racerxrick

sorr to hear Matt...though glad your making progress!

KuHL 951

My 5-ton jack stands were perfect, just be sure and have the rear wheels low enough keeping them just off the ground.

Tom M'Guinn

I missed this first time around -- sorry about the motor.

Steve, I always found that getting the rear of the car up was the key to getting more clearance in front. The steeper the angle of the car, the higher the front has to come off the ground to create enough clearance...or am I missing your point?

KuHL 951

I'd have to check my old photos but I had very short stands on the rear that barely cleared the car off the floor and the really tall 5-ton stands in the front. Maybe it was higher in back than I remember. I recall being surprised I could still clear the valence with the X-member attached rolling it on my creeper though.

zerMATT951

I hadn't even thought about lifting the rear off the ground, but that makes sense as it will reduce the overall angle while giving maximum clearance up front.

Do you put the rear jack stands under the torsion bar tubes?

KuHL 951

I should have known, Tom is right again and my memory is getting weak. It looks like I had the rear tires about 5"-6" off the ground. I used both the torsion tube housing (backup only) and more solid support points on the rear trailing arm mounts. At first I was uncomfortable with the car that high but it was rock steady even when muscling the engine around, it didn't even budge. I had to drop mine with the entire pre-muffler exhaust attached due to a rounded nut on the downpipe which made it even more fun. Do yourself a favor and remove the fans and radiator, the IC is fine to leave in place.

jlturpin

Just remember when lowering engine to have enough chain to sit the engine on the ground or whatever you are going to sit it on. I have used cardboard when I needed the space to clear while on Jack stands. If you have enough room, a moving/piano Dolly works great. You can get those at harbor freight also. Drop the engine on Dolly then you don't have to wrestle with it to get it out from under the car.

You can also use the front tow hook and engine Crane to lift the front of the car to give you a little more room. Make sure not to try this with engine in car.

Crackership

I'm pretty sure that pulling the radiator is almost required... I'd recommend pulling the lower core support off too... It gives you a couple more inches when you're trying to get the bell housing past the torque tube.

zerMATT951

Thanks for all the advice guys, it sounds like I'll need all the clearance I can get. I was already planning to pull the fans & radiator, so hopefully I'll have plenty of room to wiggle it out.

What I'm not sure about is the wiring harness. It seems easy enough to disconnect everything from the engine and lower it out and away from the harness, but Clark's says to disconnect the harness at the DME/KLR and pull them through the firewall. Is there any benefit to pulling that out of the car, or can I just flop everything up and out-of-the-way while I drop the motor?

KuHL 951

Disconnect all the big wiring at the DME/KLR and pull it out through the rubber booted hole in the firewall. There are a few sensor wires that you need to disconnect from the engine and tag for reference but the big harness' go out with the engine. Here's a pic of the wiring bundled up and ready to drop with the engine. I feel it's easiest to remove the harness while the engine is on a stand and it helps prevents damage to wiring.

Tom M'Guinn

That's what I did too with the harness -- disconnected the various harness connectors in the engine bay and once the motor was out I pulled the harness out. Just much easier to get access that way for the size-challenged. I put the rear tires on big ramps as I usually do, by jacking the car and sliding the ramps under the rears. When I have to, I use jack stands like Steve shows above, but the ramps were plenty for pulling the motor for me.

refresh951

+1

lart951

does anybody has a procedure like how to drop the engine under 3 hours?

refresh951

I suggest you ask Josh B

lart951

Yeah, a party, lol. Seriously I can do a write up probably better than clark's but my English is not that good.