Anyone reassemble and leave off the engine removal hooks? My rear one is already gone, and the front is just collecting dirt.

 

I’ve removed a few motors where they are missing, was not happy.

Why not source and replace?

 

No good reason, I just don't like looking at it!

I'll put it back on. I do want to transplant the engine when this body rusts out.

 

The rear isn't on my 04, and I'm not sure that any came with front and rear.
I think Best4x4 said(my appologies if he didn't)that adding another from a junkyard for the rear was a good lifting option.
I removed the heads before removing my engine, so I used old head bolts at the 4 corners of the block.
Going back, the heads and lower intake will be on.
My Dad made me a mounting plate with a loop that bolts to the lower intake using shorter bolts than the long ones for the upper intake(will post pic later when I get home).
Basically, it's just like a long carburetor plate for lifting engines.
If you can't fabricate your own, you can buy a carb lifting plate from Summit or ebay for about $15, and drill new holes in it.

 

I believe that the flow of air from the crankcase was reversed due to this nastiness. This is the interior plate that sits below the separator. I took out the separator, destroyed it in the process, and that was clear, because I don't think Air was getting to it anymore.

 

I got some Permatex Gasket Prep, something like the stuff in the AB Video that he uses on the lower intake gasket, when dismantling I noticed that I did not get the metal gasket to seal well when I did my coilpack last summer.

Is it a good idea to use the gasket prep on the metal gasket between the intake manifolds, or is there a trick to seating that?

 

When I did lifters, pushrods, oil pump, before removing my engine for a rebuild, I had a missfire with no codes(no misfire prior to replacing those parts).
After a couple days of trying to get a code, finally one for the mass air. But, I could hear what sounded like an air leak somewhere around the lower intake.
Regardless, the ticking was still there, so I pulled the engine, and found cam, crank, and rod bearings worn.
Still, I suspected an air leak between the heads and lower intake.
I Will definately be putting black rtv on both sides of the intake to head gaskets.
It's not common to do so, but it can't do any harm.
Considering that if there was a small dried bead of rtv pushed out of one of the gaskets, it would be inline where the air/fuel mix is drawn in.
If and when that rtv is sucked into the combustion chamber, it'll just burn up, and any small solid left would just blow through the exhaust.

 

 

Technically, that is the correct way.