Lifting a Coyote Engine

[4.6 litre]

I will be installing my coyote engine for sizing purposes. I have a HF 2 ton engine hoist and leveler. I was told that you could use the headers to lift the engine. I've also seen on the Forum that a lifting plate could be used. Can anyone tell me the preferred lifting method and if it is a lifting plate how is the lifting plate constructed?

Thanks

Damien

[77233349975]

I put a coyote in a 33 hot rod . I used the lifting thing that came with the engine on the front and a strap around the header on the outher side rear . it worked fine.i think you could use a strap on both sides . I had some yellow tiedown straps from H.F. that worked good nothing extra.

[ClemsonS197]

If it's a crate engine, it comes with lifting 'arms.' If it's not a crate engine, there are two threaded holes on the back pass side, and drivers front side. Just get a bolt, some chain, and you're good.

[4.6 litre]

Thanks for the info guys. Just for information, my coyote is a crate engine but Ford Performance Racing no longer supplies the lifting arms with the crate engine. That's what caused my concern. With your info I should be good to go.

Thanks,

Damien

[Jester]

As above posts - see photo below

Coyote Engine with mounts.jpg

[4.6 litre]

As above posts - see photo below

Coyote Engine with mounts.jpg

Jester,

Thanks for the photo. I'm at least a week away from dropping the engine. I'm just raising the buck this weekend. It looks like you have the FPR lifting arms that didn't come with my crate engine. A buddy of mine says he has a lifting plate that I can use. I'm not sure what that means. He has a 302 SBF roadster. Your photo is great. It gets me out of the dark. If I have problems, I be posting.

Thanks again,
Damien

[68GT500MAN]

A "lifting plate" is attached to the intake manifold in place of the carburetor or EFI. The hook from the engine lift attaches to it to securely lift the engine.
Doug

[ckrueger]

No lifting arms with mine either. Apprently they don't come with the motor anymore. Made up a couple of plates with lifting holes to mount in the same place. A chain with bolts in the same location would work just as well.

[Jester]

Jester,

Thanks for the photo. I'm at least a week away from dropping the engine. I'm just raising the buck this weekend. It looks like you have the FPR lifting arms that didn't come with my crate engine. A buddy of mine says he has a lifting plate that I can use. I'm not sure what that means. He has a 302 SBF roadster. Your photo is great. It gets me out of the dark. If I have problems, I be posting.

Thanks again,
Damien

Damian,

I am not sure a lifting plate will work as a lift plat attaches to the intake manifold where a Carb usually goes.

It may be easier to source a few proper size bolts for the lift mount holes and attach a chain using these bolt locations - careful the chain is properly secured to the lift.

Note: Installing the engine and trans unit is not difficult and I did this I single handed (without any help in about 1/2 hour) - just need to take your time and be careful. I put protection around the exposed frame members and firewall to save the paint. You will need 1/2 inch aluminum plates to sit on the frame mounts for the engine mounts to raise the engine accordingly. I also used an aluminum block (cant remember the thickness - 3/4 inch I think) to raise the trans for the trans mount. If you have not test fitted the engine and modified the foot box(s) accordingly - it is a good idea to test fit before adding the trans etc for final install.

Good luck

[4.6 litre]

Attached are some pic's of my coyote engine. The coyote is strapped to the crate via M 8.8-1.7-25mm bolts in three locations. The threaded holes for these bolts are all over the sides and fonts of the coyote. The depth of the threaded hole is approximately 33mm. The M 8.8 bolt fits very nicely in the chain on my engine leveler. Are these the threaded hole I should use diagonally across the rear and front of my engine for lifting purposes? If yes I'll just use a threaded hole in the DS front end and one in the PS rear. If not, please correct me? In addition, can any of these threaded holes in the rear of the engine be used for attachment to an engine stand?

Regards,

Damien (slow and steady, emphasis on slow)

[Jester]

For clarification - I have attached a few more photos with exact lift points/bolt locations for the brackets supplied by FRPP

It looks like FRPP now uses straps to attach the crate to the engine-frame mount holes (must be a cost saving measure)

DS Lift Bracket.jpgPS Litf Bracket.jpg

[DaleG]

Those are the correct threaded holes.

NOTE: You'll have to change the oil filter; Pick up a filter for a Napa 7060 or equivalent. It is a filter for a 2010-2012 Cadillac CTS-V. It's stubbier; the one that came with the crate will not fit in the chassis. Using the shorter filter is easier than using the filter relocator supplied with the kit.

