I was trying to pull it out from the bottom, as my car has a brand new paint job and I didn't want to risk scratching it. But... I'm having one hell of a time getting to the bell housing bolts and the coolant lines on the passenger side. I lowered the trans cross member as far as it would go but I still can't get to them. It seems my only option would be to remove the distributor and coil to get to the top ones, but I'd have to crawl over the fender to reach them.


So I'm thinking about pulling the engine and trans together. Which would give me a chance to remove the exhaust manifolds and install my new Hedman headers. I also have a small class II leak on my oil pan, so might as well install a new gasket there... and swap out my intake to the Edelbrock TPI base.

How hard is it manuevering the engine and trans together out of the engine bay? My only concern is messing the paint up, which I'm going to use some old blankets. But is there enough room with the accessories still on the engine to pull the drive line together? I've always stripped the engine down to a long block then pulled it, don't want to do that this time as the engine will be dropped right back in. I have another 700R4 that will be going right back in, for the time being.

 

Pulling the transmission out from the bottom in my Camaro was also a pain. What I found that made it easier was to remove the distributor and with the trans crossmember also removed, the engine/trans unit can be tilted even more (the distributor hits the firewall at this amount of tilt.). I managed this even with new (rubber) engine mounts. A three or four foot extension and a universal socket allows reasonable access to the top bellhousing bolts. You can get a good view of the bolts from the tail stock end of the trans. A crow foot wrench can be used to access the trans cooler lines. I cut my lines instead of disconnecting them and made a double flare union to join the two together. Makes the trans swap a little easier next time. I also used a floor jack fixed with a small plate of plywood to serve as a transmission jack. It made a big difference, especially on re-installation. The car has to be up at least 18" or so at the rockers to give good working clearence too.
With the engine and trans coming out as unit, removing the hood and the rad is necessary. Be sure your engine crane has a tilt bar on it so you can adjust the assembly as you remove it. You'll find that the you'll need the engine with a nose up attitude as this helps clear the rad support at the front and lets the trans clear the tunnel. (Don't forget a plug for the trans).

 

I've had my 700r4 in and out a lot so far I've gotten pretty good at it, the lines are a pain, remove the dizzy cap, torque arm, driveshaft, tranny dipstick tube, detent cable, shift linkage, torque converter bolts, and cross member, lower tranny all the way and try to get a line wrench to loosen the cooler lines, once they are somewhat loose you can use an open ended wrench (makes it quicker without stripping the fittings), it's a pain to get to and will take a while but it works. Then for the upper bell housing bolts get a bunch of extensions as well as a swivel head, you need at least enough extensions to reach down by the tail shaft and then take them off like that, I believe one of the driver side bell housing bolts can only be taken off with a wrench and is also a PITA, once they're all off it's removal time. Also when putting a tranny back in never support the tranny's weight by the torque converter, learnt that the hard way and wondered why they'd leak out by the front seal

 

Yep take the distributor cap off , it helps

 

Hmm mine was always easy on the pass side, the lines were always a pita tho. Are you trying to get the top pass side out from the bottom? The one with the dipstick tube bracket?? I always get that one from the top... Never had to pull my distributor , I however always struggled with the middle drivers side bell housing bolt ... Wonder if my Trans was sitting at the wrong angle

 

This is why pulling the distributor is helpful. That allows the trans to be tilted tail-down even further (after the crossmember is removed) and access to that bolt is easier. A 3 or 4 foot extension does the trick.

 

That's the bolt I was referring too, only way I got it out was with an open end wrench and was only getting 1/8th turns at a time, my extensions wouldn't fit on it. took a while but it came out.

 

^^^ lol same, I've had to do it 4 times now, my motor mounts wouldn't alow the distributor to touch anyhow unless I reallyyy yanked down on them

 

I know your pain, I bought a junkyard 700r4 that ended up not having 3rd or 4th gear so they gave me another that slipped so I finally spent the money on a rebuilt one. Had them in and out every weekend lol

 

Good Lord! I feel your pain... Hell pulling the motor and trans together was a big enough pain. Thankfully I had a buddy help me yank it so it wasn't too bad.