SIXLITR

iTrader: (4)

So I've read a few threads and some say pull the engine/trans and some say engine with the bell housing. What is the easiest way to get it out? I'd prefer not to mess with the transmission but I will if I have to. Top end is off the car I just need to find a hoist and stand. Just sent an email to AI for a quote on porting the 243s.

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

I don't think you'll be able to get the engine out the top without pulling the transmission - the ABS unit in front and input shaft in the back won't let you disengage the engine enough from the trans to get it out. You could probably drop the cradle to get the engine out w/o taking out the trans.

What I did: took out the trans, pulled the engine out the top, rebuilt the engine, put the engine and trans together and put them back in together.

DarkCharisma

How far did you have the car off the ground to put them back in together? I'm pulling the LS6 in my V soon and am curious if I need to plan on having the fat bitch up really, really high (through some redneck engineering) or if I'd be served well enough on jack stands.

jclayc

iTrader: (8)

I'm at work, so let me know if some of this doesn't make sense. I may have pics at home as well.

at some point, I did have the front end waaay up on big jack stands but that was more so I could get the trans out from under the car than to help get the engine/trans back in.

To get the engine/trans back in as one piece from above, I actually had the car at a very low jackstand height so I didn't have to hoist things waaay up in the air to get over the radiator cross brace. I got the engine/trans into the air, holding it horizontal while I wheeled it over the front radiator brace and, as soon as it was over that, I let the trans nosecone dip down as I slid it into the tunnel. (Having an engine leveler helped with a little fine angling too.) Once the mounts were pretty close to the right place, I think I put a jack under the trans nosecone to flatten out the engine/trans to a more horizontal level again. I think the only "weird" things I did were:

1. removed the bumper brace so I could push the hoist far enough in to the bay
2. removed the windshield wiper motor covers so I could push things back far enough
3. my hoist, set at 500lbs, wouldn't get the engine/trans high enough into the air to get it over the radiator cross brace but, at 1000lbs, the arm wasn't long enough to get the engine/trans far enough back soooo I lifted the engine/trans with the hoist arm set at 1000 and basically got the engine back lowered down in the engine bay... and then banged the hoist arm back out to the longer 500 lb setting so i could roll it all the way back

SIXLITR

iTrader: (4)

Good info. I was hoping to avoid the trans for that reason. Getting it out from under the car on jack stands should be fun.

DarkCharisma

It's really not bad. Just get a trans jack from Harbor Freight and it's a one-man job.

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

I pulled the engine out the top without removing the trans. I had to loosen the 4 bolts for the front cradle and lower the cradle about an inch or so in order for the rear sump of the pan to clear the cradle. I left the A/C compressor in the car - just unbolted it from the engine and left it there since I didn't want to have to worry about cracking the system open. ABS wasn't an issue at all - I think I removed 1 bolt where the brake lines attach to the passenger side frame rail just to give a bit more freedom of movement when I lowered the cradle.





As you can see, I had the top end removed when I pulled the engine. That meant the engine bay wiring harness (which basically runs in a continuous loop around the top of the engine) was not a problem, because the block alone would fit up through the harness without a problem. Putting the engine back in with the heads installed was a bit more of a challenge, since the additional width made the engine too wide fit down through the harness. There are 2 "legs" of the harness that go back on either side of the transmission - I disconnected those from the tranny and flopped the whole harness over the radiator, dropped the engine in, flopped the harness back into place, good to go.

I didn't have to mess with putting the car up on 4 stands, didn't have to touch the exhaust (other than removing the headers and cat pipes), driveshaft or tranny. The wiring harness was a bit of an unanticipated complication, but it really wasn't that hard to take care of once I figured out what I needed to do.

DarkCharisma

Awesome, so basically the key to getting it back in was to remove the harness from the trans and drape it over the front?

SIXLITR

iTrader: (4)

From everything that I have seen, yes. My harness is maybe two connections away (starter and something else) from being flipped over the front after getting the heads off.

The heads/cam write up got me this far so keep it coming. It looks like I may go ahead and pull the hood off also.

Becker

iTrader: (4)

Awesome AAIIC!!!

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

Yup. As SIXLITR said, there are few other things that connect at the rear of the engine (crank and cam position sensors, starter, grounds, etc). Since I didn't flip the harness over until the engine was already out, all that stuff was already disconnected.

The full saga is over on cf.com - just search for "369 days".

SIXLITR

iTrader: (4)

Didn't realize that was your thread. I'm hoping it takes a little less time than yours did,

AAIIIC

iTrader: (19)

It takes a very special mix of laziness and procrastination to make it take that long.

SIXLITR

iTrader: (4)

Trust me when I say I am very capable of this special mix as well. My motivation is that I only had the car 3 weeks before it popped the valve spring.....in April 2013. Long story, involves a felony warrant and got hosed for some cash. Thieves suck.