You should be able to check the clearances if you measure accurately.

However, here are two things that almost put the kibosh when did my engine swap in my 71 Dart;

1. 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,
2. I forgot to estimate by how much the front end would come up once the weight of the engine was off the vehicle.

After I got the engine out, I did a quick calculation by noting by how much my weight pushed down the car to estimate the spring-rate. Combined with the estimated weight of the engine I saw that I could have calculated this pretty closely.

 

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

 

Maybe nix the load leveler and just go with as short of a chain as possible across the top of engine? And extend the arm out as far as it will go, but be careful of stability.

 

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!!

 

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!

 

I'm just saying if you had it lifted as high as it would go and you needed two more inches of clearance to get it over the radiator support, you could pull the pan in a couple of minutes. Then you can worry about how to put it back in.

 

If your talking a couple of inches you can temporarily deflate but not remove the front tires.


George

 

That works, too. There are all kinds of ways to solve problems if you're creative and you can improvise a little.

 

You bet, lots of good ideas here. I must admit, when Christine mentioned the rafters overhead that brought back some memories of my youth and I thought, oh man that would be a classic “oh $&@#” moment realizing you just had just painted yourself into a corner after a major forest and tree screw up. Been there, got the tshirt.

Oh well, I’ll let you guys get back to work. Carry on.

George

 

I almost feel like I cheated when I replaced my engine, lol. I have nothing but respect for anybody who does it outside in the cold.