When i pulled the engine from my 96, i took out all the body to frame bolts except the 2 at the very rear, jacked the body up off the frame enough to put 2 2x4s between the frame and front body mounts, made it alot easier to get to those top trans bolts. I also put in a junkyard motor, i pulled the pan, took off a main and rod bearing cap to check for bearing/crank damage.(original engine spun all the rod bearings and the 2 center mains) i put in a new high- volume oil pump, new front and rear mains, new pan gasket, remote filter/cooler lines and a new radiator. I didnt do the intake gasket, should have, did it last week though. After i put in a new thermostat so it would run at the proper temp, the intake gasket leaked...did the same job on a 97 blazer back in febuary, so it wasnt to bad to do in chassis, i did take the hood off, that really helps!

 

racsan, thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it. I'm pulling the engine and trans as one unit since the engine is seized. I almost have the front core support off to make the whole thing easier. Pretty much everything is off the top and front of the engine, then I just need to crawl under and remove some stuff and it should come out. Then I "just" need to separate the engine and trans...