In best way I mean, reducing chance of smashing stuff/chipping paint and ease of lining up parts.

I have engine hoist.

1. Transmission first then motor

2. Motor first then transmission

3. Motor and transmission together (I did this before with a friend but I am thinking it may be challenging for 1 person.)

Tranny first....engine second. Remember to support front of tranny. Either way, two people are really much better. When aligning the motor to tranny, you may need to turn flywheel slightly to align transmission spline.

I always install the engine first and bolt it in. I use a regular floor jack and balance the trans on it and jack it up. From there I pretty much just muscle it into place. I've done it many, many times. If you were closer I'd give you a hand.

Chuck

Thanks guys!

So which way was the best? I'm facing the same dilemma.

I did it once with the trans still in the car. I find it easier to have the engine bolted in place and then put the trans in. I have no trouble doing it that way by myself but if you haven't done it before you'll find it easier to have a couple friends help. Have two people under the car to put the trans in and another up top checking the trans to engine gap to make sure it's not going in at an angle.

Chuck

So which way was the best? I'm facing the same dilemma.

Dealers choice. I've done it both ways and it really is a 2 man job either way. If you put the engine in first, make sure you support the engine so it doesn't "hang" on the rubber motor mounts. If you put the tranny in first, support the tranny, so it doesn't hang on it's mount. There are difficulties with each method....either will work.

Edited May 25, 201212 yr by Diseazd

I just removed and installed my motor only, but I have pulled and placed the motor and tranny at the same time.

I was worried about aligning the ngine with the tranny still in the car, but I took measurements so I knew when the input shaft and crank should have been lined up. It is a bear to push the engine against the tranny, but my time under the car was very minor and no struggling on my back.

One person can do either job-hope you have an engine hoist leveler!

If I had everything out of the car, I think I would want to put the engine and tranny together in front of me where I can see what I'm doing better.

Edited May 25, 201212 yr by madkaw

I R&R complete engines and transmissions all by myself all the time - takes about 2 hours to remove and 1 hour to install. Lots of cheap furniture pads from U-Haul and masking tape protects paint very well.

If you install the engine and transmission as an assembly, make sure that you have madkaw's load leveler. The hardest part for me when when I did mine was getting the tail of the transmission up on to its mount. It's heavy. You have to drop it in with the tail down to get it in the hole. If you don't have a load leveler, you can lift the tail up through the shifter hole with a rope after it's in. I learned that through one of the forums, later, after I spent an hour getting it done from underneath. There's no room to get under it to lift it in to place from underneath the car, unless the car is up on some very high jack stands. And the motor mounts won't align well, unless the tail is up where it belongs.

Also, , if you decide to do it in two stages, from what I've read on the forums, head bolts are the same thread as the transmission bolts. You can cut the heads off and use them as alignments studs or just stick them through the holes while you're trying to align to get an extension from the hole to the engine. It's good to get everything aligned before the splines and pilot shaft make contact. If I was doing another, I might even mount a mirror above the engine where I could see the gap so I could stay under the car while aligning.

Who knows, I might have read some of these on your Tech Tips page...

Edited May 25, 201212 yr by Zed Head

If I put my intake and header on while the engine is on a stand I think it would be better to install tranny 1st then drop the motor in. I've also read to remove the steering rod for header clearence. Thanks for the advice.

I think you'll find it easier to install the engine first if you have the intake and exhaust already on. You'll have less room to wiggle the engine around if the trans is alreay in there. I recently installed my engine, then transmission and then header/intake on my race car. I installed the engine and trans by myself. It was very easy.

Chuck