Idea: 996 Engine drop with motorcycle lift table

Hey RLers, I wanted to share a tip for something unconventional that worked well for me with an engine drop: a motorcycle lift table. If you happen to have one, it makes the engine drop easy. I am also a motorcycle enthusiast, so I have had an inexpensive (Harbor Freight) motorcycle lift table for awhile. Most of the time it is just taking up floor space, but occasionally it comes in handy for other things. As I was reading Rennlist posts and mulling over how to safely drop the engine in my 996, I had a brainstorm to use it for dropping (and soon reinstalling) the engine and transmission in my car. The great news is that my son and I tried it this morning before work, and it worked like a charm. I had already removed all of the connections to the engine and transmission using the Bentley manual and the 101 projects book. I threw some OSB I had kicking around (from the crate on the replacement engine) onto the top of the lift table to minimize metal on metal and sliding. Then I used some 2x10 cutoffs as blocks under the engine and transmission (1x under the engine and 2x under the transmission) - I added these blocks because the lips on the lift table would have come in contact with the aluminum suspension cradle if I didn't. Plus the transmission is higher up than the engine, and I didn't want it unsupported Then I pumped the lift table until it was firmly supporting the assembly, and last of all I had my son slowly raise the car lift to move the body up and clear Ahh, that's the second handy thing to have for this project - a lift. I've been mucking around with cars my whole life and a few years ago bought a low height two post lift (Maxjax) that we used to lift the body up off the engine. I opted to lift the body up, instead of dropping the table down because the motorcycle lift moves in an arc, and the lift goes straight up and down. With these two tools, the engine drop was low hassle, low stress. Just thought I'd pass this along in case anyone else has the same idea - go for it - it works! it works!

We discussed this engine lift option at length recently. The attraction is that it is cheap,locally available and versatile. See Post 19 here for details: https://rennlist.com/forums/boxster-...e-thing-2.html The conclusion was that there are better choices if you are working at standing height with the car on a Lift -and can afford a dedicated engine lift. The best design was a double scissor Lift Cart.They lift to 72"

For me, it was a matter of already having the mc lift table, so no additional investment. For the $300 they cost, they are well worth it. Having rebuilt motorcycles on the ground versus on a lift table, I can tell you the difference is night and day. The other nice plus is that I now have the assembly on a cart that I can raise to waist height to do preventative maintenance and prep the engine for reinstallation. I did this same operation with my '72 911 on the ground, with a floor jack, jack stands, an engine crane and on a dedicated engine stand, and I'm very certain that my back is going to thank me for the table setup this time. He only downside to the lift table is the amount of floor space they take up.

For half the cost 500 lbs capacity.

My palleted motor weighed almost 600 lbs, granted, there was a lot of wood, but that is without the transmission... Clearly that worked for you, but I wouldn't take the risk on a 500 lb capacity lift for both motor and transmission. AND I already had this in my garage...

Excelent point . The best option may be to use a hydraulic lift cart that has the weight capacity to handle the engine+transmission.There are photos elsewhere showing this done.

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the 500lb capacity lift table from HF won't lift the motor from its lowest position. You will need to help it up with floor jacks (preferably 2 - one in each side). Once you get it about half way up it can handle it from there. In hindsight I would have spent the extra $ and gotten the 750-1000lb table.

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Mine lifts the aprox 450 lb engine just fine to this day after 7 years. May have gotten a bad one from HF.

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Certainly a possibility - I would have thought that a table rated to lift 500lbs, would be able to lift at least 750 (safety margin)... Unfortunately in my case this didn't hold true! By the time I had the engine on there, I couldn't very well return it... I might be able to now though... Hmmmmm