Getting motor onto engine stand without cherry picker only tractor.

[oldblue1968chevy]

I got a motor stand for christmas, so I decided to put it together today...

Just got in from 'dads' big shop. (His is bigger,cleaner warmer). My motor is 200 ft away (over grass/dirt). It is a complete 350 with tranny and all accessories. I want to get it onto the stand without dropping it or damaging myself lol (and dad). We have a tractor with frontend loader and or my pickup (steel floor). The motor has oil and accessories on it.

Need to take tranny off before I move motor or after (im thinking before)

Need to take accessories off before or after?

Need to take heads off to lift motor onto stand?

Trying to make this clean as possible. Motor is already greasy etc.

How do I go about this? This is my first motor ive played with. I wanna take it apart see what It looks like then let it sit in the garage (is this ok If i keep it oiled) and when $ comes together take it to be machined.

Does this sound like a good plan? What should I do or not do? I wanna take it apart

Thank you! I hope this is the right section to post this..

[landarts]

I just did this with a 327 motor and my small Bobcat skidsteer. I put an old used tire in the bucket and put the motor on the old used tire, then transported to a different location. When I got to where the motor stand was I put the motor on the ground with the tire under it. then I hooked up a chain to the motor and lifted the motor up to the motor stand and bolted it on. Worked out great!

[Jim_PA]

if you can, pull the pin that holds the block "fingers" to the rest of the stand. Bolt that unit onto the back of the engine block. Lower the engine down, so it's close to the rest of the stand, then pick the bottom half of the stand up, put the 2 pipes together, re-attach the pin that locks it from rotating, then slowly let it come down to the floor.

With or without a picker, I think this is the way it's supposed to be done, as it's much easier to bolt those fingers to the block without it being attached to the rest of the stand.

If you got a pretty good stand, I wouldn't worry about unbolting accessories prior to putting it on the stand.

[oldblue1968chevy]

I think it was 1500 lbs...

how do those fingers not slide out!!!!

So unbolt tranny, pick up with frontend loader on top of tire..

Whata bout draining the oil?..........

[Jim_PA]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

I think it was 1500 lbs...

how do those fingers not slide out!!!!

So unbolt tranny, pick up with frontend loader on top of tire..

Whata bout draining the oil?..........

How do they not slide out of what? A picture of the stand you have might help.

You can drain the oil whenever you want to, it won't come out unless you end up with it upside down

[oldblue1968chevy]

Ok I stripped down the motor just now...it leaked some water/anitfreeze....hope it didnt crack the block :S

dads gonna make me do it my lil shop i think...he says pull the heads off outside.

should I pull the dizzy?

how does it come off?

[Sinister]

Pull the distributor. Undo the hold down and pull the distributor straight up.

[oldblue1968chevy]

Well it started getting dark so I threw the tarp over it..i'll pull the dizzy in the AM and will be getting it on the stand in the AM...im getting excited but my wallet is getting scared. I was told its a virgin block, has been 'rebuilt' 1 time but wasnt bored....

machine shop wants 1000 to 1300 for shortblock thats with a cam of my choice flat top pistons and a few other things...seems high.

I need to know of a good machine shop in middle tn...anyone?

[MacAttack]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

Well it started getting dark so I threw the tarp over it..i'll pull the dizzy in the AM......

Mark the distributor's location FIRST! (unless you're dong a total rebuild anyway)

[suville]

If this is your "first" I would highly recommend purchasing the "HOW TO BUILD SMALL BLOCK CHEVROLET" not certain if that is the actual title someone on here can certainly straighten that out and someone may have a used one you could purchase. Read that cover to cover so you have somewhat of an understanding as to what your in for. Performance Automotive Warehouse as well as several others sell rebuild kits in various configurations so after you have researched and decided if you need to bore the block( bore it only enough to clean it up, overboring can lead to overheating problems) then you can order your rebuild kit with the pistons to fit your bore .010 over or whatever it comes out to. There are many fellas on here that can offer sound advice also. On that same note if it were me, I would contact the various machine shop auto parts dealers ( NAPA comes to mind) and inquire if they might have something that someone cannot afford to pay the bill on and you just might get a very good deal money is tight right now. Hope this is of sum help! Wish ya the best

[oldblue1968chevy]

yeah its all comming apart...I'll have to go back and find tdc and all that good stuff after i cough up the cashhh lol

headers
aluminum performer intake (lookin at used ones if the treads are good with the aluminum clean up)
lil cam
vortec heads (reworked? or will I need to? what should i expect to pay?)
flat top forged pistons
steel crank rebalanced (in motor already)
bore block .30 (should I go more??)
new bearings
new freeze plugs
'deck the block' (what is that?)
new timing chain
probably some more stuff

[oldblue1968chevy]

suville, THATS A GREAT IDEA just napa or any other machine shop?

ANYTHING? Or just a block?.....

Im *PROBABLY* going to take the shortblock to machine shop and do the rest myself...

I cant post wtb adds so i cant ask for a rebuilding book but if anybody sees this....you can tell me you have one lol if you wanta

[suville]

I wouldnt get in a big hurry, do some research first and you will save yourself money. Many times the first one is the most expensive and its definately a learning curve. As an example I have been researching for quite some time on baggin my burb,well being a DAV with a very limited income I cannot afford to make unnessary purchases so there is where the research and asking question comes into play, I have no doubt many of the guys on this and many other boards would certainly do things differently had they known before hand just what did or didnt work so take your time it will be worth it in the end.

