I had take my front tires off because of the height needed to get the combo out. I guess garage ceilings are 8ft. But I can't remember what I used? 99% sure, jack stands as low as possible. The legs on the lift I had were too wide to go in between the front whatever but it went to the sides close enough that there wasn't any problems. I put the rear tires on ramps too. That helped. High in the rear and low for the front.

The first time I did mine by myself I was super nervous but it's real easy. Don't forget the speedo cable, be careful with the hood rod holder. Most everyone tapes a WD-40 cap over them. I have a motorcycle jack that's pretty much a transmission jack. I put it under the transmission so it rolled foward as I lifted the motor. Made it a little easier.

Good luck.

Edited December 19, 20213 yr by siteunseen

2 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

I had take my fronts tires off because of the height needed to get the combo out. I guess garage ceilings are 8ft. But I can't remember what I used? 99% sure, jack stands as low as possible. The legs on the lift I had were too wide to go in between the front whatever but it went to the sides close enough that there wasn't any problems.

The first time I did mine by myself I was super nervous but it's real easy. Don't forget the speedo cable, be careful with the hood rod holder. Most everyone tapes a WD-40 cap over them. I have a motorcycle jack that's pretty much a transmission jack. I put it under the transmission so it rolled foward as I lifted the motor. Made it a little easier.

Good luck.

Now that you mention it, I do remember taking the front wheels off and lowering the car to get more clearance.

I've had the thought that tying the springs down with spring compressors before lifting would stop the front end from rising, to give space.  I didn't need it though, I was lifting from the rafters using a chain hoist.  But it might be worth a shot if you know space will be tight.

Safely removed! Just need to get some longer bolts to get it on the engine stand since the stock ones look like they are too small. 

Only one hiccups, forgot to remove the shift knob so I tore the rubber gasket which pissed me off becuase I just replaced it. Anyone have a photo of their shift lever? Trying to make sure I didn't bend it, but this thing has more curves then some women I have dated so it'd hard to tell :p

 

3 hours ago, siteunseen said:

I had take my front tires off because of the height needed to get the combo out. I guess garage ceilings are 8ft. But I can't remember what I used? 99% sure, jack stands as low as possible. The legs on the lift I had were too wide to go in between the front whatever but it went to the sides close enough that there wasn't any problems. I put the rear tires on ramps too. That helped. High in the rear and low for the front.

The first time I did mine by myself I was super nervous but it's real easy. Don't forget the speedo cable, be careful with the hood rod holder. Most everyone tapes a WD-40 cap over them. I have a motorcycle jack that's pretty much a transmission jack. I put it under the transmission so it rolled foward as I lifted the motor. Made it a little easier.

Good luck.

Thanks @siteunseen. Was definitely nervous. I didn't put it on chassis stands. Instead I raised it up with some wheel stands just enough to get the legs of the lift under. Can send a picture in a bit but it worked well. 

@Patcon I wish I had capped the coolant in the back of the engine. Put an old crappy carpet under the engine to catch the fluids as it got lifted, but it drained down the transmission just past the edge of the damn carpet lol. 

It be tough to bend one I think but here's the different ones.

Congratulations, you're a bonafide Z mechanic now. I wonder if you'll get a Badge? 

You could lower the motor on an old tire to be safe until you get your bolts.

Thanks @siteunseen. Its a life long dream to do it so it feels great. 

I have it resting on two wooden stands under the bolts that connect the oil pan to the block. I don't have any junk tires at the moment, but will get it on the engine stand in the next 2-3 hours.

5 hours ago, siteunseen said:

Congratulations, you're a bonafide Z mechanic now. I wonder if you'll get a Badge? 

Not quite yet. The Badge isn't awarded until spindle pins are pulled.

On 12/19/2021 at 8:45 PM, Jeff G 78 said:

Not quite yet. The Badge isn't awarded until spindle pins are pulled.

I already removed 1 of 2. What a harrowing adventure. I will buy the spindle pin tool next time since my "walk the pin out using 1234353245234645324 stacked washers" technique ended in tears. Ends up that tightening and loosening hardware a few hundred times under load is not good for the threads, who knew. 😛 

18 minutes ago, Muzez said:

I already removed 1 of 2. What a harrowing adventure. I will buy the spindle pin tool next time since my "walk the pin out using 1234353245234645324 stacked washers" technique ended in tears. Ends up that tightening and loosening hardware a few hundred times under load is not good for the threads, who knew. 😛 

Yeah, the washers put all the stress on the threads.  The pullers lock the pin to the puller and the puller takes all the abuse.  I made my own using acme threads and a S30 front strut top bearing and it works great.  

7 minutes ago, Jeff G 78 said:

Yeah, the washers put all the stress on the threads. 

Yeah. It was like the second thing I did on my car with 0 knowledge about car maintenance or restoration. I thought to myself, this thing only has 30k miles, it will be way better than everyone else. Mistake lol. 

8 minutes ago, Jeff G 78 said:

 I made my own using acme threads and a S30 front strut top bearing and it works great.  

If have a moment sometime over the holiday break to PM me a picture, would love to see it. I need to do the other spindle pin at some point but the immense feeling of dread keeps that at the end of my to-do list.