348 engine out major

Now I crawled under the front of the engine bay and loosened 12 the bolts, 6 on each side, holding the subframe to the car. I only LOOSEN them, because I still need them holding things in place, and it will be a pain to try and get them off once the subframe is sitting on the engine dollies.
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I used two 1000/lb moving dollies to support the engine. I bought them for $20 each at the hardware store.

They got place so that the carpeted sides were right under the subframe rails. Then with a helper I slowly lowered both floor jacks until the engine was sitting on the dollies. I adjusted the position of the dollies as needed while we were lowering the car.
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With the weight of the car now supported by the moving dollies I then removed the two big bolts on both sides of the subframe, next to the catalytic converters.
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Then the 2 bolts, one on each side, on the top, near where the heat shields were.
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Now the 6 nuts on the shock towers, 3 on each side (for the early 348's) get removed. Do not remove the one nut in the cut out, as that holds the shock to the subframe.

After I did that, THEN I went back and finish removing the 12 bolts on the bottom front of the subframe, that I loosened earlier.
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Now I double checked, my triples checks, to MAKE SURE I had EVERYTHING disconnected. Then with a helper we slowly jack the body off the subframe. When you do this do it little by LITTLE. The reason is, as you are lifting the body off you want to feed the engine looms through the fire wall. So you need to lift a little then feed a little, lift a little feed a little, until you have the wiring looms completely out and the body off the subframe. Go SLOWLY!!!
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Then I rotated the engine 90º so I could roll it out. This allows the shock towers to clear the heat shield bracket, and roll out the engine bay.
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That is how I removed the engine from my 348, using 2 floor jacks, STOOGE STLYE!
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That's it for now kids.

I'll be back tomorrow to continue with the thread.

Until then, happy wrenching.

 

Awesome thread Ernie!!!!

 

Thanks Ernie!
This is likely the way I will be removing mine when the time comes.

Larry

 

Waiting for the tensioner bearings to squeal, wow. That is gutsy.

 

Epic thread purely for its improvisation.
Thank you

 

No it doesn't.

I just like having plenty of room to work with. I have learned it saves me aggravation when I have an easier time accessing things. So I am willing to take the extra few minutes to remove the air box.

 

Thanks.

How long did it take you to drop the engine?

 

I have never tried to do a 348 major quickly and have not done one in 10 years. However, the new owner of the bushmobile and I pulled the motor last friday at 9am and had the car running by Monday noon. We still were in no hurry but were steady.

 

Nice work Ernie

Just interested, how high do you need to jack the car up to get the engine out? Was there any issues catching the front spoiler/

 

Very nice Ernie is this your second engine out?

 

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Kai

 

WOW! Your garage will me a mess for a while! Keep on with the pics, great thread!

 

This should be thread of the year. Definitely thread of the month, but I will go as far as best all year.

 

In one day, but it was ALL day.

The thing is it is taking me 4 times as long to do this major because I have been documenting just about everything. Trying to get the best angle so that the picture explains quite a bit. Then if it is out of focus, or if the battery in the camera needs recharging, etcetera, etcetera. If I wasn't documenting it I could do it much faster. But because I know how you guys love "picture books" it's taking me longer.

 

Yup.

 

"I'm just getting warmed up."

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhVxviUIKKQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player]I'm Just Gettin' Warmed Up - YouTube[/ame]

 

Okay, back to the major.

This going to be a MAJOR, major. So I will be pulling the engine off the subframe. Why? Because the bearing for lower cam belt pulley, that runs off the timing chain, needs to be changed. That and so does the chain tensioner pads for the timing, and oil pump chain.

Remember I like having PLENTY of room to work, so I will be removing just about everything from the engine, then putting it on an engine stand.