[PanelDeland]

Keep in mind that a cam is a cam and should be chosen carefully.Figure out what you want to use the truck for.Then gather all the data on what you need it to do.Make a list so you have the info at hand.Then call the cam guru's at one of the big cam companies.The biggest mistakes most first time engine builders make is to overcam and over carb their engine.
The cam guru will want to know
Tranny-auto or standard
weight of truck
rear gear ratio
use(how you will drive it)
CR (Compression ratio-your machine shop will help you with this)
and tons of other stuff such as which heads,pistons and CI.....................

Shoot for a combo to meet your goal instead of "Bigger is Better".

[crushermechanic]

lee's machine shop in nasheville is the best in the area. he does all my work and my companies engine work. pm me and i will give you the #.

[Average Joe]

Just in case no one has mentioned it I'll throw in my 2cents. Make sure you number all of your main caps in their respective order. Do the same with your connecting rods and matching caps. If the motor has been apart before this may have already been done. The book mentioned above How To Rebuild Your Small Block Chevy by David Vizaard is invaluable. If you are doing your own reassembly remember to keep everything spotless and check every tolerance yourself. Dont trust that all clearances are within spec. At the very least use Plasti-guage on your bearing clearances, feeler guages for crank endplay and ring gap, and PlayDo for piston to valve clearance if high lift cam. I am by no means a engine builder just some things I've learned along the way.

[mrein3]

Originally Posted by oldblue1968chevy

yeah its all comming apart...I'll have to go back and find tdc and all that good stuff after i cough up the cashhh lol

1 headers
2 aluminum performer intake (lookin at used ones if the treads are good with the aluminum clean up)
3 lil cam
4 vortec heads (reworked? or will I need to? what should i expect to pay?)
5 flat top forged pistons
6 steel crank rebalanced (in motor already)
7 bore block .30 (should I go more??)
8 new bearings
9 new freeze plugs
10 'deck the block' (what is that?)
11 new timing chain
12 probably some more stuff

I added the numbers above to match my responses.

1 I hate headers. Unless you spend a fortune on them they leak and usually don't flow as good as stock exhaust manifolds.
2 I went with the Edelbrock 2101 with a 1406 carb on top of it. Not high performance but if you are looking for a bolt on and go combination this one is hard to beat.
3 Cam - as others have pointed out - should match the rest of the build.
4 Never put a used head on an engine unless somebody who knows what they are doing - usually the engine machine shop where you had your block work done - checks them out. Last time I had a stock sent gone through it was $125/side if I remember correctly.
5 I put flat tops in my 383. Now I have to purchase high octane gas or it pings like a son of a gun.
6 Balance is always a good idea.
7 Let the machine shop tell you what the holes will need to be cleaned up. I once did a 75k mile 350 out of a 1975ish Monte that had holes still in spec so I did nothing but swirl out the holes with a hone and re-ring it. That was 1989. That engine still purrs.
8 New bearings always.
9 No way around new freeze plugs. They are usually destroyed when the block is cleaned. Just pull them first and be done with it.
10 "Deck" is where they machine the surface where the head bolts on. That has to be flat. As does the bottom of the heads.
11 Never put a new engine together with an old chain.
12 Yes prolly more stuff necessary. The machine shop will help you with that.

One of my pet peeves:
It is NOT a motor. It is an engine.
Engine: a machine for converting any of various forms of energy into mechanical force and motion.
Motor: A rotating machine that transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy.

The thing under the hood that makes your tires spin is an engine. The thing stuck to the firewall that spins to blow air on your windshield is a motor.

[70Custom10Nut]

I agree with all the above. Don't let the whole thing intimidate you, it's really is easy to rebuild a V-8 Chevy. As far as manuals, I had a Chilton's, a Haynes, and "How to build a Chevy V-8" all laid out on a table as I tore mine down and put it back together. It's all personal preference but I like to read and reread till it makes sense and then I execute. The most important thing is KEEP IT CLEAN. Don't too crazy with a cam. I used the standard RV cam, and I am pleased that I took the advice of the Guy at the speed shop where I bought my parts. $1000 to $1300 sounds reasonable for a short block complete, as long as you can choose the maker. 10 years ago I spent $1600 on parts and machine work, but that included rebuilding the heads too. Hope this helps, good luck. Cnut

[oldblue1968chevy]

Sounds like I need to go to town to talk to machine shop guys...

Ima clean freak already. Rebuilt a couple atv motors (top/bottom) they are harder than sbc. so about the '300' heads, i need to verify what they are. maybe take them to machine shop to have machine shop look em over?

Right now I need to concentrate on the bottom end. (short blcok). The PO has already marked the...rods I think it is (to insure they go back in order).

1-have crank balaced (correct?)
2-bring block to machine shop (will they know what to do or will they rip my $#%^% off lol. If I tell em I want it cleaned down least as possible not .60 lol. order my parts through them, or a place like summit etc.

Ok. Ima try to hunt a book now so I stop asking ?'s. thanks

[Sinister]

Here's a pretty good book on rebuilding the SBC: http://www.themotorbookstore.com/chevy-smallblock.html