Engine Removal Help

[tblough]

I'll be pulling my engine shortly.
Any tips and/or tricks?

How do I support the tranny while removing the engine?

Any problems I should expect?

If my motor mount bolts are rusted solid, any recommended way to get them off?

As you can tell, I'm a newbie.

THanks in advanced.

[piecesparts]

Hang on to your hat Newbie. First, take everything off of the engine that connects (wiring, hoses, etc) to it and put a piece of tape on it an LABEL it. Now I have found that pulling the carb and getting one of the carb plates that you can hook a hoist onto is the easiest way to lift the motor for a v-8, on a six cylinder the chain with bolts to the head works best. The motor can be lifted with the exhaust manifolds, but headers have to be disconnected and set aside. The starter can stay if you want, but it helps to clear the motor mount if it is taken off. Take the distributor cap and rotor off to get clearance on the firewall, the distributor can stay in the block. Take the water pump off and you have more than enough room to take the motor out with the radiator still in the truck (of course the shroud has to go). The A/C unit can be laid off to the side across the front of the motor, if you have A/C. The alternator should be removed. I don't know what you have for a tranny, but if it is an automatic, there are a couple of ways to go, I haven't dealt with a manual tranny for awhile. You could pull the whole thing out together, or you could leave it in the truck. If you leave it in the truck you can support it with a chain wrapped around the frame on each side and slung underneath the tranny (crude but effective). I made a rig out of a 2" x 3/8" flat bar and drilled two holes in it that would align with the outer edges of the tranny oil pan, i believe that this could be used on a manual also. I welded a nut to each hole, so that I could run a piece of "Ready Bolt" all thred throght the nuts and put the end up against the oil pan lip. That way I can raise or lower the tranny as needed to align it with the engine when I install it again. (this is to allow for settling the engine in over the motor mount brackets and to get the dowel pins on the tranny to fit into the block guide holes at the same time) I made the rig long enough, so I could use "C" clamps to clamp it to the frame on each side of the truck, now the tranny is solid and I can adjust it up and down to assist in removal and re-install. The chain idea allows for the tranny to just hang in a bad position and you end up using a floor jack to move it.
The rusty bolts can be treated for a few days ahead of time with a penetrating oil to get them lubed up. An impact wrench usually does a good job on them. The tranny had three bolts in the torgue convertor that have to be removed, after you take off the bottom shroud (requires rotating the motor to get to them. The bell housing has six bolts that have to be removed before the tranny and engine seperates.

The six cylinder would not require the distributor to be stripped down as a v-8 would.

[tblough]

hey, this is the kind of info I'm looking for. Thanks alot.