[Sensei69]

OK folks, anothe one. Which is easier and less damaging. Install the engine and then the tranny, or both together? Any tips? Would be easier I think to do both together, but don't want to scratch up the engine compartment. Comments???

Thanks

Steve:1zhelp:

 

[clevelandcougar]

I put my Cleveland and C6 in together, but it had it's tricky moments.

 

[timmy]

I did my 390 and C6 seperately because I didn't have enough
height in my shop to get it that high. Mine was put in after all the body work and paint, we just were extra careful and used lots of cardboard.

 

[Cougrrcj]

Important things to remember!!!!

Make sure your cherry picker can handle that much weight!!!

The engine/trans combination will weigh around 750lbs for a small block/c4, 850lbs for Cleveland/C6 and 950lbs for a big block/C6.

It is not just the weight of the lift, but how stable it will be, too!

If you have to swing the engine around with it waaaay up in the air to clear the radiator support, that makes the whole thing very tippy. The heaviest lift install I ever did was a 429/C6 into my old full size wagon, but I didn't have the heads or intake installed on the engine! That was pretty scary especially since I was doing it all by myself. It was no fun trying to muscle the trans tailshaft up to the more correct angle as I was lowering the engine down onto its mounts. With two people it would have been better, but you also have to be careful that the car itself is on jackstands because you don't want to have the engine come crashing down for whatever reason and the sudden weight on the car to lower it and crush someone.

Length of lifting arm

Most cherry pickers I have seen or rented don't really have a long enough lifting arm to grab as far back as you'll need to to lift an engine/trans combo. We have an extension that we bolt on to the arm for lifting engine/trans together. The problem is that the original arm itself might not be strong enough to be able to handle the added moment arm (leverage) of the weight that far out from the ram. We added additional truss-type bracing to Terry's cherry picker.

If you will look at the weight ratings of the cherry pickers that have the extendable arms, you'll see that the weight rating goes down significantly with the longer lift arm.

 

[dark7068]

if you put both in at once, get a load leveller, it will help out allot.

Rick

 

[Royce Peterson]

I like putting the tranny in first then the motor. I have done it both ways and the whole mess on the end of a chain is hard to deal with and scary.

 

[Bruce]

Putting them in separately is more work, but easier to do and is less likely to scratch the firewall and shock towers. To put them in together you have to lift it over the radiator support, tilt the tranny down, then lower as you tilt the engine/tranny back level. Unless you have two or three helpers doing it this way, something invariably gets scratched.

 

[Sensei69]

Thanks all. Gonna go the safe route. Hopefully will have pics this weekend.

 

[428cj]

i recomend to do it seperatly. Indeed you will have more space to save the engine-bay paint !!

 

[boilermaker]

question on a similar note. I've got a C6 behind my 390 with headers. I have heard the installation with headers is tricky. gonna be putting it in sometime this spring, anybody with some experience with this combo?
thanks, bmaker

 

[gt390xr7]

One word.TIGHT!! My 67 is a 390 C6 car with long tube headers.You will most likely have to massage the tubes at the shock towers. (I did).I still get some contact on hard acceleration. And I won't mention the leaks and gasket changes..But still the sound and grunt is worth it. I want headers on my 70...

Bruce

 

[boilermaker]

I have heard more than one person say that the headers have to be set in the engine compartment before the engine goes in...put the engine in part way, loosely bolt on the headers, drop the engine in the rest of the way, then fully tighten the header bolts down. do you know any other way that's easier?
bmaker

 

[gt390xr7]

Not easier, but different. Mine went in from under. We removed the steering linkage and cross member and jacked up the engine enough to squeeze in the headers... Tons of fun!!!

Bruce