engine removal, where to hook chain?

mikec35

Member
Jul 6, 2004
233
2
19
NC
Going to remove my 351w this weekend. I do not have an intake plate. If I buy some 3/8" grade 8 bolts, the ones that fit in the front of the head, will they be strong enough to lift the motor. Thinking of running one chain bolted to the lower front drivers side head across to the lower back of the passenger side head. Will this work or does anyone have a better suggestion? thx.. Mike
 
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i used a balance thing when i took mine out. I bolted the L bracket's to the top of my intake manifold with some grade 5 bolts and it worked perfect. It helps quite a bit when removing the engine.

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bolts in the end of the heads will work (assuming you have firewall clearance), exhaust manifold/header bolts work well also, as do intake manifold bolts. 5/16 bolts are adequate, though they might bend, they won't break, only about 250/300lbs shear acting on them, well within the safety zone for a bolt in good condition.
 
Shoot, back in the day, we didn't have any fancy lifting plates or balancers and we'd pull 302's with the C4 attached with just a chain on the front driver's side and the rear pass side like you say and had no problems, you need to c*o*c*k (that's not always a dirty word) the cherry picker a little sideways to make up for the torque the chain puts on it. If you had one of those double swivel things that you could run the chain thru and hook the picker hook thru the other ring, that would take out the torque.
 
I bought a $20 load leveler from Harbor Freight tools and hooked it to the 4 corners. Used my 1000lb electric winch hooked to a metal bar across the rafters and it came right out. I also supported the metal bar on both ends using pressure treated 2x4's running from the rafters to the floor. Worked great!
 
I bolted a chain to the front of one head and the back of the other head. I used a load balancer just cause, didn't really need it but it did help a little.

Heres some pics that show the engine coming out.
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img59770me.jpg



Good luck!!:nice:
 

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