Mostly just venting here.... Anyway, I bought this 92 RS from a friend simply because when he told me he was selling it, the wife and I just had a feeling we should buy it. Niether of us were really Camaro fans, but something about this particular car...we gave the guy $1300 for it. I've done quite a bit of work to it already...it is very driveable and does quite nice I might add. I put new rear shocks, stabilizer end links, metal bumper support on it. It had a bad tranny mount and a rear main seal leak. I decided to do both of those at the same time. Here is my complaint. I lowered the powerplant as much as I could without breaking anything but the two upper engine/tranny bolts would not come out. I have a great Snap On 1/2 impact gun that wouldn't even touch them!! So I simply replaced the tranny mount and put everything back in place. Now to do the rear main seal, I have to pull the whole power plant out of the car!! So, my question to all you V-6ers out there, while I've got the powerplant completely removed, what else should I do that would be easier with it out of the car instead of in the car? The engine runs quite well so I don't really want to do a rebuild just yet.
Anyway, like I said, more venting than anything else. BTW, I'll try to get some pics of the car soon and maybe post my progress with the car. I spent quite some time removing all the glitter from the dash and door panels that the guy put on prior to my co worker buying it.

Matt

 

Before you pul the drivetrain to replace the rear main, pull the distributor and replace the O-ring. It is located just below the manifold seating flange. That area is subject to oil pressure and heat. This causes the O-ring to turn brittle and leak which in turn has oil draining down the rear of the engine and looks like the rear main is leaking.

If you do end up pulling the drivetrain there is a coup eof items to replace: timing chain set, water pump, and a possible regasket. This could be valve covers, heads, intake, oil pan, and maybe even the injectors. The Multecs just don't hold up.

RBob.

 

RBob-

Thanks for that tip!! May be saving me a huge amount of time here. I'll keep you posted on progress.

Matt

 

Have you tried to break them loose with a long breaker bar? There have been times when an impact wouldn't budge a bolt, but a breaker bar would. Sure would be a lot easier than yanking the whole engine/trans for such a simple job.
Before you pull anything apart though, go to the dealer and get the rear camshaft seal...I have never seen a parts store list it. When one of these lets go, its worse than a rear main seal leak and you have to pull the trans and flexplate to get to it, so now is the best time.

 

yeah, tried the breaker bar...no luck...I figure it shouldn't take all that long to pull the power plant and just get it done from there. It will give me a chance to clean the engine compartment out fairly well also. Rear cam seal...I'll take that advice also...Much appreciated!!

 

just to make sure, you are talking about the two bell housing bolts at the top correct? ive had problems w/ those every time i pull my trans (3 times, different projects.....) and everytime i have problems, even if i leave them not as tight as the rest. if you know any mechanics, get a more powerful impact, if not, try different combinations of impact/extensions/swivels/sockets, till something works, it WILL eventually come loose, you just need to find the right combo. IIRC, i used my Snap On 1/2" impact, a shallow socket, an impact swivel, and as short an extension as i could. i had to pull the dist, and lower the trans/engine assy to get to them easier but it will work, trust me, mines been out 3 times since Oct of 02.

 

Yes, those two little &*%$#@#$!!!

I had the power plant relatively low however, I am sure I was losing quite a bit of torque due to the length of extentions that I had to use.

Also, the cam o-ring that was mentioned...can that be replaced with the engine in place, or does it need pulled?

 

it can stay, but you have to pull the flywheel/flexplate to access it. youll see it even w/ the plate still on, its toward the top inside of the bellhousing bolting area. theres 3 bolts for it.

 

It was definately the long extension. When I dropped my trans for the first time, I was using a 3/8th inch extension that twisted up like a pretzel. I went out and bought a 1/2 inch extension and the bolts came right out.

A year or two later I helped my friend replace a blown 2.8 in his '89 Camaro. I brought out the long 1/2 inch extension and all those bolts came out no problem.

I used a combination of:
1. a 1/2 inch drive socket (18mm? I forget. I think 87-up used 15mm's)
2. a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar
3. a 1/2 inch drive super-long (12 or 20 inches, I guess) extension
4. a 1/2 inch drive medium (7 inch) extension, and
5. a 1/2 inch drive universal joint (swivel).

Oh and I used a breaker bar too, there's lots of room to swing it when the extensions are long enough so you can work back by the tranny's tailshaft! After my hi-po air ratchet couldn't budge the bellhousing bolts I just went to hand tools. I didn't try my impact gun because I didn't want to get hit with anything in case the swivel slipped. (Those sockets really fly off!!)

At my friend's house I just used hand tools and everything came out nice and easy... easier than mine. But I think Lee Myles had overtorqued my bolts (which is one of many reasons why I never went back there.)

 

Thanks Tom-

I'm going to attempt to get out to the garage today and maybe do a bit of work on it. Not sure if I'm going to pull the tranny or not, I've got a small bit of body work to finish up. Not sure if I want to simply touch up the body work area or sand the whole car down and prep for a new paint job. The car doesn't look bad now but it does need new paint. I'll try to snap some more pics of it.

 

just take the distributor out...