I'm pulling the engine out of my GTA and realized that I can't pull it out from the front of the car.

The boom on the engine hoist is as far out as it can go, and the crane hits the nose well before I'm ready to do any lifting.....

So now I've got the "Cherry Picker" on my passenger side straddling my front tire to pick up the engine...!!! It just seems to me to make things difficult.

Does anybody have a suggestion? A friend of mine said "take off the front clip" Over my dead body....
I've never run into this problem before.......

 

I'd go borrow another one with a longer reach.

 

i put my car on stands and take off the drivers front wheel.. i even pull and install with the hood on.. by myself..

but you're definitely going to need the wheel off..

 

The new motor went in from the passenger side fender with the tire and hood removed. Worked fine since I ran out of room infront of the car to do the work.

 

firebirds have big noses

 

It's been said already, longer reach engine hoist, or remove the nose. It's really not that hard to pull off. The first time I did one I removed the nose. After that, though, I had a longer reach hoist. Either way, hope ya get it figured out.

 

I got mine from the side. it was a couple of inches too short still, but removing the tire would have done the trick since I couldnt go any further with the tire in the way.

 

I pull them from the side

 

From the side with wheel off here. A lot easier than pulling the nose.

 

I finally got it from the side..... it just needed a little persuasion!!!!

Still trying to get the torque converter off though
By the way the car was off the ground 3-4 inches on my homemade ramps so I didn't have to take the tire off......

Thanks everyone.....

 

hope you didn't damage the tranny by yanking it off with the converter still attached to the flywheel.

 

hope you put the motor and trans at an angle without the motor mount bolts attached and slid the tranny of the convertor or buy a new one

 

The tranny shaft loooks good, and there's nothing obviously wrong with the torque converter except for the fact that I can't break the bolts loose!!!!

Any suggestions? I've sprayed them, torched them, etc....... they're not budging

 

get a breaker bar? hope you dont snap it??

 

I always use a good 1/2" impact gun

 

Boxed end wrench and a sharp blow with baby sledge should crack them loose.

 

Yeah, the TC bolts can be a bear, they've got loc-tite on them. Any of the above methods should work though. Good luck.

 

Yeah the box end wrench is the only way to do it.....

The impact gun is outta the question

You barely have enough room for the wrench... and I don't have a breaker bar that will go over the wrench..... I have doubled them up mind you (still didn't work though)

They're not reversed threads are they???

 

I always used a boxed end wrench and a baby sledge. You could get it nice and hot, spray, then hot again, toss on the wrench and give it a sharp, HARD blow.

Also, you can try tightening first, then loosening. They are not reverse thread.

 

Thanks guys...! For all of the suggestions

I've been doing the heat, spray, heat thing for a day or so now but I picked up "liquid wrench" today from a parts store (my buddy swears by it) we'll see how that works with the hammer idea. Hopefully I can keep the crank from spinning as well
I couldn't shop yesterday because it was CANADA DAY. (& everything was closed). But In the meantime I've been using WD-40 and a industrial spray that my dad had @ his place.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed

 

use a BFH, if that doestn work use a bigger BFH, if they dont come loose with that, they will break. liquid wrench wont do a whole lot.

 

I second the wrench+hammer idea.

 

put my 383 in from the side but i pulled the old L98 from the front. Didnt reach far enough to put one back in

took hood and tire off. kept hooker longtubes in the engine bay as i dropped the motor down

also moved the trans back 6 inchs to help motor install. It kept getting hung up onthe bellhousing/converter so i moved the trans back to get it in. may not be necessary in your case but it was in mine

 

Thanks guys.....
the Liquid Wrench did the trick...... well that and a BFH hahaha
I jammed a screwdriver between the side of the TC (where it bolts up....) the starter & the leg of the CherryPicker so that it wouldn't roll while I tried to break the opposite side free and it worked.

Well it worked after spraying, heating, hitting, swearing, talking dirty, hitting some more etc.....

Thanks once again

now should I put a higher stall TC in....? MOOOHAHAH