I have access to a full shop with overhead hoist over the winter, and plan to take out the 350 small block and clean her up. Many leaking gaskets, cracked oil pan, etc. Will also install headers - stock manifold on there now. Maybe will install new aluminum heads too. 69 RS/SS w/ PS and PB. No A/C.

So this is my first time taking the engine out of her, much less any vehicle. I guess I am looking for a "taking out the engine for Dummies" - I'm the dummy!! Haha. I have searched a good bit on here but have not seen a full list on what to do and what not to do. I hope to leave the THM 350 in there. Is this possible?? I have an engine stand too.

SO here was my plan:

* Take off hood.
* Drain all fluids.
* Remove all RS stuff. I don't know why you would do that, shouldn't be in the way.
* Disconnect fuel lines, linkage, carb, wiring to dash, etc.
* Remove radiator. Necessary?? YES
* Remove distrib. Necessary?? No...remove cap for clearance.
* Take off exhaust manifolds?? Necessary?? No...unbolt exhaust pipes at the manifolds.
* Take out bellhousing bolts to tranny. Before you do this, have a jack under the transmission to support the weight. Remove the dust shield and remove the 3 bolts that attach the torque converter to the flex plate...slide the TQ back into the trans as far as it will go ~3/4 inch. Once you remove the bellhousing bolts the engine and trans will separate.
* Loosen up tranny mount bolts?? Turn out the 2 bolts on the rear mount a few turns for wiggle room...if you remove them, the trans could fall off the crossmember.
* Take out motor mount bolts.
* Time to lift. Use lift plate on intake. Somehow manuever motor forward to disconnect output shaft from tranny, then lift?? There is no shaft...you have separated them in the step above. You will need to raise the trans with the jack along with the engine high enough for the motor mounts to clear the frame towers. When they are free, move the engine ahead enough to free it from the locating pins for the trans....keep everything balanced. It should lift right out now. Reverse procedure to install and yes...having the headers in the compartment and holding them in place as you re-install the engine is much easier than prying them in later.

SO assuming I get it out and cleaned up, a few questions for going back in:

* How to line output shaft back up with tranny??
* Install with new headers on or off?? I've seen people lay them in there then bolt on when they drop the motor in. After reading around here I think I am going with the ceramic Thorleys.

Cheers!! :beers:

Have fun, take your time and it will be easy !!!

 

You don't mention if it's manual or automatic. Automatic is exactly as Mitch said. Support the trans with a jack and all will be well.

If it's a manual (wondering due to you're writing "input shaft" several times, you are best off pulling the trans and engine as a unit. Take off the driveshaft, crossmember, and stick shift and yank the whole shooting match.

Otherwise pull the trans from under the car first. It's hard to difficult to raise the motor 2" to clear the mounts and pull it forward 6" to get the input shaft out of the bellhousing. It's unlikely you could get it back in this way at all.

 

Auto. Has a THM-350, 3 speed. Thanks so much guys!! :hurray: This sounds pretty straightforward...at least on paper... Haha. I have all winter so no rush.

 

On the auto trans...unbolt the three bolts that attach the torque convertor to the flex plate. You want the flex plate to come out with the engine but the torque convertor to stay in the trans. That was there is no input shaft to stab as it goes back together.

 

Exactly. Not sure of your experience level, so here's some more ideas, to think about...some maybe obvious, but I'll state em nonetheless.

To get those three converter/flexplate bolts, you may/will need to turn the engine, undo a bolt, rotate the engine so the next bolt comes in reach, undo the bolt, rotate one more time to get to the third bolt.

I would also add that removing the accessory section...fan, shroud, h20 pump, alternator, balancer pulley might give you enough room to be comfortable not taking out the radiator...although I'd just pull it since it's just too easy to ding...

Put blankets and padding on your fenders and firewall.

Lastly...SAFETY...These suckers are heavy. Worker got killed at a picknpull not too long ago by a misbalanced crane pulling an engine. Move slowly and deliberately...triple check everything as you do it. Especially when you just begin to lift...you may notice something you forgot to disconnect. (oil gauge line, grounds, etc.) If the engine/crane starts to fall...just get out of the way...people get hurt trying to stop it...it's too late and too heavy if it starts to go. Mentally rehearse your "get out of the way" plan...if the crane tips, the chain breaks, the engine mount plate breaks...DON'T RUSH...and DON'T LET ANYONE RUSH YOU.
When you get it on the stand, pls be careful as well. Most engine stands I've seen just aren't balanced very well...fine when they are sitting there, but if you try to roll them, one stumble of a wheel on a rock, loose screw or divit in the cement and the whole thing can easily tip.

