Need help pulling my 273

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ozley_2000

ozley_2000

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Never done anything like this before. Have a buddy thats going to help but the only motors he has ever pulled has been on VW's. Just looking for a little advice before I start. Not looking to pull the trans. if I don't have to. You guys do this in your sleep! If any one can post some instructions and maybe some pics. that would be sweet.
 
If an automatic, pull starter, lower inspection cover on the transm. so you can access the torque converter bolts, pull them (4) and push back the converter about 1/4", then there will be kick down linkage from the carb which you will have to remove. If a stick shift car there will be a "Z-bar" going from a bracket welded to the chassis going over to a bracket on the transmission which will be able to stay. In both cases you will need to support the front of the transmissions with somt type of blocking or floor jack.

Exh. pipes from the manifolds or you could attempt to pull the bolts from the manifolds to the heads and leave the whole exhaust in the car (I would choose to unbolt the pipes from the manifolds, however when pulling the manifold bolts out of the heads you will find it will leak coolant as the outter bolts go thru into the coolant passages). Pull the plug wires and then the dist. cap, if your intention is to rebuild the engine go ahead and just take the 1 bolt out of the dist. hold down and pull the dist. out for access to the back transmission bolts. All the wiring to alt., senders, ground strap on the rear of the right cyl. head. If it has P/steering, pull the belt then unbolt the P/S pump from the block and lay it off to the side and tie it out of the way. You can leave the carb on or off if you have a chain long enough. I bolt a lifting chain on the front of one head and the rear of the opposite head or I will remove one ft. intake bolt and one opposite rear intake bolt. I believe finally, there are (5) bellhousing bolts if my memory serves me correctly, two
7/16" bolts go from the block into the bellhousing and the other three or four3/8" bolts go from the bellhousing into the block.

Drain coolant, pull hoses, both the (radiator and heater). Then pull the fan and radiator, if it's an automatic you will have to pull the transmission oil cooler lines off the radiator. They will leak trans. oil for a while so be ready.

Forgot to mention marking the hinge area of the hood with like a pencil and pulling the hood off for removal of the engine. Borrow/rent a cherry picker hook it up to your chain already installed, cover the inner fenders with something to protect the paint, unbolt the two engine mounting bolts from underneath the "K" frame, jack up the engine enough to get the engine mount bolts clear of the mounting pads while jacking up the transmission jack the same amount, then you can slide the engine forward away from the transmission, once the flexplate/flywheel is clear of the bellhousing then up she comes.

I will assume it's a pre 70/71 on the motor mounts, the one mount nut on each side I said to pull, if it's a newer 70/71 up there will be a long bolt going thru a rubber biscuit mount, on the bolt you will have to take the nut loose/or off and push the bolt back enough (with some weight off the engine bolts to clear the cut outs in the mount bracket).

Off the top of my head that's all I can think of. Be carefull and have fun!
 
Is it easier to pull the motor and trans. I have a cherry picker. Took a look and the starter looks like a real chore.
 
I've never pulled engine/transmission together. I have however seen other posts here saying it's not bad too do with those engine slings. Some say it's easier to drop it all out the bottom and lift the body up. I've not done that either.

The starter is only held in with two bolts! Come on now. If you have headers I hear it can be a problem.
 
I'm the aformentioned "VW friend".

We had a round with the starter a little bit ago. It won. The top bolt doesn't appear to be readily accessible. The carb linkage and a lot of other stuff was in the way. Perhaps one of you has some tricks to getting it out?

The goal in pulling the engine is to replace the leaking/dilapidated freeze plugs and to replace the starter. We only need to get it out far enough for those tasks. Any input is certainly welcome!

74DC
 
74DartCustom said:
I'm the aformentioned "VW friend".

We had a round with the starter a little bit ago. It won. The top bolt doesn't appear to be readily accessible. The carb linkage and a lot of other stuff was in the way. Perhaps one of you has some tricks to getting it out?

The goal in pulling the engine is to replace the leaking/dilapidated freeze plugs and to replace the starter. We only need to get it out far enough for those tasks. Any input is certainly welcome!

74DC
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Find the right combination of tools...swivel extensions, shorter sockets, bend a wrench into a half moon shape, what have you, to get the bolt. You said you wanted to replace the starter anyway, so it's got to come out. Even if you need to remove the the stuff that's in the way... Starters aren't a forever item. You'll be replacing it again, eventually, so you'll need to figure it out for future reference. Sears should have half moon starter wrenches, if want to go that route. Even a stubby ratcheting wrench should help.

You could pull the tranny while you're at it, but if you're replacing freeze plugs, you'll probably want to do them all and that includes the ones at the back of the block, meaning you'll need to seperate the trans anyway.
 
Keep it simple. Leave the starter on the engine and disconnect the cable. If you can't unhook the cable at the starter unhook it at the battery instead. When your car was assembled, I'm sure the starter was bolted on with the engine out. I think I used a universal socket and a18" extension to get mine out.
toolman
 
Ramenth- THANKS! I think you are right about the half moon wrenches. That will certainly be worth the purchase (Oz- while you are at it, you can snag some pliers!). We are at the head end of the project now. Coolant is draining while we catch dinner with wives who haven't seen us much lately because of A body cars. The battery is disconnected, and the fuel line is soon to follow. Hopefully, we can slide the engine forward enough from the transmission that I won't have to pull the distributer, but as it sits, it is pretty close to the firewall.

How much room should we need to replace the freeze plugs? If the radiator and fan are removed, and the engine is slid straight forward about 6 inches, do you think we might be able to get at them?
 
74DartCustom said:
Ramenth- THANKS! I think you are right about the half moon wrenches. That will certainly be worth the purchase (Oz- while you are at it, you can snag some pliers!). We are at the head end of the project now. Coolant is draining while we catch dinner with wives who haven't seen us much lately because of A body cars. The battery is disconnected, and the fuel line is soon to follow. Hopefully, we can slide the engine forward enough from the transmission that I won't have to pull the distributer, but as it sits, it is pretty close to the firewall.

How much room should we need to replace the freeze plugs? If the radiator and fan are removed, and the engine is slid straight forward about 6 inches, do you think we might be able to get at them?
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No! You have to beat out the old plugs, clean up the bores and beat in new plugs. There are two 1 1/2" or so plugs behind the flex plate and one plug in the back of each head about 3/4". I would plan on lifting it all the way out. My .02
 
Just pulled mine with the transmission attached.
Drain everything on the engine and transmission.
unhook all the lines & electrical. Drop transmission
crossmember out. attach cherry picker to intake bolts
with proper chain. lift everything out in one fell swoop!
I posted some photos on my restoration page,
Doug's 67 Notch built. Good luck.:read2:
 
nothingbutdarts said:
No! You have to beat out the old plugs, clean up the bores and beat in new plugs. There are two 1 1/2" or so plugs behind the flex plate and one plug in the back of each head about 3/4". I would plan on lifting it all the way out. My .02
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You definitely want to separate the engine from the tranny at some point. Look what I found on mine! I could have replaced the side freeze plugs, only to be doing it all over again to replace the rears. The pics you see are the rears, original since 1964!

Barracuda 060.jpg


Barracuda 061.jpg
 
clifftt said:
You definitely want to separate the engine from the tranny at some point. Look what I found on mine! I could have replaced the side freeze plugs, only to be doing it all over again to replace the rears. The pics you see are the rears, original since 1964!
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Exactly. At this point it's called a complete repair. While it's out you'll want to do them all so you won't have to pull it again to do the backs.

nothingbutdarts is right: you've got to hammer 'em out and hammer 'em in, so you'll want to pull it enough to swing a hammer.
 
I pulled and reinstalled my trans and motor completely by myself. Jack up the rear of the car as high as you can get it,let the trans tale go down and the front of the engine come up and pull it like that. I found it much easier to pull the trans and motor all at once rather than separate.... believe me I tried it both ways.
 
74DartCustom said:
I'm the aformentioned "VW friend".

