Or go psycho with the Sawzall?





Seriously, is there room to remove the engine the traditional way with a hoist from above, or do you have to drop the engine cradle and take it out from underneath the car?


I got to thinking about this when I saw an ad for a 350$ 4th gen, (a V6 bad motor/trans) and thought about stripping it and putting in a regular small block and manual trans to make a cheap race car out of it. I mean for 350 bucks, it's worth a shot!

 

Drop the k-member, easiest way, but do it where you have a lift.

 

pull it out the top, k-member is too big a pain in the ***. ls1 or lt1 easy as pie out the top with radiator and fans out of the way

 

4th gen ls1 HAS to come out the bottom. Your gonna waste tons of time trying to pull it out the top.

 

IIRC, the guys on HorsePower TV took it out the bottom.

JamesC

 

It does not HAVE to come out the bottom. I've seen alot of techs get good at pulling it out the top, and do it quicker than dropping the entire assembly.

 

I can have a motor out from the bottom in less than 2 hours. All you need is a lift. I've talked to too many guys I know that have LS1 and LT1s that have tried taking it through the top and one did it once, after taking the heads, intake, whole front accessory setup off. From the bottom all you need is to drain the radiator and unhook the wiring.

 

Well most people (myself included) don't have access to a lift and have to do it in the home garage. I pulled the lt1 out of my '94 Formula out the top. It wasn't too hard really. I removed all the accessories off the front and the exhaust. Other than that the motor was complete. I also removed the radiator and fans for clearance. It's a little tight but came right out. Didn't even remove the hood just unhook the supports ant tied it back as high as I could.

 

i agree that you dont have to take it out from the bottow..goto ls1tech.com theres plenty of peps that take it out of the top engine and tranny together

 

Dont know about that, im quite sure i can have the engine and trans out in well under 2 hours out the bottom...

 

Take it for what its worth. Everybody has there own "style".

 

if pulling it from the top how did u attach the engine to the lift?

 

Been a while since I did it. But I think I attached a chain diagonally from the front of the driver side head then to the rear of the pass. side head......

 

(LT1Guy on Redraif's logon)

I have pulled an LT1 through the top with a TPIS "happy Hooker" lift plate, and it was pretty easy...maybe not easier/quicker than dropping the crossmember (with a lift), but still far easier for a regular guy in his garage. The 4th gens have to be lifted pretty high to clear everything, and for the safety factor alone its worth it to me to use the lift plate.
The front accessories, radiator/fans, and exhaust manifolds have to come off, as well as the valve covers (at least one will hit), but you don't have to remove the intake (that is what you are lifting by) or the heads. The plate is drilled already for LT1s and 4bl carbs, and could be easily drilled for other engines as well (dont think it could be made to work on an LS1 though). You don't even have to remove the hood.

 

I just did pulled an LT1 from the top.No problem at all.Took off the accessories and radiator/fans.Exhaust manifolds stayed on.But I'm sure everyone has their own way to do it.

 

Try this site. pretty sraight forward

 

all i have to say to the guy who says it has to be pulled from the bottom , he has no idea what he is talking about. those nitwits on hp tv pulled the motor to change cam and heads which i know you dont have to do because ive done about 10 h/c/i jobs on ls1 f-bodies my self usually within a total of four hours start to finish with motor in the car

 

It is extremely easy to drop it from the bottom at home. I have done about 10 now, with 2 being done in a home garage. Grab a good strut tower brace(no cheapies) and attatch it. Lift the car onto Rhino Ramps or the equivalent. Now unbolt the complete k-member, brakes, steering, wiring etc so that the engine can drop effortlessly. Take the engine hoist and chain it to the strut tower brace. Have a few friends help you with this. Jack on the k-member and trans just to support it, not lift it. Raise cherry picker so that the car itself raises up and the engine complete with wheels and all will stay. As you lift, put jackstands on the body to hold it up. Jack up the engine assembly so that you can take the ramps out, and then slowly lower the assembly. Roll away, and put car body onto jackstands.

Either way you look at it, you have to get a V8 engine cradle anyways. Its going to come out at some time, might as well do it when you are taking the engine out.

It took me aobut 6 hours the first time, and less than 3 hours the second time I did this at a house. It is hard to explain in writing, but you get the general idea of what I have done, and what a few of my friends have done.

 

for a visual on how to. click that link i posted up before, called "Try this site".