so this weekend i will begin pulling out my engine and trans. it needs a clutch and new oil pan and i figured might as well pull it and do a few other things like reseal the timing cover and cap and rotor and front and rear main seals. any tricks you guys could think of to help a newb out? ive done plenty of engine replacements but never an LT1. one of my main concerns is do i need to pull the intake manifold off? and is there any good spots for the engine hoist to attach?

 

Going out the top or bottom?

 

top preferably. i dont have the room to get it out of the bottom. i also plan on splitting the engine and trans coming out but would like to stab them back in together.

 

I have only taken the engine out the top by itself. So I won't be as much help with pulling them together but I usually remove the fans, radiator, disconnect all the accesorys,the wiring harness needs to be disconnected (I usually disconnect all the sensors and leave it sitting on the passenger fender well) I remove the fuel rail with injector from the manifold and leave it connected out of the way. Then I remove the intake manifold , exhaust (manifolds to Y if stock or complete headers need to come off if long tubes), steering linkage (make sure to disconnect your abs fuse (the first one at the top, should be a 15), then I disconnect the transmission (making sure to support the tranny). I lastly remove the mount bolts once I get the engine lifted a little. The engine needs to be tilted with the back downward to come out but its usually not that bad of a job depending on if a bolt gives you a hard time or if you have 14 year old stock manifolds that has bolts rusted to hell.

 

I always went out the bottom... Just be sure to take pictures along the way; LOTS, that way when you go to re-assemble it, you know where everything goes.

 

I've done from the top...(97ss LT1 M6)...
Remove front wheels jack stands under low A-arm king pin.
Jack rear and level body.
Remove drive shaft and torque arm (release load on rear swap bar.)
Electrical disconnect.
Pull shifter from interior.
Pull the trans.
Pull trans bell.
Remove hood.
Remove rad, intake manf, Left side header, oil filter, front acc drive & pulley,Electrical disconnect.
Cherry pick engine from front. Roll forward and swing out the top.
I did this all on my own with no help.
B.

 

cool! thanks for the help, it is appreciated.

 

I didn't bother removing the hood. I just disconnected one end of the hood struts to let it raise higher and used a broom stick to keep it open.

 

We did my '97 396/350 swap from the top as well.

I don't remember needing to pull the oil filter, but I did disconnect the steering linkage shaft. The 350 came out with both manifolds, but if you have headers I'm pretty sure you'll need to leave the passenger side one in the engine bay.

I also think we pulled it without separating the tranny and the the bellhousing.... just undo the bellhousing bolts to the engine, then with a pry bar separate them and pull the tranny back a touch (you'll need to put it on a tranny jack and undo the tranny mount and the driveshaft/tq arm as mentioned above).

Use bungie cords to pull back the electrical harness once you've disconnected everything.

We left the hood on as well... didn't need a broom stick... just bolt on the cherry picker's chain as low and far back as possible when bolting it across the oil lifter galley. To do this you'll need to swing it 90* after getting it up a few inches and able to move.... then pull it back and crank it up slowly to clear the hood and cross member.

Take your time and it'll be fine, just DON'T FORCE IT. If it isn't going easy, something's wrong.

Oh yeah... make sure that damn negative/ground cable under the passenger-side manifold is disconnected. (no comment)

 

Where would it be best to bolt the chains up to with the engine hoist?

 

I usually bolt the chain to the intake manifold holes in the heads after I take the intake manifold off. I have also done it in the exhaust head side as well. I know the mount lift bracket they make is suppose to attach to the intake manifold in place of the fuel rail but I found it much easier to remove the intake manifold, so that wasn't a option.,

 

If you bolt the chain to the heads make sure you get the bolts in deep to avoid stripping the threads out - as for putting a motor back in with headers I was able to drop the car down with both headers attached

 

I recomend out the bottom, you can keep the enigne all together, and only have to take 6 bolts out from the subframe. then a few connectors and lines. Plus, no chance to sratching paint.

I did it all ALONE and it took about 4 hours, but I had to put the subframe back it and make the car look like it was drivable (my comunity manager complained. Grr) gettin it all back in alone was HARD.. I will have help when there is an engine involved. Doing it with a buddy shouldnt take more than an hour to an hour and a half.

I would HIGHLY recomend some furnatur moving carts or somehting. I am going to build somehting should make it alot easier to get it in.