Mumbles

iTrader: (5)

These questions are for those of you who have pulled the Engine from the top in their LSx 4th Gen.

I purchased a QTP LSx Engine Lift Plate and just today removed the Intake and Valley Cover. It appears if I mount the Lift Plate with the 6 Center Bolt Holes for the Valley Cover (as the Pictures below show) that the point on the Mounting Plate where I attach the Cherry Picker will be very close to being under the Cowl.





My question is where is the most optimal place to mount the Lift Plate? With my car in its current tilted position on Jackstands, the chain of the Cherry Picker may just barely clear the Cowl with the Lift Plate centered, but if it doesn't I could mangle the Cowl as I pull the Motor. Or I have the option of placing the Lift Plate on the most forward 6 Valley Cover Bolt Holes, which would leave me with an unbalanced load and the Motor tilting back as I pull it from the Engine Bay. Which method is better and why?

My Second question is did you simply use the Valley Cover Mounting Bolts to mount the Lift Plate to the Block? If not what Bolts did you use?

Again, for those of you who have done this, how did you pull this off? Thanks.

bww3588

iTrader: (49)

Try it and see. If it looks like it's going to hit, move it. I'd probably move it to the forward most holes anyways because the engine is going to have to tilt backwards quite a bit to get it to clear the core support.

Mumbles

iTrader: (5)

You're absolutely right. Ultimately I'll have to just try it and see what happens. I guess I'm just looking for advice so I can make an educated guess as to which route to attempt.

Mumbles

iTrader: (5)

Did a little searching and found this video. Looks like QTP mounts it in the center 6 Bolts and uses a very short chain at the end of the Cherry Picker to give the most amount of clearance possible under the Cowl.

Mumbles

iTrader: (5)

Pulled the motor out of my 99 Formula this evening. I wanted to post up to inform anyone who may be doing this in the future that I used multiple placements of the Lift Plate to get the engine out from up top. (Also, I had no trouble with using the Bolts that hold the Valley Cover in place to mount the QTP LSx Lift Plate.)

I first had the Lift Plate mounted to the center 6 Bolt Holes for the Valley Cover. Then connected the Cherry Picker to the Lift Plate with the fewest number of chain links possible. This gave me enough clearance to slide the arm of the Cherry Picker under the Cowl and lift the motor so I could remove the Motor Mount Pedestals. Once the Pedestals were out of the way I preceded to try to remove the motor from the engine bay and where I started to run into trouble.

Due to the accident my Firebird was in (which is the reason for the removal of the Drivetrain) the front of the car is heavily damaged. Although I have the entire front end removed, the front clip is still on the car including what I'd call the Radiator Support. The Rad Support is pushed hard toward the Firewall on the Passenger side, making the Engine Bay smaller than what you would have to work with on an undamaged vehicle. This required me to move the Lift Plate to the Front 6 Bolt Holes for the Valley Cover so that the motor could be tilted back to clear the Balancer in the front and the Passenger Side Valve Cover under the Cowl. (The pictures below show this.) After doing this, and calling for a little assistance from my brother, we were able to coax the Motor out from its 14 year old home.

Here are a few shots. I have more that I will post up later. For now it seems I can't upload them as Google Chrome is giving me Hell at the moment.

Mumbles

iTrader: (5)

Here are the remaining pictures from my 99 Formula's Engine Removal. (My apologizes, some are a bit blurry. I guess I didn't notice this while I was taking them.)









Props to the QTP LSx Lift Plate. It worked flawlessly.