welp, i did it this time.sounds like a spun rod bearing.with 125k on it and only paying $1000 for the whole car, id say i got my moneys worth.i knew this day was comming so ive stock piled some parts for the rebuild.im going with mahles,3.48 forged scat crank,eagle 6.0 h-beams,splayed billet mains,comp cams shaft mounted 1.6 rockers,ported heads,847 gmpp cam.
ive pulled about 50 engines before,but the 4th gen looks like a nightmare.i dont have a clue how to aproch this, is it easier to pull the trans with the engine?id love to keep the trans in the car, but im thinking it might be a lil easier to pull both.

 

Where in the burbs are you? Im in the Aurora area, and I'm about to do mine as well.

I removed all the accesories and the bracket, and the intake is off. I'm pulling mine out the top, and I'm going to drop the trans. Shouldn't be too hard.

 

Drop it out the bottom. Unhook everything and drop the craddle out with the engine and trans still bolted together.
http://ken.lowrance.com/Projects/Hea...ineRemoval.htm

 

I think dropping it out the bottom is the best option as well. I bought 2 cheap furniture dolleys and nailed a few 2x4's on one to support the front frame and made a cradle to go on the 2nd dolley for the transmission. I had the transmission out of the car when I removed the engine, so I just lowered the car onto one of the dolleys, unbolted everything, then used an engine hoist to raise the car off the frame. I had the front bumper and front fenders removed to protect a new paint job, that didn't take very long at all. The only part that was a pain was dealing with the brake lines. I removed the entire power steering system, tied the brake calipers to the body and carefully slid the passenger side brake lines over the front of the engine.

Putting the engine and transmission back in the car was very easy using this method. You can wire the engine up without having to work in the cramped engine bay, then when your done you just roll the assembly back under the car

Here's some pictures I took while installing the engine/trans setup.
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...powertrain.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...owertrain3.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...ne-install.jpg
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y21...in-install.jpg