About ready to pull engine/transmission assembly-Question

[mopar0166]

ok i was going to bolt chain to the front of the heads and use the the two rear upper trans mounting  bolts on the engien block to lift it

[john108]

Until someone who knows better, your approach may be better.  You want the bolts into solid material.

[Dmichels]

John I just put my 440 and 4 speed in my car as a unit. I did it with the car sitting on its 4 tires. I had to angle it alot to get it to clear everything. It was pretty hairy as things were pretty high up. You are probally looking at 600 to 700 lbs. You DEFINATLY want an extra hand to help you. You need to lift angle lift angle ect. The extra hands can tell you how you are going and help stabilise things. You can pull and install an engine by itself, but with a trans attached you need help.
Check list
1 get a friend to help
2 you want the chains bolted tight to the block
3 use 2 washers if there is any chance of the chains pulling threw the bolts
4 measure from the oil pan to the hoist make sure you have enough lift to clear things. Compair that to the total lift of the hoist.
Its not that bad just plan ahead
Dave

[ACUDANUT]

Now that's good advice. 

[Dmichels]

Oh yeah I forgot
5 Drain everything. Otherwise it WILL drain out in your driveway and all over everything. try to pull the collant drain plugs on either side of the motor
6 Also take the  time to pull off anything that you think will get broken off or get in the way. You do not want to find out that you have smashed or about to brake something when it is 4 feet in the air.

[Brightyellow69rtse]

i used the harbor freight hoist too. i actually think i did it on the 1/2 ton hole. i cant be sure its been a while. ive slung flipped and spund around some awkward extremly heavy things at my previous job on a regulat basis. you just kinda get a feel for how its gonna go after a while.  i didnt do anything weird like put it on stands or anything. if you need a few extra inches over the rad support you can just let the air out of the tires. 

its not difficult just take your timewith a buddy and youll be ok. 

[john108]

One more dumb question, I hope.

Presently, I have jack stands under the frame behind the front wheels - because of other recommendations.
I also needed the room there to cut out the exhaust pipes/mufflers and do all the other disconnecting.

If I removed those jack stands, will the transmission have enough room not to drag on the ground when the assembly is rotated?  I can remove the jack stands later, after I see how it is going???

[ACUDANUT]

 You need to keep them there to give the tranny room to drop.

[mopar0166]

im pulling my 318 out tonight, ill let you knwo how it goes

[69_XS29L]

You are only addressing this from one point of view, taking the engine out. I'm guessing you will be restoring this car. I was lucky enough to have a stout GluLam beam in the ceiling of my garage to lift from. I rigged up a hoist from the beam bolted to the bumper supports of my stripped down 69, welded up a dolly to put under the K member and tranny and tilted the car up off the whole mess, end of problem. No having to buy an engine lift, no swinging loads in the air on Chinese lifts made w/ 1/8" walled tube, and it is easily a one man job for sure. A person could then stuff the engine back in ( alone ) without worrying about freshly painted inner fenders, core support, firewall, etc. Doesn't look like you have anything overhead to easily lift from. Having said that I did build a lift to pull the V-10 from my 3/4 ton Ram, and the other trucks I work on, 4x4s are different.
Look at your lift, you are past the halfway point of your ram extension. You'll need to pull the jack stands to get everything to clear for sure.
The guys that tell you to lengthen the back chain are stuck using a single chain to pull an engine. The point of buying your leveler is to be able to change the angle of the engine while you are pulling it. Look up the Oberg tilt sling sometime, it is the shit for quickly changing the angle while pulling engines.
Use Grade 8 bolts long enough to seat fully in the head, w/out a lot of extra length, and like the man said use a washer if bolting through chain.
Pull the water pump and crank pulley, it'll give you more room to come forward and lift up before you need to tilt the tranny to clear the firewall and save a few pounds of weight. A fully dressed 440 with a 727 bolted to it has to be all of 700 lb. Remember what is tilted must be untilted to clear core support.
Pull the pipe plugs in the side of the block or knock out freeze plugs, drain the block. Crack the tranny pan and drain it, but remember as soon as you put any angle to the engine, the 727 tailshaft will start draining. NAPA used to sell a plug for this.
These old cars are stone axe simple, pulling the engine/tranny is kinderspielen. Take it easy, relax, and if anything hangs on the way out, check it out before yanking on it anymore. Good luck, Mike.

[john108]

Thanks for a ton of good advice.
I pulled the assembly yesterday and because of the advice I received here, I anticipated most of the issues.
I should have removed the crank pulleys and water-pump as it would have provided additional needed room!
It barely fit!
The load leveler was extreamly hard to turn (both tilting and un-tilting).
When the hoist was raised most of what I needed, I couldn't turn the load-leveler crank because the arm was in the way.
I am thinking it may be better if the crank pointed toward the firewall, but that may result in access problems??
I had to remove the jack stands I had under the frame as the hoist couldn't go high enough.
I also could have let air out of the front tires, as suggested, but I was able to lift up on the tailshaft by hand, just enough to clear.
AND WE WERE OUT!!!
Thank you all again.  I couldn't have done it without your help.  --  I will have more tasks in the near future.
John

[Lighthorseman]

If I may stick my nose in here - I am also coming close to time to remove the 383 / 727 combo from my '70 Satellite.  I would be doing things the same way as John - using a hoist and pulling the engine up and out.

Am I better off to remove both engine and transmission as one piece, or would unbolting the transmission ease getting the engine out? 

Thanks!
- Steve -

[JB400]

In my opinion, it's easier to pull/ insert the motor without the auto attached.  Manual trans are just the opposite; I'd prefer them to go in together as a unit to ease in lining up the clutch and trans.

[Lighthorseman]

In my opinion, it's easier to pull/ insert the motor without the auto attached.  Manual trans are just the opposite; I'd prefer them to go in together as a unit to ease in lining up the clutch and trans.

Thanks, Stroker!  I hope to have a 727 coming out and an 833 going back in.