Originally Posted by rexmburns

Just install a body lift. Sorry I know that wasn't any real help but these guys pretty much covered it!

Originally Posted by mr.vls

When I replaced my engine I ended up removing the trans cross member and letting the trans tilt down and therefore provided access. The other problem I had was the head on the bell housing bolts are thin and most sockets have a slight radius at the very end of the socket so my socket wanted to slip off the bolt head as I applied torque to the ratchet. If you have that problem you can cut the socket square to eliminate the radius. When I re-installed the engine I used bolts that had a thicker head on them. There is no need for the thin head bolts. (Long extension and swivel socket)

Originally Posted by altoncustomtech

I have fully and completely considered the body lift, lol. It would eliminate these problems for certain.




I've not had any trouble with the sockets not staying on the heads of the bolts, but it's so damn tight it's hard to see how lowering the back of the tranny down would gain any room. It's about the easiest suggestion though so I'm definitely going to look into it.


Thank you all for your suggestions. The engineers at GM sure had their heads up their asses when they designed this.

Originally Posted by altoncustomtech

I'm just about ready to pull the engine out of my '01 Jimmy. A co-worker and I got everything else (except for the three bell housing bolts on the bottom, leaving the easy ones for last) loose and ready for the engine to come out.

What we can't figure out, easily anyway, is how the hell to get that upper bolt on that side the hell out. Between it's proximity to the firewall and the support/brace/etc. that's cast into the bell housing just below the bolt running axially with the housing, we can't get any combination of socket, wobble, universal joint, extension, wrench, etc. onto that damn bolt head. One iteration ran right up from the back of the transmission of about 3ft of extensions with a universal at the end, another 3" extension and another universal got the socket to TOUCH the head of the bolt, but couldn't actually get on it. I'm about to say the hell with it and drill a hole through the firewall just big enough to put the socket on the bitch. I've read where some have removed the engine mounts and dropped the engine a little lower, but I really don't see where that would gain enough ground to make any real difference.


Any help from the experienced would be highly appreicated.