4.3L Vortec Getting a Rebuild
#71
Thanks Les! Okay so I have thought of something that may be problematic here, the truck has a 2" body lift, 2.5" susp lift, and 31" tires. The cherry picker I'm going to be renting has a max height of 7 feet 2 inches, and with a leveler on that will come down even more... What do you guys think here? Will it clear? Or should I pop the front tires off and drop it down some?
However, here are two things that almost put the kibosh when did my engine swap in my 71 Dart;
- I forgot to measure the height of the rafters in my small one-car garage to be sure the lifting arm would not hit them, and more importantly,
- I forgot to estimate by how much the front end would come up once the weight of the engine was off the vehicle.
#72
I would take the front tires off ONLY if necessary, after you have the engine lifted as high as it will go. Otherwise, you're going to be kicking yourself if you have to crawl under and disconnect anything. I think you'll probably have enough room, though. You can always pull the pan and the oil pump if you need more clearance
#74
Alright thanks for these ideas guys, I didn't get out and measure clearances today Christine but I'll definitely do that. I'm sure with something mentioned here I will be able to get it out. Tom that would be crazy if I had to take off the oil pan while it's coming out, putting it back in would be interesting LOL. The guy who has the hoist rented out right now was supposed to return it Wednesday and has still not brought it back thus the holdup... I have the engine mount bolts just sitting in place and the bottom seven bell housing bolts broke loose, I'm so ready!!
#75
You can go ahead and take out all the engine mount and bell housing bolts now before you start. It's not going to come apart at all (trans is doweled to the engine) until the tabs on the engine mounts clear the frame when lifted, and the engine can come forward out of the dowels. Then engine has to come forward enough to clear the flex plate. Jacking the trans up against the tunnel tips the top of transmission back, and this helps with the bell housing clearing the flex plate. Once the flex place clears, the engine comes out straight up. Don't forget the trans cooler line that is clamped to the oil pan like I did! Good luck!
#76
#78
#79
Oh well, I’ll let you guys get back to work. Carry on.
George