The Riley 1.5/Wolseley 1500 engine fitted to the Olympic must be split from its gearbox before removal can be achieved, the following details the best method of removal.
First disconnect the battery from the car and remove it if its position is likely to interfere with the engine removal.
Remove the bonnet from the car and put in a safe place for storage. Undo and remove the bottom hose of the cooling system and collect the coolant in a suitable container. Remove the top hose from the engine/radiator. Undo and remove the heater hoses if the car has a heater.
Remove the fuel line from the carburettor and secure it out of the way under the nearside wing. Remove the choke and accelerator cables from the carburettor and secure them out of the way. Undo and remove the exhaust downpipe from the exhaust manifold and support the exhaust under the car. Undo the exhaust manifold nuts and remove the large washers holding the exhaust/inlet manifold in place, the exhaust/inlet manifold can now be removed and stored in a secure place.
Moving to the drivers side, remove the plug leads from the spark plugs and remove the distributor by undoing the pinch bolt on the distributor housing. The low tension wire from the coil should also be removed from the distributor at this point.
It is now possible to get at the starter motor from the engine bay. Remove the starter main feed cable on the starter by undoing the brass nut on the back of the starter main body and secure it out of the way. Undo the two bolts (one top and one bottom) on the starter and remove the starter from the engine.
On the drivers side of the car, remove all electrical connections to the dynamo and water temperature sender. Remove the small bore capillary tube for the oil pressure gauge and place under the front wing for safe keeping.
Undo the engine mountings from the front sub frame, these are held in place with 2 3/8" UNF bolts and nuts, at this point it is also policy to undo the single 3/8" nut holding the mounting onto the engine block.
The engine in the phase 1 is particularly tight, therefor it is necessary to undo the steering rack to allow enough room for the engine to be lifted. It may be possible to undo the steering rack and let it drop into a suitable position to allow the bottom pulley of the engine to clear during the lifting process, however this is unlikely, if it is apparent that there won't be enough clear space it will be necessary to remove the steering rack completely. To remove the steering rack undo the nuts from the track rod ends under the wheel arches and using a suitable ball joint splitter remove the taper pins from the steering arms. Undo the pinch bolt on the steering column spline where it meets the steering rack and slide the inner column off the splined pinion shaft of the column. Undo the 4 3/8" UNF bolts that hold the rack onto the sub frame, the rack can now be fully removed. NOTE if the vehicle needs to be moved once the engine is out it will be necessary to temporarily refit the steering rack so that the car can be manoeuvred around.
It is now necessary to undo all the bolts holding the engine and gearbox together as the engine has to be removed from the gearbox before being lifted out. The gearbox should be supported on a suitable stand under the bell housing, so that it does not drop when the engine is removed.
With a suitable lifting strap it is now possible to lift the engine and manoeuvre it off the gearbox input spline, once it is free you can carefully lift the engine, you will need to gently lift and pull it forward to clear the engine bay and front subframe before eventually lifting it clear of the car. Once out the engine should be fitted to a suitable engine stand for safety/rebuild.
As stated above, if the car need to be moved replace the steering rack temporarily and support the front of the gearbox with a suitable strap.
Phase 1 Olympic engine removal from car. BMC 'A' Series, Morris 1000/MG Midget.
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The BMC 'A' series engine fitted to the Olympic can sometimes by removed with the gearbox still attached, however there may not be enough room to do this in which case the engine will have to be split from its gearbox before removal can be achieved, if this is the case follow the method detailed above.
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