Blown engine repair or replace
 

(edit* is there alot of people removing the engine without a lift?)Hey guys I like some advice, the engine has a quarter sized hole in the oil pan, this happened at start up and it had driven the car fine the day before. Should I just replace or look to repair it. I want to spend as little money as possible. I dont know if i can do this at home since its a camaro and dont have a lift.

You will probably need to replace it. You won't know what shape the block is in until you take it apart.

i wonldnt waste the time trying to fix it.... just find another motor...

might have punched/cracked out the rail of the block that the oil pan bolts to.

Can I do this at home or should I take it to a shop. I've swapped a motor before on my 89 trans am but it comes out with a cherry picker and the ls1 would be from below, what would i need to be able to swap it?

I did mine in the garage at home, used a engine hoist and pulled it out the top. Intake manifold hs to come off, dont remember if I had the radiator out when I pulled it but I dont think I did. Buying an assembled short block would probably be the way to go, wont save alot doing all the work youself.

ive pulled them with a cherry picker.
they come out either way
from the bottom is easier if you have a two post lift

Ya bottom is by far the easiest. We has mine pulled, the new motor on the k member assembeled and put back together and running in 8 or 9 hours.

But we also had a shop with every tool known to man and a lift

Pulling it from the top isn't that bad. It maybe took me 4 hours to drop my trans and pull my engine from the top by myself.

It also helps that I've done two intake swaps prior to that, and thanks to GM's wonderful clutch hydraulics, had already pulled the tranny twice as well.

To remove the engine from the top, you will have to remove just about everything. A quick list of things:

pull intake, coil packs/brackets, radiator/fans
pull all accessories. You can leave the power steering pulley hooked up - just use a bungy cord and keep it out of the way.
Crank pulley stay on, but it's easier just to pull it(more room).
Headers/exhaust can stay in place once unbolted from the heads, but you may want to use jack stands to support them
A leveler for the cherry picker (or maybe qtp's engine plate) is a must because the engine will have to come out at about a 45* angle.


It sounds like a PITA, but the way I looked at it was I was going to need to seperate the trans and pull all of the accessories anyways for my swap.

Also, I don't recommend pulling the trans by yourself unless you're built.

Do I need to remove the trans first or will it come out together with the motor?

If you are pulling it from the top you need to remove the trans. this is because the motor sits so far under the cowl. It might be possible to leave them together, but you would need to have the front end up pretty high and still might have problems getting up over the motor mount brackets

put a 6.0 in it