Mike, I'm sure you have a lot of experience doing things safely, but especially on the internet, there's no telling who might be reading our advice. My 30+ years of dealing with teenage kids in a shop situation has taught me that the absolute safest way to do something is just barely adequate once it's been filtered through the attention span of some people. I've seen engines lifted in ways that would send a safety engineer screaming in panic. Some people cheated fate, others got permanently disabling injuries. Given a choice between a surefire safe method, and one that might be marginal, or could be hazardous if done just slightly incorrectly, I'll pick (and advise) the idiot-proof one every time!
Some time ago, an idiot on this forum advocated hooking an engine lift chain into a cast iron water pump inlet, and got his panties in a wad when I called his hand on that stupidity. I hope I might have saved someone from a crippling accident by pointing out the danger involved in that method.
Jerry
