The 350 TPI in my car has a rod thats knocking, I have a complete 305 from another iroc that i wrecked in january, I unhooked most of the engine tonight, all but the bell housing bolts, and the exhaust. How the heck do you get the bell housing bolts out! Or would it be better to leave the trani hooked on and pull it all at the same time, if i do it that way, what has to be unbolted for the trani to come out? :lala:

And last, can all of this be accomplished with a cherry picker, and a levelar bar in my carport at home? I have the help of my dad, and a mechanic from the local gm dealership (neighbor)

LAST
WILL IT BE POSSIBLE TO HAVE THIS DONE BY 8/14/02?

 

i'd pull it with the trans

 

I found a 9/16" distributor clamp wrench useful.

 

I personally would leave the trans in; but that's just my preference. Lots of people have good success doing it both ways. I find it easier to handle things, less messy, etc. to not disturb it.

Get the top 2 bell housing bolts out from above after you take the distributor out (which you'll need to do to get clearance), with a short 9/16" box end wrench. Get the bottom 4 with a ratchet and some extensions. Those are all pretty easy to get to from below.

I can pull the motor out of my car and swap another one in, in far less than a weekend. I can't say how long it would take you to do it, but I'm no speed demon, I'd say it's possible.

THe more time you spend surfing the Net, the less time you'll have for a motor swap!!

 

ok, i got to reading some other thread and I have another question now, will i need to change the flywheel/flexplate to be able to have my 85 Lb9 bolt up to my 89' Transmission? Dont they have different number of splines or something like that?

 

Don't think you HAVE to change the flexplate (i'm assuming since you have a 350) but if you have wear on the teeth its something you shouldn't overlook since it is a fairly cheap piece and its a real bear to go back and do it later.

 

Yes you will have to change that, the bolt pattern on the crank is different between those 2 years. Doesn't matter whether either is a 305 or a 350.

 

I was under the impression that all the bell housing bolts had to come out from underneath, but you cuys are saying tha the top two come out from the top correct?

 

In the past half a year, I've pulled 5 motors... before that, I hadn't pulled anything.

They've ALL been on f-bodies.. and the one thing I've learned is that.. ON the f-body, it's a HELL of a lot easier to pull the entire engine / transmission at the same time.



If you have $200 bucks laying around (yeah right.. I know how often that happens), then get yourself an engine hoist. I bought a REALLY high quality Arcan 4,000 lb engine hoist for $179 from Costco / Price Club.

If this is your first engine removal... then let me tell you, it's a LOT easier to remove a motor than you think it is.

Anyway, I say pull the whole damn thing at the same time.

And yes.. it should take you about 6 hours to get the ENTIRE motor swapped and have the new block in there.



Todd

 

You guys make it sound so simple...

Next summer i wilil be parting out my 305, and i need to learn how to take everything apart and some of the tools i need.

Did you guys just learn by opening the hood and just taking things off?? Or did you first read up, maybe using chiltons or haynes??

 

83 MidniteZ

I just saw ur VT logo!! What year are you? I am going back there in 2 weeks as a sophmore...

 

Amrish.... that's just it.. it REALLY is just that easy....

The most difficult part of it.. is having the TIME, the SPACE and the right tools for doing the job.

IF you do not have the right tools to do the job, you could potentially break things, hurt yourself, or spend nearly three times longer doing the same job.

I learned simply by doing... it helps when the car you're working on is a "secondary" car.. and not your primary car.... that way.. should you break something, it won't really affect you.

I also learned, for the most part, by posting on message boards like these.

My first engine removal was only 6 months ago.. I pulled a 350 out of a 1976 Chevrolet Camaro while it sat in my apartment complex parking lot, EARLY EARLY Sunday morning, about 5 in the morning...

I spent about 3 hours earlier that day removing everything I could.. all the accessories, etc....



Listen... once you remove an engine, you get over the fear of breaking things because you realize just how simple everything really is.

In the f-body.. the ONLY thing holding down the motor are two bolts that hold the block to the crossmember, and the bolts holding the tranny to the tranny crossmember. You can simply remove these bolts, and after all the accessories are removed or tied to the side, and the exhasut manifolds are removed... you simply attach the hoise connector to accessory bolt holes in the heads.. and jack it up and out.. the engine will literally pop free..

after that, it's a matter of jacking, maneuvering, jacking some more, maneuvering some more.. until you can clear the engine from the compartment.

Also, you'll need to remove the hood, and the driveshaft. Those are all easy things to do as well.


