Well after some sketchy wood work with a floor jack, I got the pallet up high enough to get my hoist under it. I bought a furniture dolly to set the engine on and screwed a couple wood blocks on the back to rest the engine mounts on. Thanks for all the advice. I used a little bit of everybody's ideas. I'm happy with how little room the engine takes up now on the dolly and I can still move it around easily to work on all 4 sides of the engine. I wouldn't have had that luxury if I set it on a sheet of wood in the corner of my garage like I originally planned.

Can we also talk about how much of a nightmare taking the intake manifold off is? I underestimated how many things were attached to it and that the fuel lines that go through it on the driver's side would block it from just being pulled up and off the block. I think I took a more difficult approach by removing just the intake manifold. I've seen some videos where people pull the intake manifold with the TGV's/fuel lines/wiring harness/turbo inlet hose all still attached to it as 1 big assembly. I need to find a better way to put it back on after I clean/paint it.

IMG_5966.jpg IMG_5967.jpg IMG_5954.jpg IMG_5955.jpg