Swapping a 5.3 into my 86 iroc, was wondering what would be the easiest/fastest way of removing the 305 setup with 700r4? Tips and suggestions would be appreciated thanks!

 

I pulled a ruined 350/700R4 out of mine through the top using a hoist. Pretty straightforward. You don't have to take the front bumper cover off but it makes things easier. Take it slow and make sure you disconnect and label everything.

I know some guys prefer to drop the k-member with the engine attached. Haven't tried that myself, so I can't really compare the two methods.

 

I think it helps to pull the bumper cover and support. It only took me 30 minutes since half of the screws were missing to begin with. Also helps to remove all the accessory's from the front of the engine.

After you do or don't decide to do this disconnect everything, and slide your hoist in. I used a large logger chain attached to the front of the driver cylinder head and back of the passenger head.

 

Nighthawkf-117 makes a great point; the more weight you can remove the easier it's going to be. Also the 700R4 is pretty heavy, so when you're pulling it's going to tend to angle downward. I put a floor jack under the tailshaft so it would roll forward instead of scraping.

Make sure to remove the distributor cap too. When the transmission drops and the engine angles backwards it will break the cap against the firewall. You can leave the distributor in place. Here's a picture of what mine looked like right before I pulled it.

 

You will also want to put a catch pan under the tailshaft as you will loose some fluid while you are moving the trans around.

 

I agree with Nighthawkf-117 on the bumper removal suggestion. Unless you have a picker with a really extra long reach or an overhead crane... it's just not worth scratching up the nose of your car for the time it takes to remove that bumper.

 

Thanks for the replies. I am going to get started on ripping it out tomorrow, hopefully have it out by the end of the night.

 

I part out third gens, so I pull a lot of engines out. The fastest way, with out damaging or cutting anything and how I do all of mine... I use air and cordless impacts mostly. Start to finish it takes me about 1.5 to 2 hours to remove everything as one unit pretty much.

Un hook all wires going to engine... Now with me, I'm selling the parts so everything needs to be off anyway so I just remove the complete wiring harness. 1/4" screw on wiring bulkhead at firewall. Pull ECU down/out from pass. side kickpanel and un hook wires from it, slide plastic clip off top of the bulkhead that passes through side of car and pull wiring up through pass fender.

Remove dist. cap, ground straps, un hook fuel lines at the side close to strut tower and core support, etc

Take rad hoses off the water neck and water pump, heater hose off rad.
Elec fan off rad.,
AC lines off condenser
Remove rad and AC condenser.

Jack car up in front and put jackstands under A arms.
Jack car up in rear and put jackstands under axle tubes.

Put jack under transmission.

Take exhaust Y pipe off of engine exhaust manifolds.
Un bolt or cut Y pipe at cat converter.

Take engine mount bolts off (5/8" and 11/16"), pulling starter off makes this easier on pass side.

Take driveshaft off at rear end (4, 11mm but 7/16" also works bolts) If using an impact you can leave trans in N, if using wrench or ratchet you will need to put trans in N, turn driveshaft so you can get to 2 bolts, put trans in P, remove those 2 bolts, place trans in N, turn driveshaft to get to other 2 bolts, put trans in P and remove bolts.
If you take shift cable off trans before you start removing driveshaft, you can shift trans in and out of P/N w/o having to get out from under car, work shifter and get back under. You can just shift trans with the lever on side of trans by hand.

place drain pan under tail of trans and pull slip yoke out.

Take trans mount bolt and 4 cross member bolts out (15mm)

Let jack under trans down a little so you can get to the torque arm mount bolts easier with a socket. Take exhaust hanger and TQ arm mount off. (13mm and 15mm)

Slide TQ mount off, and let the TQ arm move up against floor if it will.

Take any 10mm bolts off holding wire clamps to "frame"

Hook your chains to engine up top using longer bolts in intake corner bolt holes or to front and rear of head.

Starting pulling engine/trans out. Lift engine up enough to clear engine mounts, then pull back towards you on the hoist, moving engine closer to core support. Then lift engine higher, pull towards you more, lift, pull, lift, pull, untill you clear the core support.
Watch for wires or lines hanging up or catching, or things you didn't remove

 

Just an update for my fellow 3rd genners. I have disconnected most wires under the hood, removed everything but water pump and balancer. I cannot take fuel rails off because whoever last worked on the vehicle snapped a tpi plenum runner bolt in the hole so I might have to drill it out, neighbor wants the motor so I will see what he would like to do with it lol. In the middle of taking off the front bumper because its just getting in the way but hopefully have the motor out by tomorrow. Just getting the little things out of the way as of now. Would it be easier to remove trans and engine at the same time through the hood? Or would it be easier to just do one at a time, Thanks!