Easiest way to remove a big block from a junk car?
 

Not quite Corvette related but i've found myself in a pickle! I have a 75 Eldorado, I saved it from being cubed a few years ago, thinking it would be a nice easy restoration, it had been parked inside for 20 years so I figured it shouldn't be too hard to get going again. Unfortunately after pulling it out of the dark building I realised the roof had been leaking for 20 years over the car and although it could be saved, it was FAR beyond my means to do so, lots and lots of welding, the windshield frame has rotted out along with patches of the floorpan, combine that with title issues it means this car will never go back on the road. Now i've got 2 days to get rid of it as my storage has come to an abrupt end. What is the easiest way to pull the motor out? a 500ci big block with only 30k miles is far too nice to weigh in for metal and i'm hoping at some point in the future It may find a home in my 71 which will be arriving in a week or two. I don't have a hoist and only have basic tools to hand, i'm thinking of just cutting the front of the car, placing 2 pallets ontop of each other under the sump and dragging it out with a pallet truck? Any other suggestions? Will also be saving as many other parts to sell and fund my Corvette build since, let's face it, a vette is far cooler than an old Caddy. I've got about 2 days to do this before it's getting cubed.

BF Torch + BF Hammer and a flock of emigres.

IF you dont have a lift, that sounds reasonable, Your going to have to be able to get at the bellhousing bolts too so that your not trying to move the tranny, so you may have to cut some of he firewall. You cant rent a lift from an auto parts store? I would think you would have to cut the radiator support and the front cross memeber to do what you want to do or cut the frame and fenders right at the firewall and use a vehical to pull the whole front end away. Remember that big block is going to be around 500+lbs. You are going ot have to have the skids under it before you do any cutting, then you are going to have to get it into a trailer or into a truck....the more I type, the more I would find a crane

First thing I would do is get in there and undo everything that ties the motor ( and gearbox ?) to the car body/frame so it's just sitting on the mounts.

I can hire engine lifting cranes from my local equipment hire place ( think car trailer, generators , light construction equipment , chainsaw type stuff )

Probably easier to leave the transmission attached in this scenario. It may well be a 200 4R and even as a core, it has value. Without a lift, it’ll be hard to remove on its own. And potentially messy too.

Sell the car to a pick and pull junkyard, then buy the engine back from them. Or don't, if you don't have a place to put it.

or sawzall with the lift... take the trans too, its usually easier to pull with it connected and if the caddy has a different bolt pattern you already have a trans for it.

First, ask yourself, "what in the world do you want to do with a 500 cid Caddy engine???" It's not a "big block." It's just a plain ol' Caddy engine that has almost no value. It will never go fast, without massive investment. It will never bolt into anything fun (like a Vette or a GTO). The front-drive turbo 400 tranny is useless in any "normal" application. Call it the way it is: It's junk. Sell the entire thing for $200 and keep your life simple.

Lars

Now, that is the best answer I read today- YEAH

I know lots of people think they are terrible engines but I read this and figured it would be worth a shot? https://www.hotrod.com/articles/hrdp...-engine-build/
500hp 575lp ft of torque isn't bad even if it ends up costing a bit more in todays money?

Wait, its fwd?

i was thinking it would be good for a older chevy truck.

It is a very good engine. Good for about 6 cents a lb. Lars beat me to it. Scrap

Cant be if it’s a TH400 can it?

are they really THAT bad that you guys wouldn't consider one for the cost of pulling it out of a car? Bear in mind i'm in the UK, an 8.2 ltr engine is worth owning just for the bragging rights associated with saying you own such a thing....

I'm with Lars. I wouldn't complicate my life with it if you brought it to my house and paid me to store it.

I'll stand by my answer. Send it to the junkyard. Odds are, when you are ready to do something with it, you can buy it back. More likely, you will never see it again. You win either way! The best car transaction I ever made was one I gave away.

Yep, Eldorados were front wheel drive from 67 on... According to google, the tranny was actually called a TH-425, which was based on the TH-400.... :thumbs:

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...9f5d5262b0.gif



It's front wheel drive. Cut the rails, fire it up, put in gear and drive it away from the carcass.




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Some 40 years ago ... a local acquired a complete but well-worn kit car that looked like a cross between a Bradley GT and a Bricklin ...
... powered by MID-mounted drivetrain from fwd Eldorado's 500ci - TH425.

Depending on angle, looked kinda cool ... was a real tire-roaster ... but handled like a turd in a typhoon ... loose as a goose ...
... Wasn't long before what was left turned up at local SADISCO wholesale auction.

In USA, junk cars are routinely Donated to a Charity's pickup in exchange for a tax deduction.

you admit you did nothing for 20 years to it. Why keep a useless engine for 20 more years that you will never do anything with? donate the car to a charity like Kidney Foundation.. get a tax deduction.. and THEY will move it. Besides Its too hot to work on junk . Better to sit by pool and drink beer now

Yes, it's a front-drive TH400, known as the THM425. Used in Toronado and Eldorado only. Useless in anything else, unless you want to build a mid-engine kit car with a Olds/Caddy engine (it won't bolt up to the Chevy bellhousing bolt pattern):
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...52f1814579.png

They're a great engine if you want to cruise on the open highway at 2000 rpm for 400,000 miles, getting the worst gas mileage in Great Britain. What in the world would you attempt to bolt it into? It will not bolt up to or fit into anything that's fun to drive - it won't bolt into a Vette without massive modifications to chassis and accessory drives. If you decide to build a mid-engine Ford Anglia and use the TH425 to drive the rear wheels, that would be cool, but I doubt the EU will ever let you license it. So what you have is complete junk. Sell it to a Russian. You can buy a big block Chevy at going market price in England and be money and power ahead of anything you can do with that Caddy.

They spent $4500 in the US 20 years ago in that article to build that engine (with all the discounts and contacts and "special favors" afforded the magazines that do these builds). It would cost roughly twice that amount for a "normal guy" to build the same engine, here in the US, right now in 2019. For Great Britain, double that number again. You want to dump almost $20,000 into a junk Caddy engine that won't bolt into anything you own?

Lars