What all is involved?

I know I need to use a cherry picker to support the engine topside.. (btw, what does the cherrypicker grab onto on our engines?)

Now.. from the bottom I know there are alot of larger sized bolts... what are the steps to pulling this thing out? I need to pull mine out and clearance it for my headers.. my LT's are banging up against the driver's side corner... sucks, but I need to do this soon, it's driving me nuts and probably causing false knock...

 

Is there another reason why you want to pull the entire k-member?

IMO thats alot of work just to clearance it a little for the headers. I had the same problem (only on the pass side). What I did is I unbolted the Y-pipe, then took out all the header bolts and then supported the header itself with a bungee cord. That kept it far enough out of the way that I could clearance the cradle with a Dremel (yes, it took a looooooooong time).

 

well... it's not the kind of thing I can really do with a dremel and with limited space...

I've looked into what you're saying.. just unbolting it and moving it over as far as I can.. I guess it's possible, but just want to know all the options...

It's on a rounded corner of the kmember and needs at least another 1/4" of space at least to stop rubbing... 3/8" would be ideal... it's not a lip or anything, so it will need to be pounded in w/ a hammer a bit.

 

My passenger side Hooker LT did the same thing. Its only got about 1/8" of clearance right there. All I did was jack the motor up a little bit and stuck a Taylor firesleeve between the header and k-member, lowered the motor and no more rubbing and false knock

Of course the ideal thing would be to clearance the k-member with a grinder or BFH, but the firesleeve cured the false knock for me.

 

You'd need a REALLY big BFH, my headers were rubbing on the same place as Javier's and the metal is pretty tough there. I took like two whacks at it and gave up since I barely put a scratch in it.

Of course the fact that the K-member was still on the car and I was lying on my back trying to swing a hammer may have had something to do with it. Either that or I'm a total wuss

Ugh, I better not think about it anymore. If I do I may just tear the LT's off and buy something that fits right. The extra ground clearance wouldnt hurt either....

 

Back to the top.. after my cam now my oil pan seal is leaking.. so time to replace that too.. this will be one of those "while I'm at it" kinda things..

Anyone have some hints they could shed on removing the kmember? i know some of you have to replace it with the lighter versions c'mon.. chime in here

wow I just realized this post is almost a year old

 

it's pretty straight forward just make sure the motor is suported very good thats the most important thing then 2nd make sure the car is supported good too. start by taking off the control arms and then pulling the bolts out of the rack&pinon,motor mounts, then lift the motor up a bit.tThen make sure there are no wires or lines conected to the k-member then get a buddy to help you put a floor jack to support the K-Member its not that heavy just easer with a jack. and stat taking out the bolts that hold it in when you get them all out let the Jack down and you might have to pry the rack&pinon out.

 

So are you putting in a tubular K-Member now?

 

I would man.. but $400 for a kmember is something I could better spend elsewhere.. like gears

 

ttt

 

I just ground the corner off. Now there is no problem, as for k-member removal is on six bolts. The problem is all the wires, and brake lines, that type of stuff. I did this on a lift, and it was out in 2hrs or so.

 

What did you use to support the engine when you used a lift? I need to replace mine due to it being bent, eeek.