alexgio1989

i bought a 1999 corvette with a bad motor and need to replace it i dont have access to a hoist and will be doing the work in my garage. is it possible to pull the motor through the top? if so if anyone has any pics of the process it would help alot thanks!

BlackScreaminMachine

iTrader: (17)

Well What I can tell you is there should be no reason why you cannot pull them from the top. Be mindful you do need a cherry picker, you can get one cheap from harbor freight. ALso to say this now, C5's require much more work then F bodies to do some jobs on them. Sometimes really needing a lift to do work so if your not mechanically inclined or do not have access to proper tools. Stop now, and either get them or resell the car.

Go to the Corvette Forums and poke around, I am sure many have listed a walk through.

In general its about disconnecting the harness and fuel line and getting accessories out of the way. Then disconnecting the engine from the torque tube. I have used header holes (side to side), or cyl head (front to back but running diagnol). You should not need a leveler, just maybe a extra set of hands incase the picker cannot get up that high.

** Last side note, back in the day I helped a buddy "pull" a 5.0L Fox Body Mustang engine and when I say pull. We disconnect everything and with 3 other people, physically lift the motor out and on the to the ground, kinda stupid and did not feel good but it worked... just saying.

billymz28

My hand and arms deffintly thanked me for getting a vette ainstead of another fbody. There loads more room so deffintly possable and easier than pulling a fbody motor .

alexgio1989

yeah i gave up trying to get it out the top i have everything disconnected but getting the engine off the torque tube is a &^$$%! does anyone know if the bellhousing has to be disconnected in order to slide apart because it doesnt seem right lol

flippincamaro

iTrader: (23)

Disconnected from the engine? yes i believe it does aswell

cure07

From experience with my camaro when I replaced the engine it can come out the top but the way it was assembled in the factory it went through the bottom. The next time I need to pull my engine, I am dropping the k member and pulling the engine and trans out from the bottom

R6cowboy

iTrader: (3)

I just had my engine stripped down to the shortblock while sitting in my car (2000 Vette). My first time experience with a LS motor btw. At that time I replaced the clutch so I had the whole rear craddle with trans, diff and torque tube disconnected and out the way. From that experience, if I were to remove the motor I would unbolt the torque tube from the motor and drop the rear craddle, then move it back out of the way. Why? Because with a little help it is not difficult to do so and I could see do that making it possible or much easier to remove the engine. And there is a ton of room to remove the motor from the top.

Its a lot of work but nothing very difficult. IMO, I think these cars are quite straight forward and easy to work on.

Scoggin Dickey

iTrader: (34)

The hardest thing about pulling a C5 engine out the top is getting the batwing oil pan to clear the cradle. You do have to unbolt the bellhousing from the TT to the engine just like any transmission bellhousing. If you lower the front cradle an inch or so on the bolts for clearance to get the pan over it, and lower the rear cradle the same to get a better torque tube angle, it is much easier. Easier, not easy. Dropping the whole driveline front to rear both cradles and all is easier in my opinion.

GNon18s

What if the heads are already off? Does that change anything? Do I still need to loosen the cradles and all that crap to pull the shortblock?