Scott

 

Since you are new to this I would suggest getting a digital camera and taking lots of pics of little details. You might think you will remember but as time goes by things get forgotten. Take the dist out, the pulleys ,fan etc and take the radiator out. Less chance of that stuff getting damaged and you will probably want to have the radiator boiled out anyway. The more stuff you unbolt from the engine the easier it is to take in and out....Pics...lots of pics..

 

If you have a digital camera, take a lot of "before" pictures so you can reference them later down the road because these little projects always seems to take longer then expected and you might forget a few things. Lucky there isn't much to these old school engines so you shouldnt be to bad.

Having just gone through this and dropping my new engine a few weeks ago, my advice is take off what ever you need to in order to have the most amount of clearence so it comes out and goes in as easy as possible.

I second what Jim said about the tranny. I pulled my engine without the tranny but when I tried to drop the engine back in that way I couldnt get the stupid transmission spline into the pilot bearing so I ened up pulling the engine and then the tranny out and dropping it all together. This was much easier. I have a manual for the record.

 

DISCLAIMER: BLIND LEADING BLIND HERE

OK, with that out of the way, i'll help you. Getting guys to go into detail around here is as likely as Elton john marrying a man. Seriously (i love his music though.

Please refer to my post in the other team forum as your "guide to taking an engine out for dummies."

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=140319


1) You really need another, hopefully 2, other people. Although technically, as i've proven, you can do it yourself.

2) Taking off the hood. See #1 above. I used a scribe to mark the position of the hinges so the hood would line up when i re-installed it.

3) what is "RS stuff?"

4)Remove radiator? Probably nessesary. Not that much extra work. Better safe than sorry.

5)remove distrib? At least take off the cap because it's easy to crack. If possible take the whole distrib out. If you choose not to, then you'll have to keep an eye on it.

6)exh manifolds. I would personally try to leave them on. But the problem is that the manifold to downpipe bolts (3 of them) sometimes are difficult to loosen---especially with the engine still installed. If you're going to switch to headers, you would have to take them off anyways. Whichever way is easier is ok, i think.

7)Bellhousing bolts: What i did, and anyone here is free to criticize if this is improper, is to put the jack underneath the torque converter. I think this give you more leverage---for when you're trying to line the engine and trans back up. And, i feel it doesn't put stress on the tranmission pan. Then again, the best thing would be to have a transmission jack or transmisson adapter for your floor jack.

8) If you're going to use a lift plate, then you can ignore #5 completely.

9) You don't have to "line up the input shaft" You'll only need to line up the bellhousing bolts with the engine. KEEP YOUR FRIGGIN FINGERS AWAY FROM THE GAP BETWEEN THE ENGINE AND TRANS WHEN YOU DO THIS. Now as far as whether to take the engine out by itself or the engine and trans together, i personally would try to take the engine out by itself because i feel it's less work.

MOST IMPORTANT:
1) If you're going to work alone, then have your cellphone with you. If something happens (and i'm not trying to scare you because nothing will happen) but if something happens, how are you going to call for help?

2)Get a fire exhtinquisher from home depot or something. they're cheap. If you can't afford a fire extinguisher, you can't afford to play.

It will take longer than you think, it's going to be messier (alot messyer) than you think, so stock up on paper towels at sams' club.

 

You guys are #1!! As this is my first time, I'd say my experience level is fairly low at best, but not afraid to try. I've never even seen this done, but have read a lot here and now feel pretty comfortable. Safety 1st!!! I agree with that. I have a dig cam and plan to take lots of pics of all connection points (grounds, all conenctors, etc.) prior to doing anything!!

Can I turn the engine over using the starter to access the 3 TC/flex plate bolts??

 

Can I turn the engine over using the starter to access the 3 TC/flex plate bolts??

Just turn it with a socket wrench on the balancer bolt or by pulling on the fan belt (plugs removed so you're not fighting compression) Deejaygee is right about bagging stuff. I put my stuff in a fishing tackle type box and label the parts/bolts as they come off...instead of scribing the hood, use a sharpie so you don't scratch a line for rust to start.