We had a round with the starter a little bit ago. It won. The top bolt doesn't appear to be readily accessible. The carb linkage and a lot of other stuff was in the way. Perhaps one of you has some tricks to getting it out?

The goal in pulling the engine is to replace the leaking/dilapidated freeze plugs and to replace the starter. We only need to get it out far enough for those tasks. Any input is certainly welcome!

74DC
Click to expand...

My local tranny shop dropped my tranny and replaced rear freeze plugs for around $125.00 on my 64 273. They pulled starter when they dropped the tranny. Any chance going to tranny shop near you and handing them the new starter and freeze plugs and see what thye charge.
Even though Darts are my life, ther are some times when it's easier, cheaper, better for a pro to deal with it, just keep an eye on em though!!
Good Luck!8)
 
Thanks to all of you. It is a bit late in the game to go to a tranny shop now. We got most of the stuff disconnected last night. Still need to do the torque converter bolts and engine mounts, then pull it. I could see how dropping the tail of the tranny might help. We may have to do that. I think if the motor slides straight forward a couple of inches, that might be just what we need to start lifting and twisting and so forth to get it out.

Can you guys think of any other maintenance items that we might need to address while the engine is out?
 
74DartCustom said:
Thanks to all of you. It is a bit late in the game to go to a tranny shop now. We got most of the stuff disconnected last night. Still need to do the torque converter bolts and engine mounts, then pull it. I could see how dropping the tail of the tranny might help. We may have to do that. I think if the motor slides straight forward a couple of inches, that might be just what we need to start lifting and twisting and so forth to get it out.

Can you guys think of any other maintenance items that we might need to address while the engine is out?
Click to expand...

Were there any oil leaks? You might want to put a timing chain assy. in it!
 
No major oil leaks but was planning on new valve cover, and oil pan gaskets. Too bad it's raining we are so close to getting the motor out. I did take everyones advice and got brass freeze plugs. Thanks again for all the help.
 
The motor is out and what I have learned is that the small block LA engines just barely fit in those early a-bodies. I'm sure there was an easier way but we had to pull off the exhaust manifold while the motor was slightly elevated to get to the top bolt on the starter. Once that was done we where able to separate the engine from the trans. After that the motor came out pretty easy.

That was last night, Fast forward to today I kicked out a few of the freeze plugs and it look pretty rusty inside I guess that is to be expected. Now I have a few questions First how can I confirm that my car is #'s matching? Second I'm half temped to put in a /6 and keep the 273 out to rebuild. Will a /6 line up with my 3 speed auto trans. and if it does what will I have to do to make the change? Third question can I pull a power searing unit out of a 72 dart and drop it in my 66 cuda?

Last but not least I would like to thank my Friends 74DartCustom and Ptdartfreak for coming over and helping out! :-D
 
Actually, as mechanical endeavors go, I thought it went pretty smoothly!

Lots of fun, dude. You missed out on the rest of the wrenchin' this morning. pdtFreak forgot his old brake booster at my place... I might have to repo it ;) I think his MC needs to be rebuilt.

I still think that your 273 is in good condition without a rebuild. Perhaps a timing chain (as someone else mentioned), and of course the oil pan gasket, valve cover gasket, rear main seal, etc while it is out, but that is honestly just a little bit of work. The timing chain will be an evening, but the rest of it is no big deal.
 
Not sure about the P/S, but...no, a slant won't bolt to your V8 automatic.

Good job on getting the engine out.

I'd also make a suggestion on the block: take all the freeze plugs out, take the drain plugs out (should be a pipe plug on each side of the block) and start flushing it out with a garden hose. A lot of times there's so much sediment in the block that you might need to "scoop" at it with a long pick or a bent coat hanger, but now would be the time to see if you can't get a lot of it out there. Drain the block of as much water as you can after you flush it so it's ready for a 50/50 mix of coolant.

If you're going to keep it out and rebuild it, then you don't need to worry about this. A good hot tank soak will take care if it for you.
 
Ok no /6 thanks for the info. There is a lot of sediment and a good flush and scrapping will definitely be on the check list. I would love to do a rebuild but the car needs to be running ASAP.
 
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