So I manged to wrestle my 5.7TPI w/ 700R out of my GTA. However I have no clue how im going to get it back in without ruining the firewall and the nose (Engine hoist is not long enough). So I have a question. Since I have the K member and front suspension off a the moment, can I bolt the K member to the motor and jack the motor UP into the bay from below?

Thanks.

The motor isn't too heavy so what I did was drill an extra hole in the engine hoist allowing the bar to extend further. I had no clearance problems with the firewall as long as the dist was out and I removed the windshield wiper motor to keep from breaking it. If you're still hitting the bumper you can swing the hoist around to the side after the engine is initially installed into compartment. Put a rag between the bumper and the hoist and there shouldn't be any scratching problems.

I've pulled my eng 3 times over the last 21 years I've owned the car, and always bring in the eng hoist from the drivers side. Removing the left front tire makes things a little easier. Obviously I had the car up on jack stands already. If you have something holding up the tranny (extra jackstand in my case), be carefull not to knock it out of position when the hoist is moved into position over the eng.

Yes, you can jack the engine up to the car from below, or lower the car over the engine.

I did the hoist-from-driver's-side-left/front-wheel-off thing the last time I did the install. Worked fairly well. But, I didn't have the k-member out, either.

Like Five7 said.....Why don't you just remove one of the front tires, and attack it from the side. With an automatic tranny, there should have been no reason to pull it with the engine. Unbolt the tranny, put it back in first, then you can easily have room to get the lift in from the side.

Half asleep here. Suspension already off....even easier, unless the car close to a wall.

The tranny was removed with the motor because it too had work done to it.

i have never had any problems pulling my motor out of my car. i have done it 4 times and have always just came in from the front and have had about 3" of clearance between the hoist and front bumper...what kind of cherry pickers do you guys use? mine is just some regular hoise, bought it from a local store kind of deal...nothing special..

I dont remember what brand mine is. it has settings for 2,1, and half ton. even on half ton it cant reach. Maybe its because mines a trans am? Is the nose a little longer?

We have a monster cherry-picker, home built. I can remove the engine on my Camaro quite easily, but we still have to attack my brother-in-laws firebird from the side. Don't forget, you don't want the boom to extend too far beyond the base of the picker itself. It will be severely unbalanced, and may kick that sucker right out from underneath the engine. I have seen it happen personally (and I feel like an idiot for doing it, too - live and learn I guess).

When I put mine in I first put the engine in but put it down in the engine bay in front of the engine frame mounts. Then moved the lift hook forward on the engine lift chain to allow lifting and moving the engine back and onto the mounts without hitting the lift crane on the front bumper. Didn't need to go in from the side with the tire removed, but thats an option. I do it with the car on the ground using a block of wood on a floor jack in from the side to guide the transmission in and get it level.