[4.6 litre]

Thanks for the info. It removes all doubt.

I need to put the engine on 8x8x8 cinder blocks so I can get the hoist under the pallet. Right now the pallet is on dollies and they're blocking the feet of the hoist. So I'll put the engine on blocks, hoist up the engine, change the oil pan and filter. I don't think I can put the engine with the new oil pan back on the pallet so I assume I'll need to use an engine stand. I don't want to find myself in a situation where I hoist the engine up and have no place to put it. Is there any way I can get around using the engine stand or is it best just to buy one?

Regards,

Damien

[Jester]

Thanks for the info. It removes all doubt.

I need to put the engine on 8x8x8 cinder blocks so I can get the hoist under the pallet. Right now the pallet is on dollies and they're blocking the feet of the hoist. So I'll put the engine on blocks, hoist up the engine, change the oil pan and filter. I don't think I can put the engine with the new oil pan back on the pallet so I assume I'll need to use an engine stand. I don't want to find myself in a situation where I hoist the engine up and have no place to put it. Is there any way I can get around using the engine stand or is it best just to buy one?

Regards,

Damien

Damien,

I did not use an engine stand. I installed the motor as supplied from FRPP to confirm that the engine was running properly (ECU, gauges, idle, etc ) before changing the pan and pick-up. Once installed and running properly I changed the oil pan. It is easy to change the pan with the engine installed - you won't be driving with the FRPP oil pan, only testing that engine runs properly. I did not want to risk voiding the engine warranty by changing the pan and pick-up before I knew the engine was operating properly.

I believe others may have changed the pan & pickup before starting the engine for the first time though.

[4.6 litre]

Jester,

Thanks for the heads-up.

Basically, I just want to start the DS and PS foot boxes mods. I’ve clecod-up the DS and PS foot boxes to see how they would fit. I was going to get the foot box mod templates, make the mods, change the oil pan, install my SS coyote headers, get my engine spacers and drop the engine in to see how everything would fit before I started the front end. Maybe this is not such a good idea?

I fell fairly confident that all of this will work out since it’s been done before by many experienced builders. I'm trying to be proactive in performing the foot box mods first but I don’t want to unnecessarily invalidate my engine warranty. I’m getting more confident that everything will work out and that I don’t need to reinvent the wheel or verify everything first since I have experienced Forum builders advising me.

Like I said I can always move on to the front end. In addition I also need to purchase the hydraulic clutch and power steering. I’m going to sleep on this tonight.

Thanks,

Damien (slow and steady or the little locomotive - whichever fits best)

[Jester]

Jester,

Thanks for the heads-up.

Basically, I just want to start the DS and PS foot boxes mods. I’ve clecod-up the DS and PS foot boxes to see how they would fit. I was going to get the foot box mod templates, make the mods, change the oil pan, install my SS coyote headers, get my engine spacers and drop the engine in to see how everything would fit before I started the front end. Maybe this is not such a good idea?

I fell fairly confident that all of this will work out since it’s been done before by many experienced builders. I'm trying to be proactive in performing the foot box mods first but I don’t want to unnecessarily invalidate my engine warranty. I’m getting more confident that everything will work out and that I don’t need to reinvent the wheel or verify everything first since I have experienced Forum builders advising me.

Like I said I can always move on to the front end. In addition I also need to purchase the hydraulic clutch and power steering. I’m going to sleep on this tonight.

Thanks,

Damien (slow and steady or the little locomotive - whichever fits best)

Good idea to get the foot box mods done (or at least complete the bottom, front and trans tunnel sides of each footbox - and only temp fit the outer and upper sides with clecos - you will need access through the outer and upper sides of the DS footbox to complete the build (wiring, adjust brake bias, etc) so only temporarily fit these pieces). You may be aware that there are two requirements for the DS foot box mods

1) for the DS cylinder head clearance

2) for increased space between the gas pedal and the footbox wall along the trans tunnel side (gas pedal foot area - need max space possible here)

Have the engine mount spacer plates in place on the frame for the test fit, level the engine on the mounts and mount spacer plates, then you can trial fit the mod sheet metal to insure there is adequate space for the DS the cylinder head and the gas pedal foot area. No two builds are identical so you may need to make slight adjustments to your foot box mods for your build.

Note: the gas pedal should be mounted as well to insure the space on the right side of the gas pedal between the trans tunnel sheet metal is sufficient (you need as much space for the gas pedal foot area as you can get - the bigger the better). I tried to mirror the 302 DS footbox gas pedal area sheet metal (on my mod - the gas pedal area foot box sheet metal runs along the top of the 4 inch round frame tube for max space then required several custom fab cut-outs and inserts to provide space for the cylinder head).

