After work today I decided to pull the 350 out of the 'Vette. Nobody was around so once again I got to work alone. The engine came out rather easily. Just as I was wheeling the engine over to a nearby pallet my dad pulls in (typical of him...misses all the hard work :) ). He told me to hold on a minute while he snapped a few pictures with his digital camera (pictures to come later).

I'm going to paint and detail my engine compartment tomorrow (Thursday). All of my parts should be coming in Thursday or Friday. I might have the engine in the car this weekend. My buddy is coming over to help me install the clutch and bellhousing and drop the motor in. Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday I will be working intensely on the car. I hope to be able to start the engine up next weekend if things go as planned :D.

I cleaned up my distributor and dropped it into the big block already. The distributor is lined up and ready to go.

Words can't describe the emotions I'm feeling right now. Proud, happy, anxious and of course (VERY)nervous.

 

Keep up the good work....and keep a good listing of parts necessary for the swap. I'm starting to get the big-block itch, and the 502/502 sounds really good right now!!! :cheers:

 

Shane,

Are you sure that BB 468 is going to fit.. :lol:

Seriously are you going to have to change the motor mounts?

:flag

 

Bence, That's awesome. Keep us updated. You pulled the engine by yourself? I'm glad to hear this can be done. I'm getting ready to pull mine, probably this weekend. I spent the past two nights prepping for it. Do you have any pointers?

Good luck!

 

Awesome! Keep us posted. Give yourself some more time if you need it to clean up the engine compartment till it sparkles, cause it's not every day that you have the engine out and can get down into all the cracks and crevices with detergent and water. Also...I always give myself at least 15 or sometimes 30 minutes after installation to walk around the car and do a mental checklist. If this is the first time you've installed an engine, then you should write up a checklist before trying to start it.

Things that might slip your mind and will need to be checked:

1) Did you tighten the clamp on the fuel line that you previously just slipped on while positioning the pump?

2) Did you tighten the nut on the battery terminal of the alternator which you previously had slipped on while positioning the alternator?

3) I've seen a video of where the previous two had not been checked, and sure enough the engine caught fire and in just five seconds there was a huge fireball, plus for some reason the starter wouldn't stop turning over so it kept pumping fuel until there was nothing worth a dime left of the car.

4) Check the bolts on the bell housing...sometimes one of them forgets to become tightened.

5) Be sure that no sockets and ratchets are attached to the crank shaft pulley/dampner bolt from when you were turning the engine around by hand to line up the #1 cylinder...they tend to fly off into the radiator and cause it to bleed green blood (this from experience)

6) Get your signals worked out with whoever is going to turn the engine over and whoever is going to watch the engine...have a clear understanding of what the "turn it off" signal is going to be. Another option is to have a remove starter and cut off, but it's always wise to have someone inside to watch the oil pressure gauge...so, there always needs to be some sort of signals when you have someone helping with an engine install.

7) Be sure that you have sufficient ventilation, new engines sometimes run really rich at first, which means lots of choking fumes...it's hard to see what's going on much less breath and work on fixing problems when there's a smoky haze in the air. Get one of those square 3" x 3" fans and stick it in the back of the shop to blow air out toward the front...if you have a back door leading to the outside then definitely open it, and any windows. If you have a door leading to the house then you might want to avoid opening it during the initial start up.

8) Be sure the car is NOT in gear.

Also, the nervous feeling keeps building until well after the engine is running. I usually don't start to calm down until about the third day when I finally decide it's time to punch it hard. :cheers:

 

Boy, I know what a PIA it is working alone when extracting an engine. I removed the 350 from my '89Sub that way. I've resigned myself to working alone as I have two teenage daughters, although they do pitch in when asked.

How did you pull the engine out? From the front or over the fenders? Steve Strause was having problems reaching over the front nose with his hoist.

How are those grades(inschool) going?

 

Clink:
Actually the small block and big block motor mounts are they same. The big block will bolt right in. My oil pan appears as though it is going to fit without any trouble. I'm just worried about my valve covers clearing the power brake booster.

Joe:
Yes I pulled the engine by myself. It was rather easy. I hooked the chain up to the engine and hooked the hoist up to the chain. With the motor mounts still attached to the frame I jacked the hoist up a little bit to take some of the weight off of the motor mounts. I got under the car and unbolted the motor mounts. The key was I made sure I was not under the motor just in case it decided to fall. Twas a very simple task....much easier than installing a rear end by yourself (which I have also done :D ).

Rockn-Roll:
Thanks for the checklist, I will be sure to keep those things in mind before I fire the engine up.

1970 Stingray:
I pulled the engine out from the front (nose). The cherry picker that I have is a rather large one and it's my uncle's. He owns a mining business so he has about any tool imaginable. So finding a cherry picker that would suit my needs wasn't a big deal.

Grades are coming along good (but not as good as I would like) right now I am at a 3.0GPA but am shooting for better. I think one of the things working in my favor (academically speaking) is the fact that I don't stay on campus. So I have pretty much stayed away from the whole party scene. All of my free time has been spent working on the engine, which is why I feel hobbies are a good thing it helps keep me out of trouble :).

 

I hear you on that one Bence :) Ive noticed that my time in my vette keeps me out of alot of trouble.


[Modified by Keith1979, 3:26 PM 4/11/2002]

 

Sounds like you are close to being done :cool:

 

:cool:...very interesting. Keep up the good work. Can't wait to see pics of the big boy installed!

 

Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm going to yank mine Friday night. It's all ready for the hoist. Then the fun stuff comes.

Good luck with your project!

:cheers: