1970 K member!
Then even easier, one nut inside the mount per side.
you can leave the crossmember in. The engine/tranny will slide forward enough to get the tail of the tranny past the crossmember. You'll need to remove the bolts to the transmission mount. Use a small hydraulic jack to guide the tailshaft of the tranny over the crossmember. You can drop the crossmember down as well, many do it that way too. That's only 4 bolts as well. Either way
Will the tail shaft slam down as it’s drawn out a loosened crossmember if I don’t support it? I will need to have the front end down on the wheels when I start lifting and pulling the motor forward so I won’t have access under the trans.
my experience is it wants to stay glued to the transmission tunnel. I've never had one slammed down.
Are you saying as the trans gets withdrawn from the crossmember while hooked to the cherry picker it will stay modestly vertical id the leveler is set right?
This is what I am trying to decide. Its more of an install issue getting the two lined up and mated correctly.
have you taken into account the body raising do to the weight of the engine being removed from it
The cherry picker is more or less centered on the engine even the leveler only moves that point back 8-10 inches and the trans sticks out far behind the engine. So I would expect the trans tail shaft to want to go down. you could put some padding on the ground under the tail shaft and lower it down on the padding with the engine slightly lifted to reduce binding on any posts of the mounts. this assumes you remove the rear trans crossmember
It will want to tilt as you lift it out of the car. I just get the motor mounts off the K-frame, then I slide the engine/tranny ahead. That's when I use one of those small 24.99 floor jacks on wheels to help the tail shaft over the crossmember. Don't need a lot of pressure or anything, just get it to clear.
I do it myself a lot of times. Nice if you have an extra set of hands. I DON'T want 4 people around... LOL. Just look and be careful. Keep wiring and exhaust out of the way, even if you need to use a bungy or zip tie. Leave the starter on, just disconnect the wires of course.
Thanks can you elaborate on the flexplate to converter alignment please?
My flex-plate is the 0 balance type for internally balanced engines and torque converters. Its a star pattern with 4 bolts.
the bolt holes are not perfectly square. it will only bolt one way. Just use a paint marker and mark the converter and flexplate so you will get it right the first time on assembly.
