Reference:

This is for an 01 Corvette with manual transmission. Also my first time pulling an engine or doing a car project this big. Trying to gather as much information up front as I can, hoping the veterans will chime in.

Have removed the following:

Supercharger, Alternator, Power Steering Pump, Steering Rack, Radiator/Fans, Crank Pulley, Headers, H Pipe, Heads, Intake Manifold, Various Hoses, Starter, Disconnected AC compressor from block but left attached to lines, Bell housing inspection plate.

Have cracked bolts loose on the TT to Bell housing, Bell housing to block, upper control arms, bottom of struts, disconnected brake line brackets.

Planned Approach:

Planning on purchasing a harbor freight 2 ton engine hoist and pulling the motor from the passenger side. Also picked up an 'all star' engine plate and an OTC leveler for the hoist that will hook onto the engine plate on top of the valley.

Jack stands will remain at the rear cradle, and at the 4 puck locations along the side rails for stability. I will have a floor jack underneath the TT with a couple of jack stands near it to rest on should it lower at all when the separation occurs from the engine.

On the driver side I will slip my floor jack in underneath the cradle, with a balance plate attached to it. I'll disconnect various bolts saving engine mounts for last and lower the cradle when ready onto a couple of jack stands by 2 inches.

Then I will try and pull the engine forward and separate it from the bell housing.

If my plan of attack to get the engine out is wrong or needs tweaking I would love to hear from others trials and tribulations on this step of the process to learn from.

Questions:

Does the following need to be removed... Updated

Answered:
Front Brake Calipers? NO
Hood? YES
AC Compressor? NO
AC Condenser? NO
ABS? NO, just needs to be loose from bracket
Will I be removing the TT from the bell housing or the bell housing with connected TT from the engine? What is the best way to separate? Pry Bar? Separate from Bell housing to Engine using pry or large screwdriver.
Shifter? NO
Clutch/Flywheel? NO
Should my transmission be in gear or in neutral? Yes, Leave it in Gear.


Thanks for your help!

 

I pulled and rebuilt my ls1 in the spring of this year. Mine is a automatic but it is not much different than a manual transmission. here is a link to a very good writeup on doing this with pictures. It was not near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Good luck with the job

http://web.archive.org/web/201012091...engineswap.htm

 

Thanks for posting, how difficult was it for you to separate the bell housing from the engine? Any tips on how to do so? Did you need a shaft clamp?

I have been using the reference you posted and a the link from madmat on the forum referenced below. CajunCorvette's is no longer up. Based on Matt's pic I can see the AC compressor and brake calipers are still in, which answers that question. He pulled his hood, I was planning on doing the same, will update the original post with those questions answered.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...ring-jack.html

 

I did not have any trouble separating the bell housing from the engine. I just used a large screwdriver between the engine block and bell housing to pry, they separated easily and then I went to the top and moved it forward to start up with engine. I did have the ebcm loose to allow enough forward space to clear the torque tube shaft from the bell housing. I did drop the front cradle completely down out of the way

 

Much appreciated for the information, just have a couple of manual transmission specific questions and I think I'm all clear on what needs to happen to get this done.

 

Just removed mine from top- shifter does not have to be disconnected. I also left my clutch/flywheel on. I don't remember what gear I left mine in. Separating bell housing from engine was not a big deal for me as it had been off about 6 years earlier. Now getting it back on from the top is another story. Good Luck with it.

 

Getting it back in from the stop is Cake also. Line the motor up with the bell housing. Get them back together and then put every single bell housing bolt back in as much as possible. Install the cradle but don't tighten the motor mounts. This way you can still rock the motor back and forth a little to get the the one or two pain in the *** bollhousing bolts. Makes getting to them way easy.

Also, do NOT I repeat DO NOT waste your money on that 2 ton unless your gonna use it on other cars also. It will only work on removing the motor from the car and even that is a pain in the *** with the Harbor Freight lift. Its TOO SHORT even at its longest arm setting to do what you need. Find one with a longer arm. Preferably one that is long enough to install the motor from the front of the car. Itll make lining the Shaft and the crank a 10 minute job as oppose to trying to do it from the side at some funky angle.

