Shifty101Easy

im going with my friend to pick up his project car tomorrow and we were fantasizing about the improvements we could make to both of our projects and the idea of detailing the engine and engine compartment came up....

we were thinking about going half-half on a engine hoist and engine stand as we could get both for about $165 so u can do the math but thats not too much...i've pulled an engine or two with the auto shop teacher a few years ago but im just curious if you guys think couple guys with minimal experience could pull my 302, replace some stuff like valve covers, clean it up, repaint it and put it back in without too much trouble??? as far as i can tell and ive seen, its not all that complicated pulling a 302 because of the simplicty of these old carberated engines...

it wouldnt be for a while but im just thinking ahead...and the opprotunity to buy the shop equipment is now...so anyways...thanks for any help.

72rustang

It's not that big of a deal, it really isn't. Especially if you have already done this before under supervision. I won't list the steps here because I'm sure I'll forget one or two, such as positioning a jack under the trans when you go to unbolt it. If there is nothing to support the trans it will thud to the floor once the motor is disconnected. Not good. I've recommended Tom Monroe's book "How To Rebuild Small-Block Ford Engines" before, and I'll recommend it again... he spells out very clearly how to remove a motor, and doesn't miss a trick.

I was in the same boat as you 5 years ago, needed to pull the motor to replace a bad freeze plug that was conveniently located immediately above a motor mount. Neither me nor my friend had ever pulled a motor out before but it went smoothly. I used a lift plate which you can get from Summit Racing or the like. You take the carb off, then bolt the plate to the manifold and lift via the plate. I had no problems doing this despite the fact that my intake manifold is aluminum.

In the pic below we used an engine leveller, but it wasn't really necessary. Since this one my friend and I have removed and replaced the motor in his 1966 Coronet and we also did the same for another guy's old Fairlane, without using a leveller. I think the hardest part of the job is getting the hood back on right. Depending on how you feel about doing this, it's a good idea to drill some holes thru the hinges and the hood before taking the hood off. There is some flex / twist to the hinges so I'd say drill 4 holes, one near each hinge bolt. When we pulled the mustang's motor out I only drilled two holes and the hood realignment did not go so easy. If you drill 4 and then realign the holes (use some nails or drill bits or whatever) your hood should then bolt up almost exactly in its original location.

About the only other big point I'll mention, if it's an auto tranny, you need to take some bright touch up paint or a sharpie or something and mark one hole on the flexplate and the corresponding stud on the torque converter, before you start unbolting the motor from the convertor. The flexplate needs to reattach to the convertor exactly the same way it came off, so you need to make this mark. I have never removed a motor from a car with a manual tranny, but that is covered in Monroe's book as well. Again there are a number of more steps but I'd refer you to the book mentioned above. Also, write down every step you take, in the order you take it... makes reinstallation go a lot smoother.

Here is a pic with 2 rookies removing a motor. That is my friend Todd in the pic, apparently looking for the motor. And taped to the wall is a summary of "how to remove and replace a engine" as outlined in Monroe's book.



[IMG]local://upfiles/47054/FC0988739FB74915805532A8660FD27C.jpg[/IMG]

72rustang

Ooops, I'll amend this part. If your car has an AT, then you will be turning the motor over by hand, via a socket on the crankshaft pulley, in order to access the flexplate / convertor bolts in turn. A better way to do this marking, I think, is to wait until the motor is out of the car. Once the motor is out, just mark the bottom hole of the flexplate and the corresponding location on the convertor. If you do not turn the motor over any more while it is out of the car, then just drop it back in there and you will be assured of the flexplate and convertor being lined up correctly.

This is why I suggest buying the book. I forget details like this, but the book does not.

KStang65

It's definitely easy to pull these engines. I pulled my 289 out of my '65 a couple days ago with no assistance.

I pulled the engine only and left the transmission in the car since I didn't have a helper.

The hardest part I had was with the headers. One of the previous owners must have hit a massive pothole with the front passenger wheel. The upper control arm had hit the shock tower cover so hard that it bend the lip up about an inch. It pushed the shock tower and fender aprons in about 1/2 inch in the middle. This caused the headers to have almost no clearance.

Anyway, I got the engine out very easily once the header was out of the way and was able to push the shock tower and fender aprons back into place with a well positioned bottle jack. All measurements check out luckily and detailing of the engine compartment and rebuilding of the engine can now begin.

I also have Tom Monroe's book "How To Rebuild Small-Block Ford Engines" and it's great.

Once thing I did differently than 72rustang is I bolted the chains to the front and backs of the cylinder heads since I didn't have a lifting plate.

atomsk680

what kinda car?

Lucafu1

i pulled the engine and tranny connected by my self a few months back, you two should not have a problem.

4reboy

Yea you should be fine, pretty simple stuff (I'm 16, and am learning.) My dad and I pulled my 351w and did a complete detail of the engine bay. We went as **** as removing the brakebooster and brake lines. We bought a sandblaster and new compressor and took down the multiple layers of painted over greese off the bay and it turned out great. Next step was painting it with a HVLP spray gun using first self-etching primer (protects from rust), couple layers of sandable laquer primer, and then some laquer based semi-flat black paint. It looks really really good and when we pop the engine back in (freshly rebuilt and painted) hopefully this week it will look even better.

If you want to ask any questions what so ever, I'll be glad to help with what I can. Either PM me or email me at 4reboy@gmail.com. But most of all, have fun, and good luck!

Shifty101Easy

yeah...i wish i had the equipment already though....such as sand blaster, air compressor, etc......makes it sorta hard to get committed when there so much uncertainty in if its going to be do-able myself...although, it does sound pretty simple at this point.....the only thing id be worried about is the lining up the flex plate or whatever......

4reboy

well if you can't get a sandblaster and watnot (it creates a huge mess too) you can always resort to hand sanding with combination of wire wheel or other paint removing drill attachments. pressure washers work ok as well for part of it. It depends on how many layers are in ur engine bay, how much grease etc. It might not be that bad, therefore making ur job extremely easier.

and you can always do some spray can primer followed with some semi-flat or flat black paint (in my opinion this is what you should use). It still leaves a fantastic finish, even froma spray can. Just ur finger might be killing you after haha!

Just remember that whatever you see/feel in the primer WILL show up in final paint. focus on the areas mainly visible, like the firewall shock towers, and the more upper sides of the inner fenders. But i strongly recomend just taking it all down to bare metal. You won't have to do it again for a loooooonggg time.

72rustang

That's not really a big deal either. Buy Monroe's book and read thru the engine removal section a few times. He spends 13 pages describing removal of a 302 from a 1968 mustang, has a ton of pictures, etc. etc. Most everything should be very familiar after you read that section a few times. You can remove the engine yourself but it's a little easier if you have someone else there to finagle the engine around as needed and prevent it from hitting anything.

As for paint removal, sure, media blasting is a mess but it is effective. You may find you spend more time removing the media from all of the nooks and crannies in your engine bay than you actually spend doing the blasting.

When I painted my car I removed most of the old paint by chemical means. I used something called Tal-Strip that you can get at Advance. If you choose to go this route, wear rubber gloves and take your time applying it. You most definitely don't want any of this stuff in your eyes. Even if you get a drop of it on your forearm you will be making a beeline for the nearest faucet. Best to keep a bucket of water on hand. I got like 95% of the original paint and the (crappy) repaint off this way, then used a wire wheel for the rest. Might be tough to use the chemical stuff in an engine bay though, too many tight spots / weird angles. I have not detailed / painted the engine bay yet... I painted the car itself first since after 18 months I was sick of driving around a car that was half green and half primer.