Sebring Progress

  Older son and I got the engine back in the Sebring this evening. It took some ... I dunno .... force? Slight of hand? Careful engineering? Engine supported by an engine hoist, lowered to mate with the front suspension. Tripod joint came semi-loose. Luckily we were able to re-engage it without having to open anything up. Nothing like trying to line up a couple of axles dangling from a 500 pound block with a couple of hubs floppily attached to a 300 pound subframe. Somehow we managed. With a floor jack under the front end and a broom stick under the back end we rolled the whole assembly under the car and then jacked it up as far as we could go. It wasn't quite enough, so we had to reattach the engine hoist to haul the engine up the last few inches. We got the motor mounts bolted together and realized we hadn't engaged the steering column, so we had to undo the bolts in the left hand suspension tower to allow that side to drop down far enough to allow us to fit the telescoping sections of the steering column together.
    It was kind of weird working with that much weight. When everything is stable and still it all seems fine, but when you start raising and lowering things you start to realize just how much weight you are working with, and it's a bunch. Gravity is just the weirdest thing.