Hey guys, car is a 92 firebird w/ a 700r4.

I have a carbed 355 in there now, and im wanting to remove just the engine to drop a crate motor in...

What would be the easiest way? I hear pull the tranny also, but i really have no need to remove it. I left the "impossible" bolt out of my tranny last time i took it out, so it shouldnt be to hard to unbolt from the engine. If the other way is easier, i'll go that route.. but i think its 6 bolts left in bell housing + 3 in converter.. that should be it right?

Secondly, i have removed the drivers side head.. I dont guess this will be a problem.

Do i need to remove all the accessories and/or radiator?

thanks,
shane

 

If you left one bellhousing bolt out, then you only have 5 left. You can pull the motor with the accessories on and the radiator in. Just unbolt your A/C compressor and wire tie it to the fender and be careful. And you might wanna bolt that head back on to lift it out or else you probably won't be able to find a good place to lift it. Even if you decided to use one of the rear bolts on the passenger side head and an accessory bolt in the driver's side of the block, it would be very lop sided with only one head. Just something to think about.

Tom

 

I'd recomend removing the rad because you don't want to hurt it if the engine accidentally moves too far forward. If you were trying to put in seven bolts last time, maybe that's why it was impossible. Make sure to take off the dist so you don't break that. Support the trans by using a flat piece of wood and a jack to hold it up by the pan.

If you want to take the whole drive line out you have to have plenty of room. The car needs to be at least two feet in the air and your cherry picker needs enough clearance to get 3-4 feet up over the car. You also have to worry about unbolting the torque arm and not twisting off any permantly rusted in tranny mounting bolts and blah blah blah.

I don't recomend taking out the entire drive line.

 

THanks for your help guys..

so let me get this straight ..

5 bellhousing bolts, 3 tq bolts, the a/c compressor, and the motor mounts.. that should be it? I know i left one bell housing bolt out... The reason i get confused on the number is my 2001 t/a has 7 or 8 bolts.. crazy huh.

the distrib is out because i pulled the intake... the exhaust is unbolted...

If i take unbolt the a/c compressor and leave it hanging, i shouldnt need to purge the refrigerant right?

Thanks for your help guys... here is the engine thats going in.
http://www.racerides.com/specials.html

its #3.. the 446HP 383 stroker ;-)

 

The A/C lines are flexible and will let the compressor pull back towards the fender

 

Ok tell me if I'm going about mine properly, I've got an '87 T/A and so far I have removed the fuel injectors and intake manifold, all the stuff on top of that, the driver's side exhaust manifold and head, power steering, water pump, etc. Still have to get passenger side exhaust manifold off (two bottom bolts almost impossible to get to) so I can take the passenger side head, what's left to remove after that so I can remove the block? e.g. what bolts do I have to get out and in what order, I've never pulled an engine before and I've had a friend of mine help me out a bit, but I'm mostly doing it myself now because I don't trust anyone working on my car but myself. I'm pulling it because I've got a problem somewhere in the block, the piston on the driver's side, I don't know what number it is, but if you were sitting in the car it would be on your left side, the second one forward:
oo
oo
xo
oo
it looks like it's been hitting the head and that's what it sounded like when we tried starting it up again after it broke down. Note: that same piston is the same one where the outside of the spark plug was snapped clean off where the porcelin meets the metal on the head. I found the other peice in the spark plug wire. The piston isn't damaged too bad from what I can see I mean it looks like it's been hitting the head but I can't see the sides of it since the block is still in the car. The head looks fine though I've looked over it very thoroughly several times and I can't see any damage at all. Although, I haven't been able to check the valves on that piston so who knows. Anyone know what could be causing the piston to hit the head? Will I be able to remove the engine and put a new one in myself or do you think I'll end up having to tow it to a shop and have them do the work? Also since this engine is FUBAR I want to drop a 350 in it since it's a 305 in there now. Will all of my parts for my 305 (besides heads of course) work with a 350? Such as radiator, fuel injectors, water pump, etc? I'd appreciate it if someone could tell me all the parts I'd have to replace during this swap. I plan on buying a 350 short block and buying performance heads for it, but don't know a good brand. Well tell me what you guys think, thanks.

 

http://www.freewebz.com/knightsofdarkness/87ta.htm

Go there if you want to see some pics of my car