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My wrecked #63 has to go to the frame shop. That means tearing it down to the chassis, pulling the engine by myself for the first time, and finding out the internet lied to me about lifting it by hand. Sort of.
Hey guys, Chad here with Midlife Classic Cars.
If you caught my last couple of videos, you already know how this story starts. I wrecked the 63 car at Dominion Raceway on the road course. Twice. Then the trailer bearings let go on the way home and cost me two extra days.
So the car is finally back in Greensboro. And now I've got a new job in front of me.
The front of the frame is bent. It has to go to the chassis shop so they can put it on their jig and straighten it. To do that, I have to strip this Legend car down. And I've never done it before.
Never pulled the engine out of a Legend car. Never torn one all the way down. Never even watched somebody else do it on YouTube. So this is me learning it the same way you would. In real time. On camera.
It was Thursday the 10th, around 1 p.m., when I finally got started. I leave on a three-week trip soon, and I wanted the car at the frame shop before I left so it would be done when I got back.
My girlfriend had plans that night. So I figured I'd work straight through.
The game plan was pretty loose:
Honestly I didn't even know how much I was supposed to take apart. But my thinking was simple. If it's bare, they can put it on the jig, measure it, and fix whatever needs fixing. No surprises later.
This is so typical of working on cars.
I've got a jack lift in the shop that raises the car way higher than the dollies. At my age, I'll take all the height I can get. So I went to use it and it started acting funny.
I figured it was the battery. Worked on the battery. Not the battery. I even ran power straight to the actuator and it still did nothing. So that's probably where the problem is.
Over an hour gone. Didn't fix it. Now I'm an hour behind before I've touched a single bolt on the Legend car.
And then the business side of my life kicked in. We've been fighting an inventory control issue at the shop, so I kept getting pulled away to help with that. That's just real life. The car doesn't care that you've got a job.
Once I finally got rolling, it went fast. I started with everything outside the engine.
Here's the one tip I'd give anybody. Do one side slow. Learn it. Then the second side goes twice as fast because you already know every bolt.
I'll replace most of the hardware when it goes back together. But I still put every bolt back with the part it came off of. Future Chad will thank me.
Oh, and I spent a solid chunk of the day trying to remember the name of the tool that separates the spindle. I kept calling it the "pinion tool." It's a ball joint separator. I had to look it up because it was driving me crazy. That's what 8 hours in the shop does to your brain.
Front clip stripped. Suspension boxed up by side so I don't lose my mind putting it back together.
The bible for tearing a race car down and putting it back together right. Fasteners, safety wire, inspection. Should've read it again before I started.
If you've been following along, I've been saying this car is drinking water. We ran the tests. Now that it's apart, I think I see it.
The spray pattern lines up with the overflow line. My theory is the car was running hot, boiling coolant out the overflow, and it was splashing up over the side of the block. So maybe not the head at all. Maybe just too hot. It's a theory. I'll keep chasing it.
Then I found a wire labeled J11 IAT that isn't plugged into anything I can find. It's not the radiator fan. Another thing we'll figure out together.
And then there was the bolt. One bolt that would not come out no matter what I threw at it. So I cut it. It was around 8:30 at night and I'd hoped the engine would be out by then. Time doesn't wait. You just keep working.
This is where I got stuck. I had the Legend car engine unhooked and ready to go, but I didn't know where to hook the hoist. There are two points on the heads. I didn't want to guess and make things worse.
So I asked in the Just Legends group on Facebook. Great group, by the way. Facebook is pretty much only for car stuff for me these days.
I got every answer you can imagine:
I wanted to use the bolts, but I didn't have the right thread for the back one. So I went with the ratchet strap method. And it worked. The engine came out of the car.
Then I went to put it on the engine stand that came with the car. And it didn't fit. Clearly whoever built that stand never used it. So the engine sat on the floor on some wood overnight, and I went to go knock out a newsletter at 10:30 at night because that's my life.
Next morning I had a flight to catch. I didn't love the engine sitting on its case on the wood, so I decided to try the old-guy advice and lift it onto a tire by hand.
Legend car engines are over a hundred pounds. The guys telling me to do this looked old enough to be my dad in their profile pictures.
I got it up there. Barely. Not pretty. Not fun. I said some words on camera I'll let you hear in the video.
So yes. It can be done. I'm not saying it's recommended. But if you're stuck by yourself with no working stand, it can be done. Catch your breath after.
Engine out, sitting on a tire, and me in a chair questioning my life choices.
One of my followers, William, asked me for a breakdown. I don't usually do step-by-step videos because I'm learning too, and I make mistakes. But here's the order I'd follow, and it's the same way I've pulled engines out of every car I've owned.
The biggest challenge was doing it alone. No one to hold the engine at an angle while I jack the hoist. I watch guys like Landon Huffman on YouTube and I'm not jealous of his cars. I'm jealous that he has friends who will come work on them. I've got one guy who helps every now and then. That's it. This was all me.
One week inside a real NASCAR Winston Cup team. See what it looks like when a whole crew tears a car down. Then come back and feel sorry for me.
I want to be real with you. I'm not a professional mechanic. I'm a shade tree guy.
My first car was an Austin-Healey 3000. Then a '71 Beetle convertible, a BMW 2002, and now the E30. Almost everything I've owned has been carbureted. Most of my tools are Harbor Freight.
And honestly, this Legend car is every bit as simple to work on as my BMW 2002. That car was my daily for seven or eight years, and an engine rebuild on it is coming soon.
So the takeaway from this video isn't "here's how to do the job." It's that you can do the job.
I'm not super smart. I'm just dumb enough to try. When I got into rock climbing in my 20s, I just started climbing, and a month later I was doing multi-pitch. Same thing here. If you're scared to pull an engine, just be a little dumb. Go do it.
All I got done in this round was the front suspension and the engine. There's still a lot left:
Then I rebuild it and get back on the track. Thanks to everybody in Just Legends and in my comments for the help and the kind words. I'm not great at racing yet. But I can turn a wrench, and you guys keep me going.
It's a motorcycle-based engine, and it's over 100 pounds. One person can lift it by hand. It isn't fun. A hoist and a strap is the smarter way.
Most folks in the Just Legends group said the bolt holes on top of the head. A ratchet strap wrapped around the engine also works. That's what I used.
Electrical, then fuel, then exhaust, then the rest of the nuts and bolts. Leave anything that's easier to move as one piece bolted together.
Not always all the way. I'm stripping mine fully so the chassis shop can put it on the jig and check everything at once.
Straight out of our racing books section. Tear it down, set it up, and learn from the guys who did it first.
Carroll Smith's nuts-and-bolts guide to race car prep. Perfect for teardown season.
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Chassis setup and handling. What I'll be reading once the frame comes back straight.
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Carroll Smith's quick-reference for the shop. Keep it on the toolbox.
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Wrenching and racing with Carroll Shelby in the '60s. Told by a guy who turned the wrenches.
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Thanks for hanging out, guys. If you've ever pulled an engine by yourself at midnight, you know exactly how this one went. Like and subscribe on YouTube so you can see the body come off next. And check out the Midlife Classic Cars store for shop manuals, restoration guides, history books, and our "One Foot in the Grave" shirts and hoodies. Every order helps keep the 63 car going. See you at the track. — Chad
Discover a treasure trove of rare and out-of-print car books, showcasing the history, design, and performance of classic automobiles.
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