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I used a harbor freight engine hoist, with another piece of rectangular tubing sleeved over the original boom. Also counterweighted the back due to CG change. This was done from the front due to space constraints (cars and parts) making it more like a one car garage. This was a fully dressed big block and trans with a Mac’s pivot plate.
The combo worked well enough. Did not have to pull the hood and did not have to disconnect the hood support for more room. Was also able to get it done by myself. The only gotcha I had was the chains on the load leveler weren't long enough to connect to the heads and avoid the distributor. I ended up adding some extra chain and still had plenty of height to clear the fenders. I probably could have just connected two of the chains instead of all four but since I was doing it by myself, I figured the engine would be easier to control hanging by four points instead of two.
My narrow shop turned out to be a non-issue as well. I put the car on dollies and rotated it about 45 degrees to the walls. That gave me plenty of room to pull the engine. Wasn't real happy with how well the engine hoist rolled with the weight of the engine on it but it got the job done.
Biggest hassle I had was getting the engine onto the engine stand. Both the stand and the hoist had wide spread folding legs that interfered with each other. I ended up having to fold up one leg on the engine stand to be able to align and bolt up the engine. After that I was able to twist the stand enough to lower the leg before taking the weight off the hoist.
The entire process went well with a minimum of cussing. Appreciate the help.
I used a modified harbor freight hoist too. I removed the caster wheels, bought square tubing and extended the legs, bolted the casters onto the extended legs. Bought a piece of square tubing to make a new boom, then welded a piece of strap steel to the original boom arm to strengthen that. Think truss. Anyway, I went in from the front. Worked like a champ.
