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I am about to reinstall the engine and trans in my '72 (454 w/TH400 attached). I am hoping to have the water pump, fuel pump, and exhaust manifolds on the block along with the various accessory brackets and figure this assembly is going to weigh near 1000lbs. I am planning on using a tilter on the hoist to aid angling the trans into place.
I see a lot of folks use a lift plate at the carb bolts on the intake - that seems to be a lot of stress on the intake. Is there any concern there with this amount of weight such that am I better off using the GM lift brackets on the intake and rear of right cylinder head? Seems the lift plate would be easier to adjust the install angle with the tilter than the GM opposing corners method. Advice?
Using a Lift Plate does put a tremendous amount of stress on four little carb nuts. If you go that route, find the diameter and TPI of the carb studs and buy four Grade 8 bolts in place of the nuts. You will want enough threads to get a good bite into the Intake, but not bottom out.
If you use a horizontal bolt for a chain attachment, such as exhaust manifold, ALT bracket, etc then shear strength of the bolt is important.
The strength of the bolt is only as strong as the threads of which it enters. This always concerned me when attaching a Lift Plate to soft aluminum Intakes.
Same deal with aluminum heads.
I used to pull the Intake and attach a chain using diagonal position Intake bolt holes locations and using Grade 8 bolts right into the head.
Last edited by HeadsU.P.; Jun 21, 2020 at 07:47 PM.
I found this job to be a lot less stressful to do the engine a trans separately on my big block C3's with my one man operation. I can't see saving much time trying to get both in at once and there is definitely less chance of gouging something.
I found this job to be a lot less stressful to do the engine a trans separately on my big block C3's with my one man operation. I can't see saving much time trying to get both in at once and there is definitely less chance of gouging something.
The guy who rebuilt the trans highly suggested doing it this way as a way to get around trying to support the trans at the bellhousing. I've never done an engine install with the trans out too. How are you getting the trans back under the car? Are you using an engine hoist with it? Seems I can't get enough space under the car in my driveway to put the trans back in conventionally.
I used to pull the Intake and attach a chain using diagonal position Intake bolt holes locations and using Grade 8 bolts right into the head.
The diagonal attachments is the GM standard way though with the intake installed. There's a hoist loop using the two front left bolts on the intake and a single bracket with a loop that uses a bolt into the back of the right hand head. I guess I'll probably go this route and make sure to use grade 8 bolts. Thanks.
Does anyone have direct experience using a gantry rather than standard engine hoist? It certainly looks more appealing with less jostling around to get things lined up.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
i built a gantry into my garage and its the best way to do it, no crane legs or feet in the way. It was pretty cheap, i found the I beams and one trolley on craigslist and bought the rest from harbor freight, I use brackets on the cylinder heads at 4 cornrners with a tilt and it goes in and out with the tranny attached very easily. Harbor freight sells a gantry that has wheel andn legs for under a grand and looks appealing. I also use there trolleys and their electric hoist. It does move fst so I built a block and tacjkle to reduce the speed and the side effect is a higher lifting capacity but I never get close to the max on that.
easy one man job, but 2 is better, the tranny is attached my Dad giving me a hand this was for the 5 speed test fit and I hadnt cut the floor yet and wanted a good angle going in
i built a gantry into my garage and its the best way to do it, no crane legs or feet in the way. It was pretty cheap, i found the I beams and one trolley on craigslist and bought the rest from harbor freight, I use brackets on the cylinder heads at 4 cornrners with a tilt and it goes in and out with the tranny attached very easily. Harbor freight sells a gantry that has wheel andn legs for under a grand and looks appealing. I also use there trolleys and their electric hoist. It does move fst so I built a block and tacjkle to reduce the speed and the side effect is a higher lifting capacity but I never get close to the max on that.
THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKIN' 'BOUT !!
The HF gantry is what I'm looking at vs. their 2 ton hoist. Gantry seems to have very positive reviews with lots of YouTube vids and looks well made in person, but, it's more than twice the price of the hoist. (~ $600 w/20% coupon) I also do wood turning and handle 100-200 lb green tree sections and the gantry would certainly be handy for removing them from my truck bed. Storage may be an issue though.
You may have just helped make up my mind on the gantry as I wasn't keen on wrestling the hoist coming in at an angle with the trans attached and everything tilted. I think the chain attachments at each end of the head is the way to go and I can make up my own attachment tabs from some 3/16"-1/4" steel plate I have laying around.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
I had the engine hoist for a while, had to take the drivers side wheel off to get a good angle and my shop is tiny so it was a hassle. The the car shifted from all the up and down trying to get the motor aligned and it hit the hoist on the fender. That made the decision easy to peruse the gantry option. I got the idea from another member here. Best thing I ever did, but I wish my over head I beam was longer, otherwise I’m super happy
Engine/Trans Lift Points
