was rough

Pulled the intake, distributor, starter, and disconnected everything - no sweat. Motor mount bolts, trans mount, even the exhaust manifold nuts came of easy.

I lined the hoist up to the front of the car, hooled it up with the leveler and behin to pull. Everything was smooth until it became aparent that I needed to move the hoist towards the car to move the engine closer to the firewall but it wasn't hapening because the nose of the car was already against the hoist.

SOOOOOO - had to remove the starter, remove the shroud and radiator, and remove the fuel pump. These things did NOT come off easily as the engine was not in the best position. TRIED to take the waterpump off but BUBBA had broken off a bolt head some time ago. Flattened a few radiator fins with the balancer and water pump snout. Scraped up my shroud but did not bend it (lucky me).

I Should have STOPPED and put the engine back and placed the hoist on the side but the car was on my 4 post lift and I would have had to take the car off the lift and start from scratch. You know how you get in the mind set where nothing is going to stop you - while when you're tring to get that rusty bolt off and you resort to kicking, wedging, pounding and everything else that only adds to the problem instead of fixing it?. I was there last night

It was late and I was tired and cold so when it came time to lower the car on the lift I heard a hissing sound and then a pop! Looked under the car (after I double checked it) and saw that the shifter linkage (hanging down under the car) hand punctured the plastic oil catcher I used to catch the gear lube from the back of the transmission. I hope to god I didn't booger up the shifter.


I finished about 11:30 (3 hrs 15 mins after the fist hoist pump) last night and dread going home to clean up the oil, antifreze, and tool tornado mess that is my garage.

I will never pull the engine + trans together again. I should have spent the $100 for a transmission jack and took them out seperately. The 4 post lift would have made this easy instead of more difficult.

Anyway - here's the pic.:


brian





[Modified by Allcoupedup, 11:13 AM 1/19/2004]

 

at least you got it done good job :party:

 

Congratulations! Even with your problems, you did better than I did when I pulled the engine from a ‘65 roadster that I was restoring a while back.

In preparation for pulling the engine, my son and I had already removed the radiator, fan and shroud, alternator, exhaust manifolds, clutch actuator, fuel pump, etc., and had separated the engine from the transmission (We pulled the transmission out separately). I rented one of those knockdown engine hoists (the kind that easily break down into small parts to fit in the trunk of a car) from a nearby tool rental store. Because my garage didn’t have enough vertical clearance for hoisting, my son and I rolled the car out of the garage and into the driveway.

We attached the hoist chains to manifold bolts and hoisted the engine up out of the car without incident. However, just as we got the hoisted engine rolled away from the car, one of the chain attachment bolts broke. The engine suddenly rotated (dropped about two feet) until the hoist chain attached to the other side of the engine caught the entire weight. The sudden shock load of catching the dropping engine caused the somewhat flexible lifting arm of the knockdown hoist to flex like a pole vaulter’s pole, sending the engine violently back upwards several inches. When the engine and lifting arm went semi-airborne, the lifting arm and hydraulic jack of the engine hoist fell out of their sockets. While we were scrambling to get out of the way, the engine and various parts of the knockdown hoist fell clanging and banging down to the driveway.

It scared the hell out of us, but luckily none of the falling parts hit my son or me. After checking our shorts, we examined the damage. Again, we really lucked out, because the only damage to the engine was a cracked starter housing (it needed replacing, anyway) bent motor mount bracket, bent front pulley and a dent in the bottom of the oil pan. Other than scratches, there was no discernible damage to the hoist….but there were two or three permanent gouges left in my concrete driveway.

 

:eek: So far I don't have any stories like that, knock on wood. Even when an engine removal goes smoothly there's still a pretty good pucker factor involved. :leaving:

 

You mean other guys do this!! I feel so much better!!
"You know how you get in the mind set where nothing is going to stop you - while when you're tring to get that rusty bolt off and you resort to kicking, wedging, pounding and everything else that only adds to the problem instead of fixing it?"
Keep us informed on the progress!

 

I've done a few pulls on various cars, but when I pulled the engine from the '66 I unbolted it at the bellhousing and left the transmission and bellhousing in the car. I later removed the transmission myself, alone and without the jack. It would have been easier with one, but is actually possible. Installation will likely be the mated assembly, but who knows how easy that will be....

 

Brian, congratulations! It is never easy pulling your first engine. I would always recommend pulling the engine and trans as a single unit and installing them as one. This makes it much easier to torque the bellhousing bolts correctly.

I have a four post lift as well and when I pull an engine I have to extend the boom on the lift engine hoist to reach farther. If you try to pull or install the power train from the side you will have to use too much muscle pushing the engine/trans around.

With a little practice you may end like my son and I, we pulled the engine out of his car three times in one month!

Congratulations again,

 

The story brings tears to my eye's. I haven't done an engine pull in many years. In any case Brian you did a good job considering it sounds like you were solo on the project. You are definitely breaking in that new garage. I look forward to your next installment of the rebuild. :thumbs:

 

Thanks guys. My wife helped me out on this one and I owe her big. She was getting ready to leave the country on business and I asked her for "20 minutes". 20 minutes turned into three hours and she had to stay up super late packing and getting things together.

