Ok, not sure if I'm approaching this the right way, so any suggestions from people who have removed an engine from an X1/9 would be appreciated. I've snapped more studs off on this 81 X1/9 than any car I've ever worked on, it's a royal pain. There was a stud broken on the exaust manafold, so in the process of removing the manafold, I broke another stud in the head. I tried to drill and tap it, but there wasn't enough clearance (even with the firewall removed to the trunk) and I broke a titanium drill bit off in the block. In frustration, I'm pulling the engine and going to tear it down and send the head to the machine shop to fix my mess. This is where I need help, I had a friend in high school that had an X1/9 and he was constantly dropping the engine by parking under a tree, putting blocks under the engine, removing the engine mounts and using a wench to lift the back of the car up high enough to get the engine out. I have no idea where he attached the cable and I can't imagine the bumper can support that much weight, if that's where he attached it. I'm not planning on using the tree method, but if anyone has ever removed the engine, what is the best (safest) way to accomplish this? I have the following tools: 2 Jack stands that will extend to the height of the engine, a 2 1/2 ton engine hoist, 2 floor jacks (that don't extend as high as the jack stands) and an engine stand waiting to hold an engine. I already had an eye opening experience using wood blocks on top of the jack to get it high enough to get the gas tank out and the jack fell, but luckily I had the jack stands under the car. It still hit the stands hard and scared the crap out of me. Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions for removing the engine?

Most people cheat a bit and remove the head first as it makes the job that little bit easier but that in itself can be a hideous task if the head refuses to come off - especially on an earlier 1500, for some reason these seem to be worse.

You've got the right idea. Take the weight of the engine with the engine hoist. Undo all the engine mounts, linkages, shafts, etc. and lower it to the floor. The sump is sturdy enough to take the punishment but you need to be careful of the gear linkage as this can (and will) snap off if the the engine weight is applied to it.

Once the engine is safely on the floor (better still on a trolly) you can then release the engine hoist and use it to lift the now much lighter rear end of the car. Then just slide the engine out...

As for the bumper taking the weight of the car - I suggest you take a very good look at how the bumper is fitted. Ignoring that huge extruded aluminium girder, and the rather substantial brackets that bolt the girder to the main bumper mounts you will see that the actual mountings are some very, very substantial tubular brackets that slide into the rear of the car. Look carefully and you will see that the recess they slide into is actually the main load bearing component of the chassis. My concern wouldn't be for the car - it would be for the poor tree...

Well, I successfully dropped it out the bottom. Your advice worked great. A friend and I were actually able to lift the back of the car by hand after the motor was dropped out (just for fun). Here's my step by step for the next person that tries this:

1. Removed all hoses and wires.
2. Removed the CV Joints and moved out of the way.
3. Removed the motor mount that bolts the valve cover to the rear of the engine compartment.
4. Attached a bar with chains and a crank that can be used to change the center of gravity on the engine (see the picture). The chains had L brackets on them and were bolted to the side motor mount and the head bolt on the back near the timing cover.
5. Jacked the engine up slightly and adjusted the center of gravity for an even load.
6. Removed the bottom support.
7. Lowered the engine to releve stress on the motor mount near the timing cover and removed the bolt.
8. Raised the engine and changed the center of gravity so the transmission was pointed down and lots of nasty 20 year old coolent leaked out.
9. Lowered engine clearing the CV joints (actually I wasn't paying attention the first time and did some damage to the shorter, be careful)
10. Once the engine was on the ground it wasn't very stable and wanted to fall towards the front of the car, so I used a tire to hold it up.
11. Removed the rear bumper and attached the engine lift to the rear of the car.
12. This was fun, the engine lift has wheels so I just jacked the car up high enough to clear the engine (watching the front of the car to make sure the front spoiler didn't hit the ground) and swung the rear of the car away from the engine (see picture).



I sat the car down on jack stands and removed the engine lift. Then I just removed the transmission and I'm now ready to put the engine on an engine stand to work on. The coolant lines were full of crystalized coolant, so I need to do a good flush on the engine. I also noticed the previous owner only put two transmission bolts back in, so I'm glad I did this, I can really give the engine a good inspection and cleaning. The car only has 52K miles on it and under the valve cover, it looked clean enough to eat off of. Thanks for the advice!!!

Glad to be of service.