1. This swap was done by myself, unassisted. No impact tools, no power tools. 40 years of collecting good quality hand tools. A couple of jackstands with not enough room underneath to roll over. No heated shop, the last days were well below freezing in my 1930's vintage barn. I was reluctant, but watching this video on YouTube was a great confidence builder and with COVID lockdowns I had lots of time. LINK to YouTube guy. [youtube]https://youtu.be/rsvh-_7v79M[/youtube]
2. Things I didn't do that are on the list of instructions for engine removal in the FSM. Keep in mind that the instructions in the EM refer you to more detailed information in other sections such as AT, PS etc.
DID NOT do any of these things
- Partially drain A/T fluid
- Release fuel pressure.
- Remove radiator. Left it there, protected with a piece of cardboard for cushion and a piece of corrugated plastic (old election sign) cut to suit for increased resistance to damage.
- Disconnect the PS reservoir from the pump. Release it from the bracket and when you remove the PS oil pump the entire assembly can be maneuvered out of the way.
- Disconnect the fuel hose at the engine side connection. You will see why later.
- Remove the A/T oil level indicator and indicator tube. That looked frought with disaster.
- Remove front final drive assembly. More disaster loomed large. I didn't even remove the front driveshaft.
- Install fancy engine slingers to left and right bank. Did note where they connected, but used chains instead.
- Remove intake manifold collector, throttle body and disconnect all hoses.
- Remove fuel injectors and fuel tube from intake manifold, complete and connected and lay carefully to the side.
- Removed both rocker covers, coil packs and spark plugs. Makes turning over the engine easier. And lifting chains less likely to crack plastic things.
- Removed idler pulley and the auto belt tensioner complete with the bracket to gain added clearance.
- (Should have) removed oil filter and cooler for additional clearance. Easier to do than removing the radiator. Did this for the replacement engine before dropping it back in.
- remove the RH (only) engine mounting bracket (lower) in addition to the insulators and heat shield on both sides per the instructions.
- While you are removing that bracket, you will notice that there are AT cooler lines secured to the block. Good time to remove and wire the lines off to the side a bit. They will want to hang up on the oil pan rail, you have to watch like a hawk coming out and going in.
5. Once you have the hoist connected, raise the engine slightly to remove the insulators. In place of the insulators, place 6" long 2x lumber scraps (I used 2x3 cause it was handy) and set the engine back down slightly lower now than before.
6. Crawl underneath and get the side bolts, and the torque converter bolts. I rotated the crank until I could see one bolt through the access port, then marked the harmonic balancer pulley with chalk at 90 degree intervals. A 19mm deep socket, 24" breaker bar resting on the frame rail prevents rotation. Remove one bolt, go back topside and rotate 90 degrees, crawl under and remove next bolt. Repeat.
7. Raise engine up a bit, block the transmission pan with a mechanical jack to support before finally removing the last 2 lower bolts securing the transmission to the engine. Then pull the engine free from the transmission.
8. Wiggle, lift, shift, pull, jimmy, raise, swing, finesse. Watch the engine as you pump the hoist. If it does anything but come straight up then it is probably hitting something. With all the accessories off the front of the engine, you have a good bit of room to pull forward.
Engine out! Congratulations. Now you can get ready to put in the replacement. Preparation while it is on the bench will save you a lot of grief and aggravation when you have it dropped back in place.
- Make sure new engine has transmission dowel pins in the same location and quantity as the old engine.
- Make sure you reset the bushings for the alternator and PS pump brackets so the old accessories fit the brackets of the new engine. The alternator one is on the alternator, clamp in a vise with a pipe and squeeze it flush. See picture on how to reset the PS bracket sleeve. Insert pump bolt in bracket, thread on the blind nut REVERSED so the flat side faces the bushing. Thread the bolt through enough to pilot, then a few raps with a hammer to set it back fully.
- Now is the time to change things like timing chains if the engine is old. Remove inspection covers and see, don't pull the timing case cover if you don't need to.
- Pull the oil pan and clean it out. Easier on the bench than in the frame. Make sure the new engine has a good drain plug and gasket, sucks to be ready to fill with fluids and find out that it is fubar.
- If you need to pull the timing case cover, getting the harmonic balancer bolt loose is a pain. A couple of 7/16x2" bolts through the flex plate secured by nuts will give you a place for a long bar to keep the crank from rotating while you break the balancer bolt free.
- Get a metric tap & die and chase the threads for the exhaust studs and the flanges. Make sure thery are cleaned up, and that you have the correct hardware. I found some are M10x1.5 and some were M10x1.25 which was annoying, but not frustrating once prepared.
- Transmission prep - if it moved, rotate the torque converter so a lug is straight down. Take some chalk and colour one side of the lug so once the engine is in place and you are looking through the hole in the flexplate you know whether you need to tweak the crank CW or CCW to lineup. And on the engine, make sure you have the crank rotated so a hole in the flexplate is similarly pointed straight down. Mark the balancer at 90 degree points now while you are thinking of it.
- Make sure the new engine has the LH (only) engine mounting bracket (lower) in place. Also make sure it hasn't been whacked out of alignment, that the long bolt that goes up through the insulators lines up with the hole in the lower bracket. Easy to fix now, hard to whack with a hammer later if you didn't pull the front final drive. Picture.
- Pull the rocker covers, fuel injector rails, intake manifold collector, etc. Look at all the brackets, make sure that your new engine isn't missing any that would be hard to swap over once it is between the rails. Some of those bolts are pretty hard to access once accessories are connected. SEAL the intake runners - tape, cardboard, don't let any foreign objects drop in there now. Cover and pad the top end with some pillow covers, drop clothes, etc. You are likely going to be climbing up there again to secure the top transmission bolts.
- Attach the lifting chains and spreader bar as it came off the old engine. Leave length on the chains, don't choke it tight. Getting the engine almost in and having the spreader hit the cowling or brake booster is annoying as can be. Lift it up, adjust the chains on the spreader log so it lifts fairly level side to side.
HTH the next guy that wants to give it a shot. Pictures are in as attachments, hope I did that right. I don't have any pictures in a Cloud account anywhere.
Al
