Getting ready to pull my 351W. Help.

[jshel1]

I have a couple of videos of in and out on my web page. They were made for fun and not meant to be instructional, but you may be able to pick up something from viewing them and the photos.

Strongly suggest removing transmission and hood.
You will need a more specialized lift to come from the front. Side has always worked very well for T.I.T/T.E.E.T (Install/Extraction).
Best to have another person to help stabilize/crank/roll the lift.

We always have a large group and make a party out of it.

[donraye]

OK all, I had decided on doing the pull the way Bob Cowan and Clois Harlan have advised by simply prying the bellhousing off the engine and pulling the engine as a separate unit.
But then when all was decided at last some other guys said that I would have a LOT of trouble mating the bellhousing back to the new engine when it came time to do the install with it still in the car. @(_^$@#^(+! So now I have no idea what to do AGAIN!
Would anyone please chime in here about the mating of the engine back up to the bellhousing with the bellhousing/clutch/tranny still in the car/frame? I need to get this done soon and really need your help with this newest wrinkle in the plan.
Thanks, Don

[Dwight]

Don,
use a plastic $8 clutch alignment tool to align your clutch plate so it will make installing the trannie easier. You need to put a yoke in the rear of the trannie to keep the fluid from leaking out and you can turn the yoke to help align the trannie gears with the splines in the clutch as you reinstall the motor. Sometime everything is lined up and it snaps together and sometime it's difficult. Pulling the motor with or without the trannie will work and you don't what is the easy till you finish. If you have someone to help, it will make it a lot easier.

Do it your way and next time you will have the experience to do it different if you want to.

Have fun

It a hobby and should be fun, most of the time.

See ya on the road

Dwight

[jshel1]

Don,

I second Dwight. You NEED the clutch alignment tool definitely.

With a seasoned pilot bearing already in place and no change of either block or bell housing, the transmission will mate with the clutch like butter. There transmission and bell housing will go together with a nice clap. I seasoned my pilot bearing on a virgin install and it was as described above... NO cinching down of bolts between bell housing and tranny necessary, none.

In fact, we (TIT) have never installed one already mated... always transmission in first, then engine.
Also, remove the hood & go from the side.

[donraye]

[quote=jshel1;905118]Don,

I second Dwight. You NEED the clutch alignment tool definitely.

With a seasoned pilot bearing already in place and no change of either block or bell housing, the transmission will mate with the clutch like butter. There transmission and bell housing will go together with a nice clap. I seasoned my pilot bearing on a virgin install and it was as described above... NO cinching down of bolts between bell housing and tranny necessary, none.

In fact, we (TIT) have never installed one already mated... always transmission in first, then engine.
Also, remove the hood & go from the side.[/QUOTE

Thanks! You, Dwight, Bob Cowan and Clois Harlan have been a God send to me in getting ready to do this! All you're (and their) help as well as all the other kind replies to this thread are highly appreciated and I'd be lost without them.
When I talked to Clois Harlan by PM he said that one reason he pulled his engine (twice just this year!) in this way, was that he did not like having to disconect the hydraulic clutch line and then have to bleed it later on the install. That's why he just pried the bellhousing loose from the engine and then pulled it.
I love that idea but am still unclear about one thing being new to this task.
Will I have to pull the transmission from the bellhousing before I can disconnect the bellhousing from the motor? Or can I leave the tranny/bellhousing in the frame as an un-disturbed unit and pry the engine away from the bellhousing after removing the bellhousing to engine bolts and putting tension on the engine with the hoist and then unbolting the engine mounts? (providing of course that all the other engine periferals are already disconnected and clear).
The way Clois talked about his pulls I got the impression he never disconnected anything between the bellhousing and the tranny but rather just disconnected the bolts that hold the bellhousing to the engine then pryed it away to pull it. Is that correct?
Once I understand that part I think I am ready to go to it at last.
Don