rear engine wiring question
03-12-2006, 04:07 PM
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Car: 1984 Firebird S/E
Engine: 350 V8, 4 barrel carb
Transmission: 700 R4 automatic overdrive
rear engine wiring question
Ok, for all of you who have pulled a V8 out of a third gen, this may be a stupid question, but here goes...
At the back of the engine compartment I have a LOT of wiring contained in wiring looms/conduit. I found that some are held to the back of the engine with bolts and brackets such as the starter wiring and another on the passenger side rear of the block for another wiring loom. For the life of me I can't see anything on the driver's side that is holding these wires to the engine other than those two, but the plastic conduit/looms seem to be quite tight to the back of the engine. Try as I might to feel back there, I can't find anything holding these things in, it just appears that they are draped across the back of the engine compartment.
For those of you who have pulled these things before in this body style, is there anything I need to look out for or any hidden fasteners/clips back there that I'm not seeing? Hopefully this thing will unbolt from the trans and just slip forward and out of the engine bay. I'm just trying to anticipate any problems before they happen. Thanks for any insights on this.
Brad
Oh, this is in anticipation of a new GM crate engine going in this thing. I can't wait!
At the back of the engine compartment I have a LOT of wiring contained in wiring looms/conduit. I found that some are held to the back of the engine with bolts and brackets such as the starter wiring and another on the passenger side rear of the block for another wiring loom. For the life of me I can't see anything on the driver's side that is holding these wires to the engine other than those two, but the plastic conduit/looms seem to be quite tight to the back of the engine. Try as I might to feel back there, I can't find anything holding these things in, it just appears that they are draped across the back of the engine compartment.
For those of you who have pulled these things before in this body style, is there anything I need to look out for or any hidden fasteners/clips back there that I'm not seeing? Hopefully this thing will unbolt from the trans and just slip forward and out of the engine bay. I'm just trying to anticipate any problems before they happen. Thanks for any insights on this.
Brad
Oh, this is in anticipation of a new GM crate engine going in this thing. I can't wait!
03-12-2006, 04:32 PM
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Car: 91 Z28
Engine: 350
Transmission: 700r4
Axle/Gears: Stock
Right underneath the distributor is a bolt holding 3-4 wires straight to the block. (91 z28)
Could that be it?
Could that be it?
03-12-2006, 07:03 PM
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Car: 1987 IROC-Z
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Great info...running into the same issue.
I am currently pulling my 305 out and replacing with a 350. I took some advice from others on this site and just went with pulling the engine, leaving the transmission in. I have having one heck of a hard time with the 6 bolts connecting the trans and engine together. Any hints? I have the 4 easy bolts out but the top 2 are kicking my rear.
thanks....Al
I am currently pulling my 305 out and replacing with a 350. I took some advice from others on this site and just went with pulling the engine, leaving the transmission in. I have having one heck of a hard time with the 6 bolts connecting the trans and engine together. Any hints? I have the 4 easy bolts out but the top 2 are kicking my rear.
thanks....Al
03-12-2006, 08:09 PM
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Car: 1984 Firebird S/E
Engine: 350 V8, 4 barrel carb
Transmission: 700 R4 automatic overdrive
lizardkng--
Bingo! That was it! Mine was below the distributor and over to the passenger side a bit on the back of the head. A wiring loom was covering it up and the bolt was holding down several ground wire connectors to the head. Hard to discribe, but the way the grounds were routed, it was actually holding several looms right up to the block. Thanks for the help!
Noagenda--
I'm also pulling the 305 on mine. In preparation for my block-pulling party on the 23rd, I am stripping all the small stuff off the block in preparation for the "big pull".
Today I decided that the upper two bolts were going to be the most trouble as the two lower on each side are easy to get to.
I pulled some of the wiring back and found that I could JUST get a wrench on the top two on each side from above. It took some time, but I got them loose and with lots of patience, and slowly turned them out by hand. Those two pesky bolts won't be causing problems on the engine pull. I believe I can JUST get my hand in from the top to reinstall them... again with lots of patience!
A friend has pulled these engines before and he suggested that if my "from the top" idea did not work, that I drop the transmission crossmember (supporting the rear of the trans with a jack of course!) and slowly lower the rear of the trans until you can get a socket (9/16") on a REALLY LONG extension and get the top two bolts by running the socket and extension along the top of the trans and grabbing it from that angle. He suggested to then reconnect the crossmember, pull the other bolts and take the engine out. On reassembly, he suggested that you just put in the four lower bolts first and then repeat the transmission lowering procedure to reinstall the top two bolts again. Hope this helps. If I was there, I bet I could get yours from the top! Good luck and let us know how you make out.
Brad
Bingo! That was it! Mine was below the distributor and over to the passenger side a bit on the back of the head. A wiring loom was covering it up and the bolt was holding down several ground wire connectors to the head. Hard to discribe, but the way the grounds were routed, it was actually holding several looms right up to the block. Thanks for the help!
Noagenda--
I'm also pulling the 305 on mine. In preparation for my block-pulling party on the 23rd, I am stripping all the small stuff off the block in preparation for the "big pull".
Today I decided that the upper two bolts were going to be the most trouble as the two lower on each side are easy to get to.
I pulled some of the wiring back and found that I could JUST get a wrench on the top two on each side from above. It took some time, but I got them loose and with lots of patience, and slowly turned them out by hand. Those two pesky bolts won't be causing problems on the engine pull. I believe I can JUST get my hand in from the top to reinstall them... again with lots of patience!
A friend has pulled these engines before and he suggested that if my "from the top" idea did not work, that I drop the transmission crossmember (supporting the rear of the trans with a jack of course!) and slowly lower the rear of the trans until you can get a socket (9/16") on a REALLY LONG extension and get the top two bolts by running the socket and extension along the top of the trans and grabbing it from that angle. He suggested to then reconnect the crossmember, pull the other bolts and take the engine out. On reassembly, he suggested that you just put in the four lower bolts first and then repeat the transmission lowering procedure to reinstall the top two bolts again. Hope this helps. If I was there, I bet I could get yours from the top! Good luck and let us know how you make out.
Brad
03-13-2006, 07:49 AM
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Car: 1987 IROC-Z
Engine: 305
Transmission: 700R4
Thanks for the info...last night I just happened to drop the transmission (in my last attempt) and try it that way....like you said lots of extensions! Finally got the upper l/s out and now am working on the upper r/s...what a pain! A nightmare of wiring...I didn't want to pull too much of the engine so I could do a "1 for 1" exchange...but I took lots of pictures and am now having to remove much of the accessories.
Al
Al
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