Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins?
#1
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Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins?
Im putting my rebuilt 454 in this Saturday. As other forum members suggested, I left the tranny radiator and shroud in the car when I pulled the engine. I just cant see how putting it back in without removing the tranny will work. I have an alignment tool for the clutch and everything stripped off the engine. I also have a jack under the tranny so I can move it up and down a bit. Everything else is connected. Any advice would be great.
Also if anyone is in the Billerica MA area and want to assist, that would be even better...
Thanks again....
:hurray:
Also if anyone is in the Billerica MA area and want to assist, that would be even better...
Thanks again....
:hurray:
#2
Burning Brakes
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
PULL THE TRANNY AND INSTALL AS A UNIT!!!! Trying to line up the tranny so it goes together properly while under the car is virtually impossible. Second jack up your car a bit and remove one of the front tires. The cherry picker will then slide under when you come in at an angle with nothing in the way.
Good luck and remember the bell housing bolts are not there to pull the tranny and engine together when there is an inch gap left. The tranny and engine should slide completely together actually slam together, :smash:
Good luck and remember the bell housing bolts are not there to pull the tranny and engine together when there is an inch gap left. The tranny and engine should slide completely together actually slam together, :smash:
#3
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
Not sure about a big block and standard transmission, but when I put my 350 back into my 76 with auto trans. that was already in, there was no problem.
Goodluck. :thumbs: :seeya
Goodluck. :thumbs: :seeya
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
I've installed my engine with the tranny in the car three times so far, and I'm prepairing to do it again next week. As mentioned above, raise car a bit, remove one tire, jack under trans. I never have a problem, guess I've just gotten good at it...!!! :cool:
#5
Melting Slicks
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
First tip is plan on taking twice as long as the job should take,so you don't rush the job and Bubba something in the process.
Second,remove anything that could possibly interfere with the alignment process before you have the engine dangling over your fiberglass fenders.
(Crosshaft,fan shroud,and possibly motor mounts.)
Third and most important.Don't try this alone.A second set of eyes and hands will make a world of difference.I do all my engine R/R's alone and even with the automatic trans it's a PIA working by myself. :yesnod:
Second,remove anything that could possibly interfere with the alignment process before you have the engine dangling over your fiberglass fenders.
(Crosshaft,fan shroud,and possibly motor mounts.)
Third and most important.Don't try this alone.A second set of eyes and hands will make a world of difference.I do all my engine R/R's alone and even with the automatic trans it's a PIA working by myself. :yesnod:
#6
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
You cannot install the engine and tranny together as a unit. The is not enough clearance for the bell housing to get in down into position. I know from experience. They have to be installed separately. Other Chevys cannot be installed together
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
Use a load leveler on the eng and jack the trans up till it almost hits the trans tunnel, that will allow you to match the angle of the trans and eng for mating then you can drop the eng into place, otherwise the motor mounts will hit and the eng and trans will be at diff levels/angles.
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (Fevre)
So are we saying leave the mounts on the engine and use a load leveler to set the angle of the engine? Assuming I get all this correct, can I expect the engine and transmission to come together smoothly or should I be prepared to remove the tranny.
#9
Burning Brakes
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (princeRed72)
You cannot install the engine and tranny together as a unit. The is not enough clearance for the bell housing to get in down into position. I know from experience. They have to be installed separately. Other Chevys cannot be installed together
I tried installing the engine only and leaving the tranny in place and I could not get the two to mate together to my satisfaction which is flush (a real PIA while your jammed under the car wiggling the tranny to fit and the engine is dangling from a cherry picker). So I then removed the tranny mated it up with the engine and dropped the whole unit in together. I still needed a 2x6 to leverage the engine so the motor mounts would line up
I also had the radiator and support out though (It was only 6 or 8 bolts and the whole thing support and all comes out). not a big deal.
