my friend's l82 has seen better days and he doesn't want to rebuild it so he's getting a ccrate engine. he's looking at a fast burn 385. my question is, has anyone here done an engine swap in a 75 stingray? I was wonering if you hoisted the engine from the side or from the front. The hood would have to be removed, but would a cherry picker be long enough to put the engine in? Thanks for any help guys.

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'86 IROC 5-speed
305 LG4
edelbrock performer rpm intake
edelbrock 600 cfm carb
msd pro billet hei distributer
'95 3.23 rearend
hotchkis rear suspension
PST front polygraphite suspension
"speed kills. buy a f@&d, live forever."

 

I own a '76 Vette and just swapped the 350 that was in it for a big block. As far as access to the engine for removing the accessories, etc. it isn't bad. To actually pull the engine, my first evaluation said that I'd have to do it from the side, but I saw that as being a royal PITA. I ended up drastically modifying my hoist so it would reach far enough into the bay to lift the engine out. Once the hoist was modified the rest of the process was VERY simple. Remove the hood, unhook everything on the engine, pull out the entire core support with radiator in it (no need to remove radiator first), I pulled the tranny with the engine which seemed like the easiest way to do it. Those things have such a long front end that if you have a hoist that will reach that far, once you pull the core support you have about 2-3 feet to play with. If you pull the engine/tranny together, you'll find that once you pull the tranny off of the tranny mount, the whole assembly will tend to become vertical so it comes out very easily. I probably left out a few key points, but if you have any questions, let me know.

 

you have to take the hood off anyway, and if you have a good cherry picker you can remove from the front. If you have access to an I-beam mounted puller in a shop that would make things so easy it's almost not worth mentioning... We did it in my friends 78 w/ the picker at the front..


Anthony

 

thanks guys. I knew the hood would have to come off, just wondering if the front would be possible.