well last night the ol' LG4 was yanked out and now im trying to put the 383 in and its being a b*tch to put in!! the motor mounts wont go in that easy (one side lines up but then the other side doesnt). Also it seems like the back of the engine is hitting the Torque con. and wont let it slide in easy. This is being a pain in the a$$. All i need it for it to fit in right and things should just bolt right up. I was hoping this would be an okay swap but it seems to be a nightmare. Might take longer then expected........

 

the part you are at right now can be a real bitch in this cars, especially if you have never done one before. It makes things a lot easier to put a jack under the trans, so you can adjust the angle of it to meet the engine. either that, or maybe even just pull the driveshaft out, aloosen the crossmember and slide the trans back a little. Not a lot, just a little. Trial and error will do it though. The first time I put a motor in one of these cars it took me and my brother a few hours. We can now R&R an engine in that time.

 

I had this same problem getting the 3800 to line up & seat. I loosened the engine mount brackets on the block so they'd have some wiggle, then lowered the engine down. I was then able to slide the main bolts thru the mounts/brackets & retighten teh brakets. The tranny (after many new cusswords were uttered) lined up and is in.

 

i'd intall the TC in the trans then bolt it to the flex plate after the engine is in. all engine installs are like that ,not lining up. they don't just fall into place, at least not till everything is just right. couple of long pry bars help.

 

I just walked in from dropping a 355 into my 87 t/a. It took about 20 minutes to have it on the mounts with bolts in place, I jacked the trans up as far as it would go, used a motor pulling plate on the intake with the chain in the "front hole" ( making motor tilt back to match trans) , lowered it in till it met the trans, put in the 2 top bolts finger tight, lowered trans jack, then eased motor down, swapped chain to middle hole, lifted it a hair, and set it back down on the mounts straight.

I am going to assume your torque converter is in the trans where it belongs, if its stuck on the back of the block you will never get it in.

I would get the angles of trans/engine the same, get them lined up and couple bolts in, then getting it straight on the mounts was a breeze.

 

ok i finally got it in. it may of took a couple hours and some cuss words later but finally got it in. As for the the TC it wasnt hitting and the flexplate went in clearing the tranny housing. The engine bellhousing wasnt lining up right but i just jacked the tranny up like you guys said and used pry bars and lined up right in place..........thanks guys

 

did you make sure the TC was fully engaging the pump...you have to rotate the TC as your pushing it into the front pump housing. That way you know it seated all the way. If its not you wont have proper clearance and you'll do some serious damage whan you try and fire it.