I know there are links associated with pulling the engine on an Fbody from the top (vs. from the bottom). My searches have not worked. Has anyone removed the engine with the heads on, or do they have to be removed to clear?

 

i am in the same boat as you. i am going to be pulling my motor from the top. i was thinking about how to do it and i came up with this.

I know the tranny will not be connected in my case, just to make it easier....

i am going to take my intake off first, and try to pull it with the heads on... if it wont clear then the heads are coming off, but i would really rather leave them on so i know i can have my heads on when i put my motor back together outside of the car.

i know coming out the bottom works great, but i dont have a 2 post lift in my garage

 

I just did a motor swap in my car. You can definitly pull the motor from the top. All you need to do it take the exhaust manifolds and the intake off. You will have no problems at all. Just make sure all the ground wires are unbolted from the back of each head. Good luck with it.

 

I vote the bottom. Had everything out, motor disassembled to a shortblock, kmember back under the car with it on the ground and everything cleaned up in just over 6 hours start to when i turned the lights off. This is with no power tools and only two guys using a cherry picker, jack and jackstands.

 

I did the same as above, and it works GREAT. It makes things so much easier, IMO. Although, if you're dead set on taking it out the top, it will work. If you take the radiator out you can get it out w/ the heads and intake on.

 

I pulled my motor out of the top. I removed radiator and the front accessories from the engine. I also removed the intake and the valve covers for a little extra clearance. Beyond that I dropped the tranny out and disconnected the hood struts and stood the hood straight up rather than removing it. It worked out fine for me and this was in february during NY winter.
Have one person more the hoist back and raise it while another person steers the motor out of the bay.
Doing it this way allowed me to move the car around and push it back into the garage instead of it sitting in one place with no k-member or wheels.

 

Thanks guys. I haven't done it yet, I'll rethink the bottom but don't know how I could get the car high enough. More than likely I'll pull it from the top with heads on. I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Here's a link...From the bottom - Never done it tho

http://www.michiganspeed.com/enginepull/index.html

 

I just hooked an engine hoist up to the radiator support frame and took it up real high while my back wheels were on ramps.

 

i removed mine from the top as well.left the heads on,just removed the radiator and all accesories and hood and it came right out once i finally got it loose from the trans.

 

I've done the bottom drop 2 times, it's wonderful and I would suggest it.

 

once the motor and tranny is free from the car and supported from the bottom with jacks, its nothing for a cherry picker to jack the car high enough to pull the motor out. if you pull the tires off and intake you can get away with pulling it out the fender well and it doesnt have to go nearly as high.

 

I did mine out the bottom, by myself, in my garage with all hand tools(no air) 1st night i unhooked everything up top, then the next night dropped it down. went pretty fast. Once it was dropped, i then unbolted the trans from the bellhousing and rolled the engine(on a furniture dolly) out the side under the drivers wheel well.

 

I went from the top but I believe reinstall will require the tranny comin up a little to get the bell housing bolted up to the motor for ease of replacement.

Once you get the intake, coil packs, and all of the A/C and accessories off, the motor will slide out easier if you take off the motor mount on the pass. side from both the motor and k-member and disconnect the mount from the motor on the driverside. Good luck with the bell housing bolts also. My Ypipe was the worse out of anything but then again NY is great on exhaust systems.

 

I pulled mine from the top much like many have posted above. I took the damper off upon removal but was able to squeeze it back in with the new damper on.

 

just removed mine from the top. also put it back in the top with the trans attached. by my self.

 

Nice post, this will help me alot, I take it since my whole front end, rad,everything from the front and pretty much all of the driverside fender, taking it from the top would be easier know then from the bottom. Car was totaled.

 

I'm doing my swap right now. Just took it out the top. Thought about doing it out the bottom but was talked out of it. You have to bleed all those systems your disconnecting and that wasn't worth it to me. I took the heads off and flywheel. You don’t have to remove your hood or disconnect the struts. The engine comes up and turns 90* to come out. I did mine alone. Its not a race. I put all the bolts into baggies and labeled them. I had no trouble at all. There are more than one ground to the block besides the heads. There is a good write up for the trans removal if you have a 6 speed at instaluniversity. Other than that start at the top and front and work your way down.

airlid, intake, coil packs, anything attached to the headers or exhaust manifolds, radiator, water pump, power steering, exhaust manifolds or headers, ac, crank pulley, heads.

I pulled the trans first, then the bell housing and clutch without having to touch the y pipe.

 

glad it worked out for ya...I was gonna do the top, but was lucky enough to have access to a lift. the bottom was a breeze, plus i had a neat way to move the engine and trans around with the wheels still attached

good luck with the new setup

 

Looks like brake lines holding the strut towers up?

For all those going out the bottom DO NOT just let the struts hang by the brake lines. Tie them