts for me putting the engine in a second time. You can do it but be careful not to mar the paint too bad in the bay just cover it with something. Well I had just repainted mine. Also be careful with the chain the third time I put it in a clear broke off one of my knock sensors. You dont need to be hunting parts so make sure it isnt against anything that can break and remember you will have the engine hanging basically with the transmission verticle almost so take that into account. Learn from my mistakes~ANDREW~

[Sil240]

yeah im with you andrew85 ive put in the motor and trany toooo many times haha

[Vkoslak]

Its mostly in. I think the passenger side Top Hat mount is resting partially on my hicas lines :X

the engine seems like it is still about 1 inch too far forward. But the rear of the engine is snug up against the ac line that runs against the firewall.

I think i may have to lift the engine with the hoist a little and see if i cant get that ac line out of the way.

Once I can get the motor to move back a little more, the transmission mount should line up. The transmission mount should go so that the holes that the transmission actually attaches to are closest to the passenger side of the vehicle right?

And how the hell do you fit a rb side mount intercooler in the fender?

Maybe I should just get a front mount. (arg more money!!)

[totoro001]

dropped mine in from the top with the transmission attached.. just take you rtime and be careful.. no biggie

[Yellow4g63]

Its mostly in. I think the passenger side Top Hat mount is resting partially on my hicas lines :X

the engine seems like it is still about 1 inch too far forward. But the rear of the engine is snug up against the ac line that runs against the firewall.

I think i may have to lift the engine with the hoist a little and see if i cant get that ac line out of the way.

Once I can get the motor to move back a little more, the transmission mount should line up. The transmission mount should go so that the holes that the transmission actually attaches to are closest to the passenger side of the vehicle right?

And how the hell do you fit a rb side mount intercooler in the fender?

Maybe I should just get a front mount. (arg more money!!)

Are you good with puzzles? lol here is mine looking from the ground up. It didn't fit perfect but it fit back there.

[blk90s13]

Took me about 10 minute to jack the car up high enough, roll the motor under it, and pick it up into place. I put mine in with the transmission and engine crossmembers still attached.

thats the only way to do it