Like someone said above have someone help you and take your time. Doing a job like that will give you great satisfaction when its finished. :)
#10
Team Owner
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (princeRed72)
You cannot install the engine and tranny together as a unit. The is not enough clearance for the bell housing to get in down into position. I know from experience. They have to be installed separately. Other Chevys cannot be installed together
I guess when I did mine I imagined my tranny hanging off the back of the engine. Installing them as one unit is the only way to go on any rear wheel drive car. I've done it to all makes and models. I had my car jacked up as far as my jackstands could go so the tail shaft of the tranny didn't hit the floor. I also had the hood off for extra wiggle room.
#11
Melting Slicks
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (theandies)
I did mine with engine trans together. took off hood, radiator, shroud, and fuel pump. It went in like it was on a slide, and I was by myself.
:seeya
:seeya
#12
Melting Slicks
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (randy814u)
Took out radiator, shroud, engine mounts but left tranny in car. Had a friend help and only took 5 minutes to drop in 350 engine and get bell housing bolted on. Of course it took a while longer to get remaining things attached. I'm sure I was lucky and your big block may prove to be more stubborn. You've already got a lot of good advise on this post and mine is two things: 1) get a buddy to give a second hand and 2) put a few cold ones in the frig to celebrate when the job is done. Good luck to ya and :cheers:
#13
Racer
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
I have to laugh, some say it has to be put in together, some say it has to be put in separately. I sure it can be done either way, but for sure if the transmission is still in the car, leave it there. Take your time and line things up (use a clutch centering tool if it is a standard) and you will be fine.
Really, "ITS NO BIG DEAL" I put mine in last year. With 2 people it took us no longer than 30-45 minutes to get it bolted in.
:cheers:
Really, "ITS NO BIG DEAL" I put mine in last year. With 2 people it took us no longer than 30-45 minutes to get it bolted in.
:cheers:
#14
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (Ken74Conv)
I pulled a 454 from my first '73 and I left the tranny in place. When I put the rebuilt engine back in I had to jiggle everything to get it lined up and together. All bolted up fine. When I started the car and let out the clutch, it wanted to stall out. Turned out that I had somehow knocked the tranny enough to get two shift levers to go into gear at the same time. I had to pry one of them back into neutral. What a PITA! If you decide to just leave the tranny in place, check for this before you start the engine! Another 2 cents: I really wished I had pulled that tranny to freshen the seals in it. It leaked all over my rebuilt engine and I pulled it out (alone) two weeks later to do what would have been so easy if I had bothered to pull it out with the engine! Good luck!
#15
Team Owner
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
Dunno guys, I have done a bunch of engine work on a variety of cars over the decades, and I can say that it's no big deal....BUT trying to do an engine and tranny together means you have to have one HELL of a lot of front end clearance...not possible on a vette of any type....OR have the car WAYup in the air to allow the tailshaft clearance tilting down to make up for the horizontal front clearances....that means you need a tilt device....
man I been doing engines for a long time now, and still do not own a tile device...the things balance nicely on a chain diagonally from one side to the other.....
on a BB vette, however, I MAY be tempted to do the heads afterwards. as the bellhousing bolts are hard enough allready on a dressed out small block, let alone a BB.....
I dunno, these guys saying do the tranny/engine together, seem to have one hell of a lot of help, as well as monster hooks and the car way the hell up in the air....I got about the largest hook I ever seen for a smaller garage/shop even commercial...and it's a damn mess doing both together...I good for 8 feet off the ground too...but don't forget that tranny needs to stick down about 2 solid feet before you tip that combo to horizontal...meaning that car gotta be off the ground one hell of a lot....
GENE
man I been doing engines for a long time now, and still do not own a tile device...the things balance nicely on a chain diagonally from one side to the other.....
on a BB vette, however, I MAY be tempted to do the heads afterwards. as the bellhousing bolts are hard enough allready on a dressed out small block, let alone a BB.....
I dunno, these guys saying do the tranny/engine together, seem to have one hell of a lot of help, as well as monster hooks and the car way the hell up in the air....I got about the largest hook I ever seen for a smaller garage/shop even commercial...and it's a damn mess doing both together...I good for 8 feet off the ground too...but don't forget that tranny needs to stick down about 2 solid feet before you tip that combo to horizontal...meaning that car gotta be off the ground one hell of a lot....
