dropping the motor out of the bottom, and dialing in the bellhousing

so i killed the a833 in my duster, and am swapping in a tremec. also changing the leaking oil pan gasket at the same time.

seems to me the easiest way to get all my parts out, while doing the least amount of work, would be to pull the whole drivetrain as a unit out of the bottom.

this would be relatively simple if i had a two post lift. i dont. i have a 4 post, drive on.

so it looks like ill be doing it on the ground, with a cherry picker.

would y'all agree that this would be the way to do it easiest and quickest?

is there any how to-s for this? any tips? ive never pulled one out the bottom before. always pulled them out the top. but now with the AC, PS, PB,TTI headers, lakewood bell, etc, it seems like id be doing much more work, and possibly more paint damage, getting it out the way i kinow.

so, tips on coming out the bottom? links to how to's or very informative posts?

also, i need to dial in my bellhousing for the tremec so the runout is correct. ive never done this, and the last time i tried, i gave up. i do have a dial indicator with a plunger, and a harbor freight magnetic base, but never figured out how to do it. again, and good mopar small block specific how to's for impatient morons?

thanks, guys. and im sorry im asking you to spoon feed me, but ive searched and searchedm and only gotten myself more convused.

michael

Maybe im not familiar with your specific app but does the motor really have to come out for a pan gasket? I know for a fact the transmission has nothing to do with it as ive NEVER run into any case where pulling the motor made a tranny easier in 10 years as a tech and 2 in a trans shop.

its the pan gasket AND bellhousing being the reaon motor has to come out. not enough clearance to do either in the car with my setup, since i didnt do any cutting. if i had trimmed here and there, i could do both in the car now. but, as we all know, hid sight is 20/20.

and for the CRX i had, it was easier for me to pull the whole engine/trans combo to change clutches. quicker, too. but i could swap engines in that car in 4 hours flat.....

So you can get the trans out while leaving the bellhousing up, but at that point you cant get the bellhousing off the motor?

I am not familiar with this situation. Or maybe i am just more willing to pry and hammer things. Hard to say at this point.

youre probably just more willing. to clear the lakewood blow proof coming out the bottom, i was SUPPOSED to hammer the seam in the trans tunnel flat. when i built the car, i didnt know about or didnt do this. i put the bellhousing in with the engine. so now, i cant get the bell OUT without gacking my paint on the firewall/trans tunnel. i can get the trans, but not the bell. kinda stupid on my part, and i will rectify this while i have it apart this time.

also have to pull the engine for the pan gasket, or drop the k-frame out, as im running a road race pan that only leaves 1/16th to 1/8 clearance to the stock, unmodified k-frame. not enough room to sneak it by, unfortunately. so my thinking is, if i have to drop the k-frame to change the pan gasket, and have to pull the engine to chenage the bell, why not do it all at once and be done with it? its going to make for a LONG week of wrenching to do it all, but im taking a full week off work after the first to hopefully do it all and get it running by monday.

michael

Pick the front of the car up with a cherry pickers and roll the powertrain out?

OK, based on what you've said so far, my .02 opinion is that you should pull the trans from the bottom and pull the motor from the top and treat them basically as separate tasks. I honestly think dropping the k-frame and/or trying to get them out together will add time to your work.

I would take the trans out, take the engine out, fix the engine, put it back in, then put the trans back in.

Again, just my .02.

What about leaving some of the accessories in the car? A friend and I pulled a motor from his car and didn't want to break the A/C system, so we unbolted the compressor from the block and left it in the car while the motor came out. It was surprisingly easy and I imagine you could do the same with the PS system too. Just a thought.

I have a similar setup in my Barracuda. I know what you are going through. The road race pan in mine still leaks. Next time I'm ordering the new Milodon road race pan and the sump off my original is getting cut off and used on something else.

So here's what (I think) my Canadian Barracuda brethren do to raise the body off the K to install/remove the drivetrain. I'll have to shoot them a note to see if they can join in and share some pics.

Make some steel plate adapters to bolt where the front bumper bolts to the frame rails. They need to extend out past the front of the car. Run a chain to them and use the cherry picker to lift the nose of the car up. Sorry don't have measurements, but with a little experimentation I think you can find the right ratio.

They also made a dolly to put under the K. Not sure how they got it out from under the car with the front on the hoist. They might have used a gantry crane instead of a cherry picker. That would make more sense.

Disconnect the upper control arms from the spindle at the ball joint. Leave upper control arms attached to the body.

Pull torsion bars, steering column, driveshaft, and anything else that gets in the way. Jack up the body and slide things out from under. Lower body back down on some jack stands until everything is ready to go back in.

No, I haven't done this on any of my cars. I've done more along the lines of what Vigo suggests above.

The road race pan can be pulled with the motor still in the car. I've done it a couple times, but it's a royal PITA. You need to lift the motor to get the extra clearance to snake it out. It works with the '68-72 K, haven't tried it with the spool K yet.

Is there a possibility of dropping the trans and then tipping the engine enough to unbolt the bellhousing before lifting the engine out? I looked at a Barracuda at the shop today after reading this thread yesterday. If tipping the engine enough isn't possible then I'd drop the K while suspending the engine so you can move the engine forward enough to lift it out the top even if you have to unbolt the bell to make it easier. I don't think dropping the engine out the bottom will be easier without a lift.

thanks, rob.

im still debating which way to go. ive always wanted to try the drop it out the bottom, but on the other hand, ove only got the shop for a week. to do a tremec swap, and fix the pan gasket. and some welding. etc....

drop the trans.. pull the bellhousing.. pull motor from top..

install is reverse of removal.