Do's and Don't while tearing down a motor..

[blackshoebox]

Title says it all. I am going to tear down my motor this weekend and wanted to know if there is anything in particular that people do, that can potentially damage anything when removing the whole top-end of the motor(intake, turbo, injectors, etc...)? Also I plan on pulling the heads off the car, but the heads are studded, and the car still has A/C, so will I have to remove the condensor in order to pull the passanger side head, also on the driver side will I have to remove the power master to pull that head?? Any hints or tricks are appriciated!

 

[Way2QWK]

Why not just pull the motor completely out?? It will be a lot easier to work on the motor on a engine stand, than having to lean over the car to work. If your going to tear down the motor to just the short block, you might as well just pull it all the way out, especially since the motor has head studs.

good luck!

 

[KendallF]

Pull it out. You'll spend a lot more time trying to pull the A/C box than you will getting the motor out. If you have the newer ARP studs, they have a hex in the ends so you can remove them. I still don't think there's room to remove the rear studs though without some fiddling. You can't really do a good job of torqueing the heads in the car either, especially with studs, IMO.

 

[StageII86]

exactly what they said...

-OR- just pull the heater core out once and for all

If anything more than my lower intake is coming off, I always just pull the whole thing on out.

Its also alot easier to button up the accessories and upper intake stuff with it out of the car.

 

[Louie L.]

Like the guys said, pull the motor out. It looks like a lot of work but half way into pulling just the heads youll say " i shoulda pulled the motor" One more thing if you are not familiar with all the bolts their looks and proper places make sure you label every bolts or at least separate into specific groups.

 

[Phatman]

Originally posted by Louie L.
Like the guys said, pull the motor out. It looks like a lot of work but half way into pulling just the heads youll say " i shoulda pulled the motor" One more thing if you are not familiar with all the bolts their looks and proper places make sure you label every bolts or at least separate into specific groups.

Zip lock bags and a sharpie, if your like me, you never know when your few day project may turn into a few month project. It's easy to forget after a couple of weeks....

ps.. don't forget something cold to drink!!!

 

[N.W. Buick]

One thing that I did on my car before pulling the cam was to put
a coat of wax on the fenders and front end to keep it from being scratched. Worked really good except the blankets kept sliding
off.

I also vote for the idea of bagging/labeling everthing I know that
if I wouln't have I'd be going "durrrr" where this go?

Mike

 

[Vendor Defendor]

Alex, if you were to pull the motor i have an engine lift and engine stand that you could possibly borrow...

-Neil

 

[Low Budget]

Originally posted by Phatman
Zip lock bags and a sharpie, if your like me, you never know when your few day project may turn into a few month project. It's easy to forget after a couple of weeks....

Me too on the bags. Just how I did mine.

My project started one spring, and didn't resume until the following spring.

Get a digital camera and take lots of pictures too. You'll be glad you did later. Too much for me to remember without them.

 

[49-blues]

Kendallf-would you happen to know the arp part # for the studs with the hex ends?

 

[KendallF]

Originally posted by 49-blues
Kendallf-would you happen to know the arp part # for the studs with the hex ends?

It'll vary depending on which heads and block you're using. Here's ARP's application chart. I believe (but haven't verified by ordering every one) that all of their studs are now cut with the hex in the end.

 

[Alan Witter]

Originally posted by N.W. Buick
One thing that I did on my car before pulling the cam was to put
a coat of wax on the fenders and front end to keep it from being scratched. Worked really good except the blankets kept sliding
off.

I also vote for the idea of bagging/labeling everthing I know that
if I wouln't have I'd be going "durrrr" where this go?

Mike

My $0.02:

Pull the engine.

Along with blankets slipping, the other aggravation is having whatever you are standing on slipping. I have the car on jack stands so as to remove the necessary stuff underneath. That necessitates standing on something. I was constantly being dumped on my stomach on the fenders, so I now put a cinder block on its side under each front wheel and let the front wheels rest on them. I wired a plastic milk crate to each cinderblock so I can stand on the carton and it is anchored. Big help to me. Good luck.

 

[1badTTA]

Ziplock and sharpie works great, but I prefer to thread bolts back into the hole they came out of if at all possible. Takes a few extra minutes when you are taking it apart, but saves alot more than that when you are reassembling it at a later date. HTH