Engine Pull

[stealthregal]

I have two 96 Luminas, one of which has a cooked engine and the other has a bad tranny. I want to make one good car out of the two. I do not have ramps to drop the engine/tranny out on the cradle. I plan on pulling both out through the top. Does anyone have a good procedure for this process? What else should I take care of while the engine is out? I was going to do plugs and the thermostat. I noticed that one of the power steering hoses is oily so I might have to track that down. Any suggestions, ideas?

[bszopi]

http://60degreev6.com/showthread.php?t=33885

Are we talking 3100 or DOHCs? This will decide what else needs to be done while its out.

[stealthregal]

Woops, I forgot that important piece of info. The car has a 3.1 in it.

[napatiger]

my 2cents....

drop both cradles.

don't need ramps, just a good jack (+stands) and a 4"x4" stud, and be CAREFULL

Can use a funiture dolly, take off rims, lower car (cradle) onto dolly, remove bolts and all the other shit, drop engine, raise car really high, slide out engine sideways through wheelwell.

[stealthregal]

Ok, if I do drop the cradle out, what do I use as a jack point in the front? When I jack the car up, I normally use the cradle as the jack point. Would the area under the rocker panel just behind the wheel well be alright?

[napatiger]

You have to be on a smooth surface (garage).

Slow operation, need a good jack with no fade (check hydrolic fluid).

Jackstands wont go all the way up, just use them as a safety catch on the body pinch (sides)

Jack car up as much as possible the stands will raise, then lower jack, add 4x4's in a cross pattern to raise 4x4 to bottom of car. Then you will jack up the car with the max lift. It is a little scarey and not for the timid. I would not drink too much beer. I actually prolly had a shot of tequila the first time.

Go in small stages (3") at a time and see how stable you are before going that last 12" w/o jackstand protection

I have done it like that 4 times and can pull both engines in a day.

I made my dolly from casters and 4x4's 2x4s. Most furniture dollys are too small. I should post a pic.

remove all you can before, last will be the steering and downpipe.

Nice that the axles and shit come out at the same time. I did it with the 3.4 DO\HC because it was soo hard for me to assemble the trans to the engine while in the car. Since you have two engines, seems to be best to romove both cradles and work on it that way cause you have access to the entire deal.

Will be hard to do it to two cars and have space for the cradles in one garage.

Good Luck.