Hi all

1.I have been thinking about pulling the engine in the 75 l-48 auto. I am wondering what parts have got to be removed in order to get it out.

2.I would also like to rebuild the engine and transmission while its out, are there any good books that will help? Also what are the parts that you would use in your rebuild (pistons, gaskets, bearings; The brands)?

3. What are good things to do while the engine is out? I was thinking restore the engine bay, and fix the wiring but that’s about it. Would a front-end rebuild do me good? (65,000 miles)

4. Its got a th400 would a 700r4 be a good upgrade?

Thanks
Many questions and not enough answers that I can find alone

ZD :cheers:


[Modified by ZD75blue, 2:48 PM 10/3/2001]

 

to the top
bump

 

OK, it's something like this:

--Bump engine over so it's at TDC on No. 1 cylinder's firing stroke.
--Disconnect/remove battery.
--Drain oil and coolant.
--Remove the hood.
--Remove distributor.
--Disconnect and plug the fuel lines running from the frame to the pump.
--Disconnect the exhaust manifolds/headers.
--Disconnect/remove starter.
--Somewhere in here you'll want to remove the A/C compressor if you have one. Don't disconnect the hoses, just swing it out of the way.
--Remove sheet metal cover for the torque converter.
--Remove P/S pump and move it out of the way.
--Disconnect the engine ground strap/wire at the side of block.
--Remove clutch, fan, water pump and radiator hoses.
--Disconnect heater hoses if you still run them.
--Loosen engine mount bolts/nuts on left and right side.

At this point you need to decide how your hoist will attach to your engine. If you have a plate that mounts to the manifold, remove the carb and attach the plate with grade 8 bolts. If you have hoist attachment brackets on your engine, you're good to go. If yo have neither--my case--you might want to remove the intake manifold and the heads. Use OLD head bolts to attach your hoist chain to the block. Use washers and rags and whatever else necessary to make sure you don't ding up the block deck.

--Attach the hoist and take up a little slack.
--Place a small floor jack or other support under the transmission.
--Remove the engine mount bolts on the left and right side.
--Remove the block-to-bellhousing bolts.
--Remove the three bolts connecting the torque cnverter to the flexplate. You'll need to be able to rotate the engine to do this.
--Take up a little more slack on your hoist and work the engine forward slightly.
--Keep taking up slack and moving it forward until it both breaks free of the transmission and clears the engine mount towers on the frame.
--Have your helper guide the engine as you pump it up and out.
--Remove the flexplate as soon as it's clear of the car and put the engine on a stand.

That should get you started. Good luck.


:cheers:



[Modified by Jack Sweet, 12:38 PM 10/3/2001]

 

Jack Sweet- Thanks so much

can you pull the transmission out along with the engine or does this over complicate it?

ZD

 

I hear you can but I've never had them both out at the same time. You'd Probably need one of those load levelers or other such piece of gear on the hoist chain because it seems the engine/transmission assembly would have to be tipped up at the front quite a bit for both of them to come out.

 

okay

I was just trying to see if there were any short cuts to get them out quick... :jester

I dont really want to use one of those stabilizers if its possible just because of the added parts and needed expience... okay so its the price :p:

Thank you for your help Jack Sweet

ZD

 

While your in the engine compartment ,without the engine, its a good time to inspect the cross member for cracks. Check at connection points for suspenion a arms. check your steering linkage.tighten a arms or just check. Definitley detail the compartment.. Check harness connections, vac hoses,
steering box and rag joint. Have fun I did this not to long ago myself with my 77.
Oh yea don't forget all the wires that go to engine. oil press switch next to oil filter and temp gauge next to front driver side of block before you pull engine.
If your pulling trans I would either rebuild it or leave it alone if its good but I would put in a better torque convertor like a higher stall yank. The 700R swap is a good option if you have the bucks but it can run about $1,800 if you need all the parts and trans.. After you do all look at the rear diff ratio if you havn't changed that yet.
Good luck

 

It really depends on which direction you want to go on the engine. Get the block and heads tanked and mag'ed. Align bore, zero deck. Check the crank. Recondition the rods. New cam and lifters. Roller timing chain. New oil pump. New main and rod bearings. Balence the rotating assembly. New flat-top pistons. New rings. New freeze plugs. New harmonic balencer. New water pump. Shave the heads a little. Three angle valve job. Replace valve seals. Check the guides. Port and polish. Hopefully you've already taken care of a freer flowing exhast.

