I have a 91 Z28 that I'm currently in the middle of pulling the 305 TPI to do a thorough rebuild of the engine. It's got 150k miles on it and its nearly 30 years old, so I'd say she is due for a rebuild. Anyway, I am wondering if anyone can provide tips for the actual engine pull itself. So far I have removed exhaust headers, all of the TPI intake, electrical harness connections, and all serpentine accessories. So the only thing holding the engine in is the Trans and motor mounts. Questions I have are:<br >

1. How do you disconnect transmission? The bell housing I know has to be disconnected, but there's still a connection to the flywheel right?? I have an automatic trans and would prefer to leave it in the car instead of pulling out both engine and trans.
2. Where do the chains get connected to the engine? Note I have taken out the intake already.... so I can connect to cylinder heads or block
3. If I leave the hood on, will the radiator have to come out in order to clear everything?

And of course any additional tips/tricks are welcome. I've never pulled out an engine myself and only vaguely remember my Dad doing stuff like this when I was a kid, but I really wasn't paying attention to the details.

Thanks!

 

Remove the hood. That should have been the first thing you did; it makes all other work much easier. The second thing is to disconnect the battery cables.

You can leave the transmission in the car, supported with a floor jack. You'll need to unbolt the torque convertor from the flexplate.

A chain can be attached either to the back of one cylinder head across to the front of the other, or to intake manifold bolt holes in the heads in similar fashion.

You really should get hold of a shop manual for your car; you're going to be dealing with a million details while removing---and later replacing---the engine, and there's nothing like having a written reference on hand for such a job.


GL

 

First of all - why do you believe it's due for a rebuild?

My 86 305 was in excellent condition at 150k. I replaced the timing set and valve stem seals with it in the car. It had 190 compression on every cylinder and excellent oil pressure.

If you pull it just throw it away and get a 350. Not worth rebuilding a 305.

GD

 

Whatever route you go, take pictures of EVERYTHING you disconnect.
It may end up being some time before the engine gets re-installed, and trust me, you will forget the details.

 

Like others have said.. remove the hood...
1. Take the inspection cover off of the bottom of the trans and remove the bolts attaching the flex plate to the torque converter. To rotate the plate/converter put a ratchet on the crank bolt to spin the motor over slowly.
2. You an hook the chains to the exhaust manifold bolts, intake bolts, or the accessory bolts on the front and a ground bolt on the back.
3. REMOVE THE HOOD!!! lol... I would pull the radiator just so it doesn't get damaged.

 

Remove the fans, radiator, etc. Get a load leveler and pull it from the side. Comes right out. I also recommend a transmission output shaft cap.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/sout...00-l98-t5.html

And go with a 350. Identical in every way and gives you that much more satisfaction.

Also, the T5 swap is easiest when the engine and trans is out. And man does that manual trans make the car exponentially more fun.

 

Thanks everyone! I guess the big take-away for me is that I really should take off the hood! Ok, will do then! And after talking about it with a friend who is a auto technician... I think I will try to take out the transmission as well. He basically told me it's really tricky to re-attach the transmission once the new engine goes back in and that it's a heck of a lot easier to mount everything when it's outside of the vehicle. On a side topic, I really am thinking of just buying a new 350 motor, but not sure where a good place to buy one is... Any suggestions in that area are welcome as well!

Thanks!

 

I can testify to this first-hand...

 

Just listening in.

 

If you don't have a couple extra sets of hands, the hood does not need to come off. I actually prefer not to touch it. Take the radiator out, frees up space and you don't risk poking a hole in it. Its not terribly difficult lining the engine and trans back up, especially if you have an auto.

 

Taking the hood off and back on is easy. Just mark the location of the hinges to the fender. Three easy bolts each side.

.

 

Great suggestion ! Since every cellphone has a camera taking bunches of pics can save all kinds of time figuring where everything is supposed to be

 

I have an RS and had to take the hood off to pull the V6 engine (shorter than a V8) so I could us a gantry crane to pull the engine. The engine hoist would not reach all the way in to lift the engine from the center because it hit the nose of the car before the extended arm was able to get into position over the center of the engine. However, on a V8 the center of the engine sits a little farther forward than the V6 so you may not run into this problem. BTW, it takes two people to get the hood off unless you can lift it like I did using a gantry crane....

 

Unless you're 6'6" like me and have a huge wingspan lol!