anyone used a lifting sling?

[RICH MUISE]

I'm not finding a whole lot of attaching bolts that look safe or sturdy enough for lifting the 4.6 out of the Mark....probably because it was designed to be installed/removed with jacks from the bottom. The block being aluminum is what gives me more concern about strength at certain points than it would if it were cast iron.
I am wondering if anyone has used nylon lifting straps/slings for removing an engine...seems like it would work well. I can get 20 foot 2000 lb straps at Harbor Freight for under $30.

[gasman826]

I made a spreader bar as an accessory for lift.  I use it on the 460 to go across the engine and use the OEM lift plates bolted to the exhaust manifolds.  I can lift the engine without crushing the valve covers or the throttle body stacks.  I used it on 4.6 removal from a Mustang.  Worked great.  Hooded into the engine mounts...engine, bellhousing and trans.

[57dohc]

Rich,
I understand your concerns for lifting points on the 4.6 engine.  From the posts I have read on other sites it appears ford had lifting brackets that attached to the back of the right side head and the front of the left head.  These used to be available new but haven't been made for some time.  They can show up on Ebay, but are pricey.  If I could find a good image of them prehaps they could be fabricated.
I used a nylon cargo strap under each motor mount(between the engine and mount)  over the outside of the exhaust manifolds and cam covers meeting in center over engine.  I protected the cam covers by using a 2x4 cushioned by a towel along each edge.  This did work without damage and balanced quite nicely with the transmission attached.  Without the transmission attached, I needed to attach a small adjustable strap from the front on engine and another to bell housing bolt to keep balanced.   
While this works, I would still would rather find a better way for final fit.  The strap takes up a good deal of room on a already WIDE engine and will be difficult to remove with the engine down on the motor mounts.  Let me know if you come up with a better way!  Al

[RICH MUISE]

I decided to drop the k member..I've got everthing undone that I can see. Hopefully tommorow I'll have the engine out, but still on the K member. After that, I'll be playing with the cargo straps or using the front head bolt location you mentioned (thanks..I'll look for them)and bellhousing bolt holes with a traditional chain.
Man...this is lots of work! I've been working on most every afternoon for a week. I haven't pulled an engine since about 1964! Lot's more complicated than the old school stuff. Imagine all the bitchin' I can be doing when doing the install!!...and all this work is just to salvage parts off the old mark viii I'm not using so I can send it off to the crushers...I'll have to go thru it again with the better Mark I bought.

[RICH MUISE]

got it out yesterday morning. The car being scraped made it a whole lot easier...just cut everything off in the way and pull it straight out with no lifting. A small harbor freight moving dolly ($12) under the tranny, and some wheel dollies I already had under the K member.
Next chore is to pull the tranny off and gut it out to use with my plastic engine mock-up for the '57. After pulling the engine off the K-member, I'll have to reinstall the member under the mark so I can get some wheels put back on it.

[57 Ford Kustom]

Rich,
   Nice Job!!! Thanks for the pics!
Thanks,
Tim

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks...LOL...I had to pat myself on the back cause there was no one else here to do it. That's alot of work for an old man. The last time I pulled an engine was about 48 years ago!! I think it was a one day thing back then an I was using an elm tree with a chain hoist. My wife just looked around at all the parts scattered all over and shook her head.
I'm cleaning up my mess today.

[larryb346]

Just a suggestion. I use to rebuilt vehicles totaled by insurance companies. I bought a 97 f 150 in December 96 and had to change the engine. Ford at that time had a plate with a hook that bolted to what would be the intake manifold, after the upper plenum was removed. I have pulled a few since then but not in a few years. If I remember correctly the plate was about 3/8  inch thick plate and had 4 holes to bolt it to the intake. It had a loop welded to it to hook your cherry picker. I was worried the first one I pulled but it was a ford factory plate, but the ford dealership in my town hadn't had to pull one yet so they didn't know if it would work or not.  It worked like a charm, and before I took their plate back to them I made a template to make my own and used it several times. Your luck might be different than mine  but that was the was what the ford engineers designed in 96 for the then new body style and engine 1997 f150pickup.
Larry

[RICH MUISE]

Thanks for the tip..Ford does have some good ideas once in a while. Today was one of my 'I love Ford / I hate Ford' Days.
Pulled the tranny off the 4.6 today. This was the first time I've ever pulled an automatic. I had already been dealing with the "mostly metric..but every once in a while"..thing on the Mark vii. Today I ran into it on the flex plate nuts... 9/16"!..15mm bolt heads holding the bellhousing on! wth?
However,while having a really hard time following the advise of removing the lower bellhousing plate to access those flexplate bolts..and not finding anything I had that would reach them without pulling the oil pan as well (would have been a problem the way I was supporting the engine), I noticed a rubber plug tucked up in the corner behind the exaust manifold. Sure enough..an access hole cast into the block to get to the flexplate bolts. Cool..out in 5 minutes from the side..not the bottom.