My boom was short - I used the last hole - the 1/2 ton hole - and needed at least another 6 inches. Now that I think about it... the higher you lift, the farther the engine moves towards the crane due to the geometry. The frame was about 3 feet off the ground - maybe that was the problem.

oh well. lesson learned

 

....come to think about it, when I pulled my engine a few months back, my buddy brought his engine hoist. He had to tow it behind his truck cause it was fairly large. Even that thing came right up to the nose of the car. He and I pulled the engine out with the trans with no problem. Guess those large hoists can make a difference. I'm definately going to use the same hoist to get it back in.
Rog

 

This was a 3/8" bolt? It snapped? What grade of bolt?
I always use two pieces of chain, each looped over the hook, and each end bolted to the front and rear exhaust manifold holes. Do I need to re-think my method?

 

I take the opposite tack from 64roadster. I have done it both ways and find it a lot easier to remove the trans first and install it last. That also makes it a true one person job - no help at all and it's easy.

I clamp a 2x4 to the rad support to protect the rad (just in case), but with the fan off and no clutch housing, I have all the clearance I need.

PS I also put a strip of .25 inch thick plywood (hoist) wheel stop down in front of the car to make sure the hoist can't get to the front end. Set it with the hoist empty, then attach the engine.


[Modified by magicv8, 8:01 PM 1/19/2004]

 

I also pulled my first this weekend. Tranny was already off. and it popped right out without a glitch. I think I will install it separately also. The block is off to the cleaning tank and probably a re-bore based on the cylinder measurments.

Sorry to hear you had such a problem

 

Brain sounds like me two monthes ago man. I've had the motor back for a month now and still waiting on Keisler... I too pulled both the motor and tranny at the same time. I don't have a lift (yet, Hey Garner buy one so I don't have to) so I think that may be why I didn't have the issue you did. I know now though that I'm going to be holding onto my lucky horseshoe as I hang my new motor and tranny over the front end. GOOD JOB man. So did I miss what the plans ahead hold or what?? I haven't been spending as much time here lately... Dave...

 

Brian,

Great job! Understand the frustration when things go a little "south" for a while, but also the great feeling when it is finally acomplished!

In the future, give me a call if you need another hand!

For those of you thinking about building a Vette garage, think about adding a permanant beam for lifting engines, etc. I did, and never regretted it. Much easier to roll the car a few feet forward or back while lifting the engine (or engine & trans), than trying to move a hoist while protecting the car. Should be able to get greater hgt. also, which never hurts. Also a lot easier with a couple of extra hands (and eyes).

Plasticman

 

I remember my first, about 30 yrs ago. Since then I always use a 12' piece of 2" steel pipe across the ceiling joists in the garage, a cable hoist, and move the car out from under the engine, set the engine on a furniture dolly, roll out of the way, and move the car back into place. Congrats on a hard job well done. It gets easier with practice.

 

..yup, i'm with magicv8, i always pull the tranny first...you don't need a trans lift, pull the linkage and the 4 bolts, twist the case with the cover facing down and push it backwards slightly and it will JUST clear the bell housing...the tranny is not that heavy and you can gently lower it to the ground.....that way you have lots of clearance on the way out (btw, i also remove the shroud and radiator)

...oddly enough, i put the engine/bell housing/tranny back as one unit (again, with no shroud or radiator), it's just a hell of lot of easier for me....once over the engine compartment, a buddy points the nose as far down vertical as possible and have the tailshaft contact the pad on a floor jack that's pointed fore/aft - the engine just slides right back and the tranny sits right on the cross member

 

Hey Brian,
Good Job, I did my 62 last September to fix a pair of motormounts cracked at the frame. Also had to drop the front end to gain access to the
areas to be welded. I did kind of the reverse thing. I pulled the Engine and went back for the transmission later. I reinstalled it with the Engine and Transmission bolted together. THe funny part was my buddy and I actually
rolled the car up to the Engine and transmission as we lowered it in place for clearance. That was kind of strange, but it worked well and with 2 of us
positioning the Engine and Transmission as we lowered it into place this worked well. But again mine is a C1 probably a bit different clearance than a C2. Good luck with the restoration!
Take Care,
Shawn :chevy

 

Good job! A few lessons learned too? I have only done four engine pulls but I have always pulled the engine and transmission together. Where we differ is that the radiator and shroud come out and the fan is pulled. I also pull the starter prior to doing the lift. This makes it a pretty simple job. I always use the booklet "How To Rebuild Your Small Block Chevy" and they give wonderful advice on doing all of the things that you learn by trial and error otherwise.
Gary

 

Glad you got it finished! When I look back at the time working on my car I always remember them fondly even though at the time I may not have thought that! :lol: You don't need a tranny jack to remove the tranny just put a regular jack under it with a peice of wood.