Support the engine with the lift. Drop the cradle all the way. I don't really use anything but a regular jack for this. Then slide the cradle out of the way. Remove the bolts from the bellhousing if you haven't already. Support Tq tube with jack stand and pull cradle out of the way. Its pretty strait forward.

 

Thanks Johnny, the reason I was going to go with the HF 2 tone was because the boom extends out to 61-3/4 in, the 1 ton only goes to 45in. How much length will I need on a boom to get the motor out? Got any suggestions on which hoist to go with, I haven't placed my order yet? Thanks.

 

Thanks for the information will update my first post, just about have all my questions answered. Did you guys pull your motor from the front, if so did you pull your cover? What hoist did you use?

 

Ive done it from the front and from the Side. But what cover are you talking about? The Radiator Shroud? None of that has to be moved. Once the radiator, cradle, EBCM, and steering rack is out of the way you have tons of space to work with. The LS is a very small V8 with the heads off. Its better to do it from the front though because then the engine lift legs become support for the cradle when your ready to install it AND the legs are out of the way of the Jack stand or jack you have under the Tq tube bell housing.

I cant remember the brand. But I had to borrow my boys. Ill look when I get home and let you know.

Also, Put the car in second gear. That way when you go to tq the Crank pulley bolt down it wont spin with the motor. If it was in neutral it would spin.

 

I was asking if I would have to remove the bumper if I tried reaching from the front to get access? At this point given how disassembled everything is it would be a pain to have to move the car.

Passenger side is the easiest to access with the engine hoist after I pick it up, probably could get it in the front if the boom is long enough to access. Will take some measurements tonight and plan accordingly. Would appreciate you finding out the specs on the hoist you used, thanks.

 

I didnt take my bumper off for anything. Screw that. Ill let you know in a lil about the lift. But the front is the best way. Side is a pain in the *** sometimes

 

Going to pull the hood off tomorrow. Took measurements, the harbor freight (HF) 2 ton engine hoist would cut the mustard in either configuration for length of the boom and height it reaches. The height is a little tight, going to have to cut some links down on the leveler and/or the chain that comes with the hoist.

I'm pretty sure I'll have the space to pull the engine head on in front of the bumper, just not sure if I'l be able to roll the engine hoist out of the way I'm not a big fan of HF but both of my floor jacks and a couple of socket sets are HF, both have done their job. If you can provide me with a better engine hoist I'm all ears but plan on putting in my order tomorrow night so it will be here when I get back from vacation on Monday.

 

I keep friggin getting busy. Maybe they have changed the design since I got mine. Mine is orange. Looks as if the new ones are grey. But Ill know by lunch time when I go home.

 

Northern Tool and Equipment makes the one I had to borrow from a friend to use. Its longer then the HF one I have that's 2 ton. But still not long enough to do it from the front.

And you don't really need an Engine level. I just used the two middle bolt holes on the Valley cover and got some Super strong bolts and washers from the store. Works everytime. Zip tie the AC comp to the shock "tower" if you can.

 

The Northern Tool hoist was nice and had great reviews but was almost double the price as the HF, it gave an additional 3 inches of boom length, better quality but a 4 inches less height.

At the end of the day if both are going to have me pulling from the side I couldn't justify the additional cost. I took your advice and cancelled my order on the leveler, however stuck with the valley engine plate to hook up to from the engine hoist. I also ordered ARP valley bolts to use, my plate utilizes all 10 bolt holes, overkill but worth it.

Going on vacation for the weekend and should have my engine hoist in Tuesday or Wednesday next week along with a Jeg's 1250lb engine stand. Just need to pull the hood, zip tie the compressor to the strut and I'll be all set to get the final leg of the removal kicked off.

 

I removed my engine from the side (three times). You do not have to remove the hood just attach the lift real close to the motor. Less chance of damaging the hood. Disconnect the upper control arms to get the cradle to drop.