How to pull a straight six?

[greystoke]

Hey guys, I have this 59 GMC, I'm planning on selling the drive train but have never yanked a straight 6 before, it appears to have a 4 speed manual transmission although I'm not real familiar with this vintage of truck. Can the motor and transmission all come out together? How do you connect to the motor to yank it safely. I've done V8's before but this is unchartered territory and I want the opinions of you great folks on this forum.

[OrrieG]

since you have all the engine stuff disconnected it is only 8 more bolts and a couple of electrical vonnectors to pill the front clip. then its a piece iof cake keep the pivot point in the chain about 3/4 towards the back of the engine to allow for the trans weight.

[greystoke]

where would you recommend hooking up the chain to. I have the clip off. The truck resides in gravel/dirt so I'm using an overhead 1ton hoist.

[gale]

Originally Posted by greystoke

where would you recommend hooking up the chain to. I have the clip off. The truck resides in gravel/dirt so I'm using an overhead 1ton hoist.

I pulled the 292 with the 4 speed from my '67 C20 and I ran a chain around the intake or exhaust manifold about 8 or 10 inches from the back of the engine. I just looked for a clear hole the chain would go through. The other end of the chain picked up a bolt hole on the bell housing on the opposite side of the motor.

If you have removed the floor shift lever it should come straight out. The U-joint probably has a 4 bolt yoke so that has to come apart too.

[roger55]

[mechanixman]

Kinda like that.
When I pulled mine, I just kept to the same rules, ried to make sure the bolts are on opposite sides, and be careful when lifting. There is a WHOLE lot more weight on your hoist than a V8.

[tinyjaime]

When I pulled my 235 with the 4spd, I had the front clip off but I had trouble removing it with the 4 spd. Yes the stick shift was removed. I was about an inch from clearing so I decided to drop the transmission and it came out easy. Yes there is a lot of weight because the motor is so long so be careful. Maybe you will have better luck than me as I remember correctly where the stick shift fit into the transmission that was where it was hanging up even with the hump cover removed. I would next time same some advergation and remove the tranny first, then remove the motor.

[greystoke]

Great feedback guys, looking at the transmission I think it would be very difficult to pull all together. I think I will pull the cab first then the engine/tranny.

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by roger55

Roger, I like your workspace.

[mr48chev]

That setup looks a lot safer than connecting to a couple of smaller bolts in shear.
I've seen the results of a couple of engines that dropped after a bolt broke because it was stressed beyond it's capabilities when the engine was being lifted. Both were sixes too.

I'd be a bit cautious with the hookup that low though as the center of gravity is going to be higher than where the chains are connected and if they are too close to straight across from each other the engine may want to tilt to one end or the other on it's own.

[OrrieG]

Or you can use one of these to keep it level...

[gale]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Or you can use one of these to keep it level...

But the inline 6 presents a different problem because all the good picking points are on one side. I think that was the reason for the original question.

[BurgerMan]

I had the cab off already. Few t8 bolts to be safe in bell housing with chain. Used 2 heavy duty tow straps to help level it on transmission side. 2 bolts on tranny, 2 on the engine mounts and up and out it went

[NEWFISHER]

I pulled mine exactly like Rogger55 shows. I removed the plugs and dizzy on the rt side and the manifolds on the left so as not to scratch or break them.

[whitedog76]

The factory way was to take 2 head bolts out and thread in 2 eye bolts.

I would leave the bellhousing on, but pull the trans off. You have to take the flywheel off to get the 235 bellhousing off anyhow.

They show it here, figure 28

http://canadianmilitarypattern.com/1...e%20Manual.htm

[70gmcjimmy]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Or you can use one of these to keep it level...

Originally Posted by gale

But the inline 6 presents a different problem because all the good picking points are on one side. I think that was the reason for the original question.

I was able to use a leveler pulling this 250 out of a '64 Chevy. It did help since I didn't want to take off the front clip. It didn't look like at the angle I needed that the tranny would clear the bellhousing crossmember so 4 tranny bolts, the driveshaft and linkage to drop the tranny was easier than taking out the crossmember. The seat and tranny hump had to come out anyway so dropping the tranny was easy. Used an exhaust-intake bolt hole to put a lifting iron on the drivers side rear and the battery ground on the pass side front.

DAC