man, last night a friend and I tried dropping in the new motor for the Z but just COULD NOT get it to go in. I don't know what I''m missing here but our strategy was to align the dowel pin holes as far as the "x" axis is concerned and letting them touch off on the bellhousing but ABOVE where they need to be ALL THE WHILE aligning the motor mount brackets....then slowly letting the motor down on the mounts THEREFORE allowing the dowel pins to pop into place.....well it wasnt happening....any tricks, tips you have on the third gens cars for me???

I tired different tranny angles but that just didnt do a thuing for me....whats going on here?? I would have it running today if it would have set in place last night!!!

*edit: the best i could get was one dowel pin in, but then the other was way off....also, I am using energy suspension poly mounts and they have pretty big lips on them for the brackets to set on...its not making it any easier with those getting caught up sometimes, etc

the engine hoist was giving us a natural twist which made it that much more tricky but we were holding the chains to keep it straight....im hurtin here guys :/

 

the dowel pins are a close fit, the trans just won't fall on them. usually when you get the dowels touching the holes install a couple of bolts on each side and draw the two together. also helps to use a jack under the engine and trans to lift as needed and even a come a long between the engine and hoist or an engine leveler to angle the engine.

 

My father and I just went through the same situation a few weeks ago reinstalling my 383 into my Z. We were wrestling with it for a while. We had one side of the engine over the mount perfectly and the dowels were close. I had the trans jacked up to normal height for it. The flywheel and the TC were touching where they shouldn't have been. With my trusty pry bar I pushed the TC slightly back, to get the flywheel free of the mounting feet, and the engine,literally, slipped into position...I don't know if this is helpful.

Basically, the flywheel and TC were the areas that were causing most of the difficulity with the installation. This was also the first time we pulled the engine out my Camaro with out the trans.

Good luck...

 

Move the tranny a few inches back

 

Also make sure you put the poly mounts on right and not backwards.

 

in the 3 motor swaps i've done the best tool is a big crow bar. just use it to move the motor onto the mounts or the move it so the trans lines up. hope this helps