I have a car lift in my garage and I was wondering if when I put my heads,cam and headers on should I drop the engine and trans out with the k member or do the work with the engine in the car?
Thanks

 

I would say its faster and more efficient to drop the engine as most the 'bigger' speed shops do so...but then again they have all the right tools and such. Droping it seems like an easier way to work for me.

 

Drop it out, it took me about 2 hours to do. Its so simple and it makes working on the engine very easy and much more relaxing on your body since yopu wont have to lean over the fender the whole time.

 

Any tips or tricks you could let me in on.
Thanks

 

Either way would be, and is, quite a bit of work.

I've done heads and cam with the motor in the car...it's not easy, but it's not impossible either.

Out of the car would definitely make it easy to work on...that's for sure.

 

drop it out, especially if you have a lift. thats how i did mine.

 

Keep in mind you need a side post lift, you can not use any lift that has any part that runs across underneath the car. the lift can only come from the sides.

Here is a basic rundown, I will be working on a in depth write up on this in the near future. This should help a little for ya.

1.Undo all wires, Air lines, and cooling lines that are in the way. AC compressor wire, drivers side block ground, pass block ground.
2. Pull PCM out and then pull out the harness that runs into the pass kickpanel. Then set the entire thing on top of the engine.
3. Remove shifter from tranny.
4. Remove master line from the slave cylinder.(push the plastic clip in)
5. Remove y-pipe.
6. Drop the starter.
7. Unclip ABS sensor wires from front brakes and frame.
8. Unbolt front brake lines from ABS block under the hood.
9. Unbolt steering shaft bolt.
10. Drop AC compressor and just move it out of the way.
11. Unbolt 4 rear driveshaft bolts, then tap driveshaft foward until it pops out of the yoke then angle it down and pull it from the tranny.
12. Unbolt the from TQ arm mount and pull the TQ arm and move it up and to the side of the tunnel.
13. Unbolt and remove sway bar. There is a goofy bracket on the drivers side that you have to remove to get that side of the sway bar off.
14. Sit car on ground with tires just barely touching the floor.
15. Unbolt brake master cylinder and slide it over a bit.
16. Unbolt all upper shock tower bolts (4 on each side).
17. Unbolt the 4 tranny mount bolts.
18. Unbolt the 6 k-member to frame bolts (3 on each side).
19. Lift car slowly off engine/tranny/cradle assembly.

 

Seems like it be more a PITA to pull but seing that mine took me 6 hours with it in it might be worth it.

 

Like i said it took me about 2 hours to drop my engine/trans, thats not long. And on the plus side when you work on the heads you dont have to lean into the engine bay and it makes it much easier to properly clean out the bolt holes and clean the deck surface.

I guess if you are very time limited then just pulling the heads from the top is faster. But if you have the time I would just drop the engine. Thats just my personal preference since i hate working on F-body engines from the top.

 

any time i want to work on mine i must drop the engine because of the ARP head studs. you can get the motor and trans out of the car in about 3 or 4 hours with a friend and using just the most basic of tools your first time around. i know how to do it now and can take it out in around 2 hours with a friend. its alot easier than you think.

 

if u got a lift, drop it

 

Thanks for all the input.I will be dropping it.