There is no required mod for the PS footbox but recommend extending forward to match the DS footbox depth and increase the width of the footbox on the tran tunnel side

I suggest running and completing the fuel lines and brake lines, mounting the fuel pressure regulator, master cylinder reservoirs, ECU etc, etc as well before final engine install. Much easier to work on these without having the engine in place but test fitting with the engine temporarily in place is recommended (some may not agree but I found this approach much easier to get a very clean looking / professional result)

Good luck.

[4.6 litre]

Q-Will changing the FRPP headers invalidate the warranty? I bought those fancy SS headers from Stainless Headers MFG and I’m kinda of chompin' at the bit to put them on. The oil pan and headers cost about $ 1.7K and I'd like to check that fit up also. I realize that I'm really putting the cart ahead of the horse but these are things we didn't do this at Build School so I’m thinking about doing them now, any comment?

[4.6 litre]

I found that the one (1) FRPP lifting arm bolt supplied with my coyote is M14-2.0. I'll lift the engine off the crate like ClemsonS197 suggests. In the event I need a lifting bracket, I ordered an OTC lifting bracket from Summit, OTC Tools 7100 - OTC Lifting Brackets.

I made a mistake on those M8.8-1.7 bolts. They really are M10-1.5 and that's the size of the bellhousing bolts.

Getting to know my nuts and bolts better.

Damien

[Jester]

Q-Will changing the FRPP headers invalidate the warranty? I bought those fancy SS headers from Stainless Headers MFG and I’m kinda of chompin' at the bit to put them on. The oil pan and headers cost about $ 1.7K and I'd like to check that fit up also. I realize that I'm really putting the cart ahead of the horse but these are things we didn't do this at Build School so I’m thinking about doing them now, any comment?

Regardless of the warranty you cannot use the OEM Coyote headers with your Mk4 as they will not fit. You may want to confirm that the Coyote can be installed into the frame with the 4 into 4 headers attached (?). I used the FFR headers with custom J-pipes and installed the engine (with FFR headers attached) & trans assembly as one unit without the J-pipes attached. I don't think the engine can be installed with the j-pipes attached (equivalent to having the 4 into 4 headers bolted on). For test fitting the foot box space and the fitment of other engine bay components it is best to remove the OEM headers and use just the Coyote engine itself. You will need to make several test fits with just the engine.

[4.6 litre]

Done deal



It's on the engine stand now. I'm going install the new headers while the engine is on the stand just to check the fit. Then I'm going to purchase the engine spacers. When the spacers come in I’ll drop the engine into the frame w/o headers and install the DS FB vertical interior panel and any other panels needed to add stability. At that point I should be able to determine what mods to make.

FYI - I used the M14 bolt on the passenger side rear of the engine and the M10 bolt in the driver's side front. There are no M14 bolt holes in the front of the engine. They are on the side. If you use both M14 bolts the engine tips forward upon lifting.

Once everything was setup got the engine on the stand in 5 minutes.
Thanks everyone for your help. This was my first time using everything (all my toys, hoist, leveler and stand). After doing it once, it’s a piece of cake.

Damien

[2bking]

Damien, if you are using the Moroso pan you may need to modify or exchange the baffle to let the dip stick read the oil level accurate. There is thread on the Moroso dip stick problem. Moroso is aware of the problem and will supply the corrected part.

[4.6 litre]

Damien, if you are using the Moroso pan you may need to modify or exchange the baffle to let the dip stick read the oil level accurate. There is thread on the Moroso dip stick problem. Moroso is aware of the problem and will supply the corrected part.

King,

I have the Moroso oil pan. It was purchased after the corrections were made but I will need to verify that physically. I’ll go back and read the post on this problem.

Thanks for the reminder.

Damien

[4.6 litre]

King,

I have the Moroso oil pan. It was purchased after the corrections were made but I will need to verify that physically. I’ll go back and read the post on this problem.

Thanks for the reminder.

Damien

Attached is a pic of the Moroso oil pan. Does this look similar to your pan?



Regards,

Damien

[4.6 litre]

As Jester stated previously it is not necessary to have a engine stand for the coyote. I was overly cautious since I was uncomfortable with having the engine on the hoist while I dismantled the pallet to save the original wooden engine support structure.

I've attached a pic of the engine support structure. I can use this wooden structure for supporting the engine in the future.



Regards,

Damien