Whelp, seems like I am going to have to pull this baby. My question is can someone give me the gist of what I need to do for a complete noob at the project. I am wanting to leave as much bolted on the motor as I can until I can get it out. It seems you can leave the waterpump on the front and use a Happy Hooker on the intake to pull the motor out the side with the hood still attached. Then apparently there are 2 bolts holding the engine to the frame, then all the bolts holding the tranny to the engine? If, anyones got any pictures of them pulling and or tips I would appreciate it. I'm going to order this video from ebay about rebuilding a lt1 and I hear theres a good book out about rebuilding your lt1/lt4.

 

You're not pulling out the tranny with it? You'll wish you had. Those clutchhousing-to-engine bolts are a pain in the butt to get to.

 

They are easy to get to with a 24" extension, and a wobble socket. Just pull the engine mounts out, then drop the engine as low as you can and its easy to get to the top ones. The middle and bottom are no problem to begin with.

 

watch out for an evap hose that runs behind the heads
watch out for the transmission fille hose/breather neck
support the tranny when removing the c-beam
you will have to break alot of bolts holding the exhaust together (depending on how rusty/seized they are)
Label everything

most importantly, buy a set of helms manuals

 

Totally senseless to remove the trans in an A4 car. Forward movement of the engine required to clear the bellhousing in this case is very minimal. I unbolt the a/c compressor, accumulator, etc. and tie them out of the way. No need to disconnect the hoses and disturb the system. I also unbolt the power steering pump and tie it out of the way. I do disconnect the reservoir and it's piping to the pump, no big deal. Other than this, it's pretty straightforward. I do remove my intake first but that's just a matter of preference and certainly not necessary. I also reinstall it after setting the engine back in. Again, just the way I prefer to do it. With the intake off and the oil sender/sensors and fittings removed, the two top bellhousing bolts are doable from the top. If you still have your stock cat brackets in place, the next pair of bellhousing bolts down may be a bit of a challenge. Not GM's finest moment regarding concern for the poor bastard turning the wrenches! Thank God for headers and the fact that I only did this once.
The book I believe you're referencing by Doug Anderson is a good guideline for the most part. But double check every critical fact in there that's relevant to your purposes. I've had that book for a long time and have found some information contained there to be erroneous.

 

There's one bolt-looking from the rear it would be the ten oclock position that gave me so much grief I drilled a hole in the firewall and stuck a grommet in there in case i have to pull it again.!!went back together real easy.

 

As Scranage already stated the tranny bolts are easy with a long extension and as Corvette Kid stated pulling the tranny is a waste of time.
If I didn't have headers I could have left the exhaust manifolds on.

 

Not to jump in here, so a stock LT1 with stock exhaust , the engine can be pulled with the OE headers on? Also, I read that its best to pull the engine with the A4 attached, what about a manual trans, is it best to pull it out first before the motor?

 

Leave the trans in the car unless you just want to remove it for some other reason. Picture up above shows the automatic left behind after motor removal. Manuals, just leave bell housing connected to motor unbolting the 5 bolts that hold it to the trans. To pull whole assembly would definetly require removing hood. Happy Hooker was a great investement for making job easier. Do a search and others have great tips.

 

Appreciate it, I might be able to give it a go next weekend. Then to find out wtf is up with my motor.

 

Yes, exhaust manifolds can be left on.

I just pulled mine a couple of weeks ago to make room for the new engine. I left everything on except for the EGR valve and EGR solenoid. I left the trans IN and the hood ON.

Here are a lot of pics that REALLY helped me in both removal and installation. http://arnold200.fotopic.net/c712887_49.html

These are courtesy of ARNOLD.

Jake