Todd

 

thanks...

my 92z is gonna be my car to learn and build on. So if anything does go wrong, i dont have to worry.

I just need to find out what tools are needed, and i was thinking of buying those big toolbox things and getting everything i need and just take the car apart....

 

82-T/A

hey, do you recomend removing the wiring harness before or after the motor is outa the car? and do you ahve to remove the torque arm the runs along side the transmission to get the trani out?

 

i finally decided to stop surfing, and get my @$$ under the car, ive been at it for about 2 hours, got the 4 side bellhousing bolts out, then unhooked all parts of the wiring harness that connect to stuff on the bottom of the block, then i was back up on top: Pulled the distributer, then that gave me fairly easy access to the top bellhousing bolts, which i got with a 9/16 distributor wrench, now all i have left is to:

Unhook the torque converter from flywheel
Unhook motor mounts
unhook power steering
unhook a few more wires from the harness

And im done! ya

 

Another thing.... what about all kinds of fluids?? steering, brake, fuel, coolant.... wont some of these be goign everywhere?

 

amrish -
drain the coolant, tranny fluid and p/s fluid before starting. Especially if you have an auto, you don't want 12 quarts on your driveway.

 

For the coolant, after you drain the radiator you might want to pull the coolant drain plug (knock sensor or fan switch are plugs) out of the block. You only need to drain transmission fluid if you are pulling out the transmission with the engine. For the power steering, you might be able to tie the hoses to something so that they point straight up, but if not then you'll want to drain that (just point the hoses straight down with a bucket under them). There shouldn't be any reason to touch your brake fluid, it has nothing to do with the engine. If you've already taken the intake off, then you don't really need to worry about fuel, but if you're still not sure then I guess you could pull off the gas cap.

 

I am just trying to learn this stuff right now, i am not actually going to pull the engien anytiem soon, prob next summer....

But i appreciate all the help

 

Your local book store has lots of good books for u to get on the subject too. Start reading thewm now and u will be an expert by next summer when u r ready to do your motor. I found all soirts of nice books at a used book store by me.

 

okay, got everyting unhooked last night, put the chain on, started pulling it was coming up just fine, when it was about 3 inches away from being able to clear the bumper, the front bolt BROKE and the engine fell back in, and smashed the front radiator support, but we ended up getting it out, and other than having it fall, the actual pulling of the engine was quite easy, thatnks for all the great help guys!

 

Oh ****... the engine FELL? I've never had that happen...

Where did you attach the bolts? It's best to attach the 4 bolts to the accessory bolt holes at all 4 corners of the engine head.

Were you lifting the motor out with only 1 bolt?


Todd

 

Only one bolt *** I hope not!

 

ShagMe, maybe he didn't have a "level" or one of those adjustable thing-a-ma-jigs.... the one that attaches to the single hook, that provides 4 individual chains with bolt brackets on each side...

Man, I hope he did.. I can't imagine lifting a motor out without one.

 

Not unless it was a bolt the size of my arm!!

 

okay, first off i didnt have one of those thing a ma jigs that attaches to the hook and gives you four separate lift points, i had one end of the chain hooked into the hook on the back of the passenger head, then we put a bolt through the chain into the intake on the driverside, then put another bolt into the chain on the front of the driver side head for safety. The one is the intake snapped off, but the one in the head held it, but because of the little bit of slack on the chain, the motor fell 8-10 inches and bent the upper radiator suport. But we got it out and everything looks good! Now to decide whether to put in a set of rods and bearings or put in the 305 for awhile. Any suggestions?

 

celeb, it all depends. Do you need the car immediately? If that's the case, then stick the 305 in there.

Actually, IMO, you'd be better off sticking the 305 in there now so that the car is functional. In the mean time, while you're driving around with the 305, you can have the motor you just took out, rebuilt.. and you can do it the way YOU want it done.


By the way... I REALLY suggest you invest in one of those levels that gives you 4 mounting points.. you should be able to get one from JC Whitney for only like $25 bucks or something.. it's really worth it, it'll save you a lot of headaches too....

 

little late now but I got all mine out from the top using an offset box-end wrench.

 

ya, the distributor wrench worked on one of the top bolts but couldnt get it on the other, and ended up using an offset box end wrench just like you said, its actually not that hard to reach them once you pull the distributor.

Okay heres a question the 305 i have is out of an 85 Iroc the one i totaled it used to be TPI, but i sold everything from the intake up, will it be okay if i slot the middle bolt holes on the intake so that they will bolt to the 85 style head? what else do i need to change? knock sensor, whats that ?