Hi there:

I have started my LS swap project on my 1992 Camaro. I bought the car with no engine. Now I am trying to get things in order and see what sits where and what modifications I may need. I am using a Vortec 5.3 out of a truck for now. My issue at this point is my engine hoist seems not to be long enough to drop the engine in the engine bay!. The hoist hits the bumper before crank pulley clears the radiator core support. I was hoping not take any parts apart that I don't have to. I have a 2 ton engine hoist from HF which I have been using for many years and on different projects and I have set it up all the out as far out as the beam goes. This is my first 3rd gen. Does the front facia has to come off for engine removal/installation?
Thanks

 

It may. The bumper itself possibly too.

Might want to try going in from the side if that's a possibility in your situation.

 

I thought about going from the side but when I measured it just gives me couple more inches. I think I need at least 6-8 inches for the engine to get to motor mount area.

 

I bought some square tubing and inserted into the end of the hoist to extend it and it works great. I usually remove the front wheel and come in from the side. Kinda depends on how much junk I have in the garage at the time. lol

 

I have always done mine from the side. The only problem is the wheels on the front "engine end " of the hoist are fixed and when lowering the engine from the forward starting point to the rearward landing point I needed to slide the front hoist wheels sideways. Usually with my feet from under the front of the car. Of course the opposite when pulling the engine out.

 

Much like this..
... I added an additional length of tubing to the lifting arm. It's an oddball size but it fits in the last length of the existing arm and telescopes like the original. That piece added the length I needed to go in from the front.
And to head you all off at the pass, I doubt very much that a little old LS engine is going to outweigh the capacity of the lift even in it's modified form. It yarded out my SBC with transmission without any issues whatsoever.

 

Well, I was able to get it in from the side. Luckily my engine hoist all 4 caster swivel so that made it easy. Of course I had to take the engine out since my motor mounts adapter was not letting the engine sit right on the mounts! At least now I know how to get it in and out
Thanks

 

Sometimes people are in a situation where there is no side access at all; a narrow garage for example.

Those cheeeeeeeeeeep modern engine hoists seem geared for something other than antique American muscle cars. (or even, pale imitations of them. like what ours unfortunately were)

Glad it worked out for you.

 

Sometime ago, between the Spanish Flu and COVID-19, I purchased an engine crane from the Canadian equivalent of Harbour Freight. It was robust. It was built well. And it allowed me to wheel it up to the nose of the IROC (and many editions of American muscle that predated the 3rd gens) and pluck the engine from the front with room to spare. Sometime after most of the stuff built in North America got shipped offshore, I followed up on the "lifetime warranty" offered by this big box store. I'd probably owned that hoist for twenty years (and this is 15 years back from the time of this posting) and while not getting a free replacement exactly, I received a discount on the new crane. Turns out the same part number was now being reproduced in about a 3/4 scale. Both in reach of the boom and the thickness of the materials used. While I still own it today, it's far and away from what the original was. And as we have found, kind of useless without modification or compromise.
I'm pretty sure, threads like this and others are all with engine cranes of the 3/4 spec. Your typical HF special.
Interestingly, I poured through the classifieds (wanting something other than this crappy replacement) and found an old machine shop's going out of business sale. In the pile of stuff being sold, was probably a 1st edition engine crane. I bought it for 50 bucks. Still alive and kicking today (albeit in a friends shop).

 

Another option is to drop it off the bottom using the engine hoist to lift the nose of the car off the the motor.
that's what I did for 4th gen's before I bought my lift.