 

dont forget to remove the trans cooler line clip from the pan rail. I forgot to do this. Oops. Like jack, Ive never had the tranny and the motor out together before. the one problem I can see is that the motor would have to come out way to the front if you take it out with the tranny attached. If you use a cherry picker, it wont be long enough (probably) to reach the whole distance over the length of the nose. If you can visualize it, the motor would have to be lifted up high and moved forward until the tailshaft clears the firewall. this could be a problem if you dont have adequate forward movement available. An "A" frame hoist setup would probably work.

 

Buy the book called "How to Rebuild Your Small Block Chevy". It gives a real nice discussion on how to prep an engine prior to pulling it. It even gives the step-by-step on lift points etc. It is well worth the money because it also tells you how to install the engine and to set it up for distributor installation.

I always pull the engine and tranny as a single unit.

Gary

 

sitting in a box but yeah got that

Thanks guys

The 700r4 swap is one I would like to do but then again a 5 speed manual would be nice...

ZD

 

would it be wise to install grade 8 bolts through out the engine? Or are these ARP (i think thats the one) that I keep hearing about on here what i should use?

ZD

 

Pulling everything together is possible. I'm not sure if it's any easier or quicker to do it either way. When I pulled mine, I pulled everything together. Somethings are easier to do when the engine is out like the bellhousing bolts. I think I needed to bring the lift in from the side. I also used a "come along" attached to the water pump (I was replacing it) to raise the front of the engine. If you decide to do it this way, let me know and I can give you a whole other list of tips.

As for Jack's comments. If you're rebuilding the engine, there's no point in getting the pistion #1 to TDC. In fact Jack states later to rotate the engine to remove the TC which defeats the purpose of #1 at TDC. It will greatly help turn the engine if you remove the spark plugs. I don't know why you'd need to remove the starter at this point. Same with the water pump.

What I would recommend is document everything before removing or disconnecting. Take pictures or a video of the wires and hoses (If using a normal camera make sure the pictures turned out. I took some pictures that were so blurry they were worthless). Months later when putting things back you won't remember. Label every wire/hose with tape as to were it goes.

You can use a long grade 8 bolt in either the intake holes or any on the heads. They're strong enough they won't even bend with this weight.

 

I would love to have a list of tips because "expierence is what you get when you dont get what you want" :jester

Are grade 8 bolts worth using through out the engine? I am just wondering if it might let me run some higher horsepower with out concern (yeah i'm a details guy)

What brand/part numbers should i use for gaskets and such... i was thinking felpro but would like secound opinions

ZD

 

Would it be a good idea to pull the trans before the engine? I'm kindof lacking space so can i pick you gurus brains about it??? :jester

Thanks for the help

ZD

 

Due to there long nose the ordinary cherry picker has trouble reaching the center of the motor. I had to drill an extra hole to extend the boom out further and it really pushes the hoist. I always pull the motor and transmission as a unit.

 

I have always used one of those 2 ton cherry pickers designed to pull engines. We put a "levelling device" on the hook and then hang the chain from that. The leveling device is a screw type device designed to lower or raise one end of the engine. They run about $35 and are worth twice that in sweat and work

I have always pulled the engine and transmission together. Obviously, the hood is off, the radiator and shroud are out and the fan and fan clutch are off. I then hook the engine to the hoist using the best grade of chain I can find and I use grade 8 bolts. I have done this with three small blocks and one big block, all with the manual transmission attached. It took 3 1/2 hours from start to finish with two guys working together. I go real slow because we are dealing with my own car and my buddy's car.

Gary

 

Gary you make it sound so easy... where do you bolt the chain down?

Thanks for the comments guys

looks like I will probably pull the trans at the same time

ZD

 

Sounds like you're going to pull everything at once. There should be two engine lift brackets on your intake, one on the front drivers and one behind the distributor.

Few more tips:

When you disconnect the prop shaft, tie the yoke to the tail housing with some string, so when you tilt the transmission to pull, it doesn't fall out and pour ATF all over. Been there, done that.

I'm not sure if the transmission cooler lines are the same on the TH-400, but it took me almost a day to disconnect mine at the transmission. What I discovered when putting everything back is that you can disconnect the transmission from the cross member and push the engine/trans more to drivers side to get better access. I ended up bending my flare wrench into a slight U to get enough clearance.

 

Gerry, right you are--putting No. 1 at TDC on the firing stroke isn't absolutely necessary. That's just a habit I got into a long time ago. I suppose it could be helpful if someone wanted to mark the orientation of the dist. housing and rotor before pulling it.