GENE
#16
Burning Brakes
Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (mrvette)
I'm with Gene on this one. I have only put one engine in and it was a small block to a TH400, but to me it seemed the easy and logical choice to put the engine in without the transmission... One thing that never did make any sense to me is how on earth people get the bellhousing to line up along with the motor mounts... I kept having the motor mounts hang things up, finally after several hours of trying, I put it in the garage overnight and tried again the next day... Took me probably about 30 minutes to do it alone... The difference was that I bolted the motor mounts to the frame first and just set the engine down onto them. Put the bellhousing bolts in, then I used the lift to help line up the bolts on the motor mounts. First one I got all bolts lined up that way, second one, I lined up just the bottom bolt, put it in, then used a screwdriver to pry the top into place. Seemed much easier, though torquing them to spec is not really possible on two bolts (one per side), but I guesstimated it...
EDIT: Oh yeah, I didn't tighten the bellhousing bolts (left lots of slop) until after the motor mount bolts were all in place... Then I tightened bellhousing bolts, then went back and torqued motor mount bolts.
[Modified by dath, 6:43 PM 9/10/2003]
EDIT: Oh yeah, I didn't tighten the bellhousing bolts (left lots of slop) until after the motor mount bolts were all in place... Then I tightened bellhousing bolts, then went back and torqued motor mount bolts.
[Modified by dath, 6:43 PM 9/10/2003]
#17
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
Check your e-mail, I can help Saturday if you need it. Sunday is out, car show in Fitchburg.
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
conway62....
Hopefully things go well on dropping in the engine. I dropped in a small block in my '74 earlier this year without any help or problems, but I just can't picture myself doing the same with the 454 in my '71. If I ever did do it the heads definitely would not be on the block.
Hopefully things go well on dropping in the engine. I dropped in a small block in my '74 earlier this year without any help or problems, but I just can't picture myself doing the same with the 454 in my '71. If I ever did do it the heads definitely would not be on the block.
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Re: Engine ready to go in. Any tips before the torture begins? (conway62)
OK, after many mixed ideas from everyone, here is what I did to get the new 454 engine installed.
I left the radiator, shroud, hood and tranny in the car and put a jack under the bell housing. I jacked up the bell housing as high as it would go. Then I Cleaned the tranny shaft and pressure plate spline to get any dirt or old grease out. I then sprayed a light coat of WD-40 on the shaft to make sure everything would slide together well. I then put the engine on the hoist and adjusted the engine angle to match the tranny angle. I eyed it and got it pretty close. I had a buddy guide the engine as I lower the lift. Once things looked good, I gave the engine a little push and everything slid together. I had to wiggle the engine a bit to get it tighter on the bell housing. I then used 2 bolts to pull it in. Took about 20 minutes. While the engine was still jacked up I installed a set of Hooker Super Comp headers. They fit perfect with room to spare. Once installed I then lower the engine on the mounts. Everything went smooth as can be. I could not believe it. I never tried installing an engine this way. I have to admit it was pretty easy.
Thanks everyone for all your input on this post.
:steering:
I left the radiator, shroud, hood and tranny in the car and put a jack under the bell housing. I jacked up the bell housing as high as it would go. Then I Cleaned the tranny shaft and pressure plate spline to get any dirt or old grease out. I then sprayed a light coat of WD-40 on the shaft to make sure everything would slide together well. I then put the engine on the hoist and adjusted the engine angle to match the tranny angle. I eyed it and got it pretty close. I had a buddy guide the engine as I lower the lift. Once things looked good, I gave the engine a little push and everything slid together. I had to wiggle the engine a bit to get it tighter on the bell housing. I then used 2 bolts to pull it in. Took about 20 minutes. While the engine was still jacked up I installed a set of Hooker Super Comp headers. They fit perfect with room to spare. Once installed I then lower the engine on the mounts. Everything went smooth as can be. I could not believe it. I never tried installing an engine this way. I have to admit it was pretty easy.
Thanks everyone for all your input on this post.
:steering: