My car has been down for some time now. I don't have the money to fix it, but I do have a little time here and there that I can mess with it. I have an engine hoist, engine stand, jack, jack stands, chocks, etc. Everyone raves about how it is fairly easy to drop the motor out of the bottom of the car. I did have access to a lift, but unfortunately now I do not, so if I drop the motor it's going to have to be in my garage.

Also, to drop the motor out of the bottom, where are the subframe bolts I have to remove? What else needs to be disconnected?(steering shaft? Brake lines? Suspension stuff?) Any walk throughs or help would be appreciated.

 

i just dropped mine out a few weeks ago, i think the subframe bolts are just on the inside of the wheels, brake lines, radiator hoses,ac lines, wire harness,throttle all have to be disconnected, we dropped out the whole subframe, struts/wheels/ and transmission. i have a lift in my garage though, so essentially we didn't drop the engine, we just lifted the car up

 

if you have a hoist, you might as well just go out thru the top
unless you have reasoning to take apart the whole subframe and a need to pull all the suspension out with it..

taking it out thru the top isnt that difficult imo

 

The only reasoning I have for dropping it out through the bottom is everyone says how much easier it is. Will the motor come out the top easily with the trans still attached?

 

I don't think it would be that easy to drop it out the bottom without access to a lift. I have dropped mine out the bottom, but I had a lift and it was done in just a few hours with ease..

If you drop it out the bottom without a lift you are gonna have to jack the car up high as hell to be able to get the motor and cradle out from under the car. But, I have heard of some people doing it that way but they had some really big jacks and I know some people have used fork lifts.

Its not that hard to get it out the top tho, I just pulled mine out for the 2nd time and I brought it thru the top. Just disconnect everything that is going to the motor and pull the radiator and fans out and it shouldn't be a problem for you.

 

http://ken.lowrance.com/Projects/Hea...ineRemoval.htm

The bottom of the front bumper needs to be ~3' off the ground. I took mine out the bottom with nothing but a floor jack. I've done my share of out the top on other cars. I liked the bottom method for the 4th gen.

 

last time i pulled my motor we dropped it out the bottom without a lift.

with the help of another experiencied Lt1 owner, we had the motor & trans out in 45 minutes.

i don't have AC or ABS.... but i still think that's pretty impressive. i dont see anyone pulling an LT1 out the top in under an hour. (my record out the top is 4 hours, working by myself)

 

That's a nice picture, Rob.

However, mine beats yours.

Really, I think pulling it through the bottom is THE way to do it.
I did the whole thing by myself and I have to say, it took a few hours, but that's mainly because I did not have much room and not enough jacks.

 

I agree, do it out the bottom. It is not hard, and a lift is not required. I have done it 4 times now.

http://www.michiganspeed.com/enginepull/index.html

 

I think someone is asking for trouble by putting a car in the air 3'-4' when pulling it out from the top is cake.

I would never, ever trust my car to sit on 2' of blocks of whatever on top of jackstands.

IMHO

 

a lot easier to go from the top in my opinion. No need to mess with the AC or Power Steering etc. Its less work to just pull it from the top. Atleast to me it is.

 

Thanks for the help guys. The links are very helpful! I'm going to take some time and look at them more before I decide what I'm going to do.

 

John, run to a concrete block supply place and pick up about 20 solid 4" thick concrete blocks. They should be about a buck each.

Use them to help get the car up higher. You can put them under the jack and under the jackstands.

Also, putting the rear end on ramps helps a ton!

I helped a buddy, it took us a few hours to have the engine ready to drop. Putting it back in was pretty easy too, just lower the car down over it.

 

Iordered the happy hooker thru TPIS and will be pulling mine thru the top.