Pulling the engine

[Droff]

I have a *plan* to pull the 350 out of my Monte, clean up the engine bay, clean up the motor, install a new intake and carb with possibly a set of headers.

Which would be the easier route, pulling the 350 transmission with it, or leaving the transmission in the car?

I'm not all that experienced going either route...

Thanks.

[Boots]

I would say pull both,  as there is lots of room, and you can clean the trans while you're at it....I fwiw

[Leghome]

I have done it both ways. This last time we pulled the motor without the tranny and my son in-law thought it was easier. No mess from the trans fluid but the trans cooler lines were somewhat in the way but not bad. I would pul both if I was to do it again so I could detail the engine bay better. I made a bracket out of a 2 X 2 to hold the front of the tranny up so as no to put to much strain on the tranny mount.

[GatorDog72]

I pulled them together out of my car, but it wasn't easy. My engine hoist didn't have a long enough boom to reach in far enough, so I took the fender off for easier access. 

[footballubet]

I've done it both ways but you need to make sure the boom can reach as Ryan said. Go slow and keep an eye peeled for anything not disconnected and you'll be fine. The trans fluid will pour out the tailshaft if you don't plug it or drop the pan and drain it.

[Murphy]

I have to say "WHY" Drew............I had the same plans a couple years ago but was uncertain about pulling the motor and/or tranny also. So I went about it another way, removed the hood, inner wheel wells, exhaust system and holy smokes........there's enough room for a small family! I also pulled the distributor, battery, alternator, and radiator after a few weekends and a bunch of new parts, you can see the transformation. I cleaned & painted everything!

[Droff]

I have to say "WHY" Drew............I had the same plans a couple years ago but was uncertain about pulling the motor and/or tranny also. So I went about it another way, removed the hood, inner wheel wells, exhaust system and holy smokes........there's enough room for a small family! I also pulled the distributor, battery, alternator, and radiator after a few weekends and a bunch of new parts, you can see the transformation. I cleaned & painted everything!

 

I've considered this as well with no real good reason to discount it. I need to remove the hood anyway so that's part of the solution already - I need a new hood.

My thought process was pulling the drivetrain will be more work initially but would make the following work easier in the long run - cleaning, installing intake, headers, etc.

You can't make changes if you don't have a plan, thanks for the input Murray.

[Droff]

The trans fluid will pour out the tailshaft if you don't plug it or drop the pan and drain it.

 

At one time I thought I ran across a piece that slips into the transmission to plug the tailshaft location to avoid this. Any suggestions for this?

[Leghome]

They do make those plugs. Check Summit Racing or Jegs

[cbolt]

Harbor Freight also sells the plugs, which is where I got mine. Cheap and they work. Also you can use an old yoke if you have a spare to keep the fluid from running out the tailshaft. I'm for pulling the engine. It makes everything easy to reach, you can sit inside the engine bay to clean it all up, and an engine on a stand is a breeze to work on. I have also done it both ways, pull both the motor and trans and pulled just the motor, and have to say its about the same difficulty level for either one. For your first one I would say pull both together. That will make it easy to mate the motor and trans when its time to drop it back into the car. Either way, good luck! If you like that kind of stuff you will have fun, learn a lot, and have a great looking finished product.