Getting ready to pull my 351W. Help.

[jshel1]

Don,
Do Bob's "wiggle" to get it loose and if you feel that you still need a nudge or a pry, use a 2x4 as a pry bar between the block and some place on the frame to leverage the engine apart from the bell housing.

Be sure to remove the dampener or pad it.

Another 2-3 people couldn't hurt. More merriment to celebrate once your done.

John

[SSSammy]

Don, I think you'll get it out ok. Have someone to help steady the engine as it pops out of the bellhousing .. else you may bang your frame, or body. Put a blanket in front of it, covering the frame, remove the crank pulley. That will give you another inch of forward clearance. I think you need about 4" or more of forward clearance before you hit the frame to be able to do this.

Getting it back in is trickier. I have had a hell of a time with those plastic alignment tools. They tend to sag a little bit with the weight of the clutch plate. Some pros use an actual trans input shaft from a junk trans to align the clutch before tightening the pressure plate down. If you use the plastic tool, maybe you can have an assistant hold it horizontal while you tighten the pressure plate.

When you are trying to mate them back up, make sure trans is in neutral so the input shaft can turn a little as you shove them together. You will probably need a big 2x4 lever to get enough horizontal force on them to push them home.

Sam

[donraye]

Hi All, I have disconnected everything and am ready to pull it when I can talk a friend or two over to help keep anything form getting away from me, just in case.
The last 2 questions I have are:
1: Should I leave the transmission in gear or in neutral before the pull it and for the install of the 408?
2: I have a cable clutch linkage not hydraulic. Do I need to disconnect anything there or can I just leave it as is, since there are no connections to the block. There is just the cable going into a box/cover on the side of the bellhousing. One of the books I have say I can just leave it alone and do not need to disconnect it for the pull. Is that correct?

Other than those two questions/items I am ready.
Don

[SSSammy]

Tranny in neutral, especially when re-mating to the clutch later.

If you are leaving the bellhousing attached to the tranny, the throwout bearing and the mechanism will remain on the tranny input shaft when the clutch plate/pressure plate/flywheel separate with the block. All things being equal, you should not have to touch it .. and don't fiddle with it after the engine is out.

Caveat: if you are replacing the worn clutch plate with a new one while it is out of the car, you may need to adjust the throwout bearing clearance or free play in the linkage when it goes back together. This is to compensate for the increased thickness of the new clutch plate.

Sam