 

Lessons learned from another ex-first timer: 'Bag and tag' ALL your fasteners. You can't take too many digital pictures. Get yourself a copy of the factory assembly manual so you can cross-reference the parts and where they go. Get a printed copy of Ricks First Generation catalog because it's got good pictures of all the parts and then you'll know what they're called and whether or not the one you have looks to be correct, or whether or not you need to order new parts. Make a list of all the new parts you'll need and get them ordered ahead of time. Don't take chances with messing up your distributor. Scribe some tell-tale marks outlining the hood hinge on the underside of the hood so you can lign it up again. Your engine still has a lot more coolant in it than what you drained out of the radiator.

 

I just used my long crowbar stuck down back beside the dizzy and a shake after I had her up off the frame mounts to separate my 406 from my M-20!!!

I later unbolted the bellhousing from my M-20..

Stew, RS = Rally Sport headlight door vacuum line accuation system..

My '67 SS/RS trimmed car's headlight doors are powered by little electric motors that are smaller than a 2-cell flashlight.. They didn't hold up very well so the next year GM went to vacuum..

pdq67

 

Lots of good answers here, as stated above, you indicated its a 3 speed manual transmission, If I were you, I would pull both out at the same time, I have removed engines leaving the transmission in place, before it was over with I had way to much time trying to line up the clutch splines when trying to put back in. It may take you 30 additional minutes to unhook your crossmember, remove your shifter and disconnect your drive shaft but it will save alot of time and headaches later. Besides, while you have your engine out its a good time to rebuild your transmission if needed. Again, I've done this both ways and I'll never pull another engine without pulling the transmission with it. To many things can go wrong by leaving the transmission in the vehicle. Anyway I hope my 2 cents is worth it. Take it from someone who has been there many many times. GOOD LUCK

 

Thanks guys for the expertise!!! Can't wait to get started!! :beers:

 

Another couple of ideas; Use spray paint to mark the hood bolts prior to removal (quick, fast and accurate. Easy to remove too) Then set the hood on top of the roof, with lots of protective padding, of course. That'll keep it from being underfoot or leaning against a wall. What else???? OH! Unhook the battery. Do that first.:yes: That about covers it. But if you're not having fun, STOP! Something's wrong. Get right back to this web site and solve the problem.
And the cherry-picker just arrived an hour ago. Last one with their engine out is 'it'!

 

Get a crank turning tool - works directly on the ring gear teeth, you don't have to keep coming out from underneath the car, and you won't risk stripping the threads in the nose of the crank. :thumbsup:

 

OK , id like to point out one more danger before you get too far into it.. Other than safety concerns the most dangerous thing that you'll experience will be THE SNOWBALL EFFECT..... Now you may not have knowledge of this dangerous effect but it is very real... you will get the motor out and then youll think to yourself... hmm.. well the motor is out, ""i may as well __________ while it is out" pretty soon your adding numerous items to that list of things to do "while the motor is out..." like pull the fenders, paint the firewall, redo the suspension etc.......... soon your car is completly disasembled and you wonder what happened..

Just be ready for it.

 

On turning the motor over to remove the converter bolts -

I personally wouldn't advise using the balancer bolt - it would really suck if you were to break it off.

I use a pair of vise grips. Just clamp the flexplate with the vise grips so the starter teeth are deep in the jaws, and turn away. It works great and doesn't damage the flex plate.

 

6 months late, but success!! :hurray: Your directions were right on guys, thanks!! $150 hoist in the garage did the trick. Now what to do, repaint or rebuild?? Hmmmm...

 

Congrats. I just took mine out and replaced it this weekend also. Removing is a bit easier than installing. Now repaint it... :thumbsup:

Jim

 

A tip: See the holes in the lifting angle brackets? They are meant to be for bolts that you screw into the ends of each head. Use a large flat washer for each bolt. That way your tilting mechanism will work as designed. Are we having fun yet?
P.S. Here; this'll give you an idea. My wife didn't get the focus right. Sorry.

 

Now I understand - thanks Fred! Wanna trade blocks

 

Good job, Jonny!

Watch out for tha aforementioned snowball... itsa killer.

Winter of 05 I took my motor out to "clean up" under the hood... I managed to fight the urge to rebuild the motor while it was out (did that the following year) but that lil freshen up turned into a paint job and new interior!!

 

Just pulled my engine and tranny yesterday and it was the easiest thing I have ever done, granted the entire front end is off the car. I just used a 2 1/2 ton engine hoist with is accompanying engine leveler and pulled it right out. I actually did it completely by myself as I was waiting for my help to arrive.

Having done it both ways, with and without tranny. It was so nice not having to work on getting the tranny off and on before and after!