355 Tested And Ready To Go In

[thirsty]

This project may take a little bit longer than what I'd originally planned

This seems to be contagious. 

Years ago I was just going to paint my K10...Now the only thing that I have left of my original truck is the axles, radiator support, transmission, and steering column, and some small detail pieces.

Good luck with your engine this weekend.

[ChaseDale3and8]

Okay guys, I have everything disconnected and have made several attempts to pull the engine out with NO LUCK! The giggered thing seems to be seized to the transmission somehow. ALL the bell housing bolts are out, and the inspection cover is off. I hooked the shop crane chain hook up to the center hole on the carb plate on the intake manifold, and it lifted it UP fine, but I can't get it to break loose from the transmission!Tried hooking up to the other two holes with the same result. Tried wiggling it with it lifted up, twisting it, didn't matter. She won't budge! I'm about ready to hook up my John Deere lawn tractor to the front of the shop crane and give it a yank! Don't want to tear something up trying to get it out though. I haven't pulled an engine from a manual trans truck since my last one that I had back around 1995. I grew up around this kind of stuff, I'm 46 years old now, and know my way around these old square body trucks. I've owned so many of them that I can't even recall how many over the years. heck, my brother and I used to be able to strip one of these trucks down to the frame in less than 8 hours back in the day, so I'm no stranger to them, but this one has me stumped! This was SUPPOSED to be a simple engine swap like I've done a hundred times before, but it has turned out to be a nightmare! I just can't figure out what the heck the hold up is since I should be able to pull it by myself without any issues! I sure named this truck right when I bought it and started working on it. I call it the Blue $#@% for all the trouble she gives me EVERY time I put a wrench to her! Could I possibly be overlooking something? Should the trans be in reverse gear, or in neutral? I currently have it in reverse. I have always pulled them apart at the block to bell housing instead of bell housing to transmission. Never had this much trouble before. It's kind of got me thinking that maybe the release bearing is stuck to the transmission input shaft. Anybody have that happen? NEED HELP! Thanks guys, will be posting more pictures as soon as I get them loaded up! ...Joe

[Jason S]

I've been at that level of frustration before...

My first thought is the transmission input shaft is in a bind.  The release bearing can wear the front bearing retainer (i.e., where it rides on the transmission).

Do you have a support under the transmission, like a floor jack?  As you pull the engine up with the hoist, use the floor jack to relieve any binding on the input shaft. 

[thirsty]

I've had to get get physical with them before (side to side, yanking forward, and prying all at the same time). The angle is key as Jason S said. Maybe you could try unbolting the motor mount off the frame so the clam shell doesn't have to go up over the mount.

[bake74]

I've been at that level of frustration before...

My first thought is the transmission input shaft is in a bind.  The release bearing can wear the front bearing retainer (i.e., where it rides on the transmission).

     Don't forget about the guide pin that is between the engine and transmission crank case, if you bind that pin enough it can act like it is something else, while in reality you just need to level out the engine and trans a little bit and pull them apart.

[ChaseDale3and8]

 I called my brother this morning and asked him about this. He said to place a floor jack under the front of the transmission and raise it up very slightly because what was going on was the transmission input shaft was in a slight bind. I jacked the trans up a little, put a slight bit of pressure on the clamshell mount with a 36 in crowbar, and she popped right loose! It's out, sitting on a stand in a corner uglying up my garage now! Next on the list is to try to clean up that nasty bay some before attempting to put the 355 in there. Thanks for the replies guys! It's out!!!!!! More pictures to come!!

[thirsty]

Glad you got it out.

[ChaseDale3and8]

[ChaseDale3and8]

[ChaseDale3and8]

This bring it up to where I'm at right now. Got another week of a lot of overtime coming up so I'm not sure when I'll get to do more as of now. When I do though, I'll post some more pictures. ....Joe

[slammed79]

Glad you got it out!

[ChaseDale3and8]

Ok guys, I FINALLY have made some progress lately since work has slowed down somewhat, and the hot weather broke......for now anyway. So, I squeezed in some time on this project trying to get as much done as possible. I don't have today's pictures loaded yet, but I'll get them on here as soon as time allows. I have run into yet another snag though. I went to install the A/C condenser, and it won't fit the 4 headlight radiator support that I installed. Nearest I can figure, this radiator support must be an 81-82, and my truck is an '86. No way that I can see to make it work unless I change lines, condenser, evaporator, and all. Even then, I'm not 100% sure that I could make it work. So what I may have to do is just remove the lines, and plug everything off until I can get hold of an 83-87 core support. I wasn't aware that GM changed all of this around until I got neck deep in this, and things just didn't fit together right. If there is a simple and inexpensive solution to this problem, I'm all ears! Anyway, I got as far as wiring up the left headlights, running the wiring to the horns etc. after I installed the radiator support. I had it media blasted and painted it a satin black. Really like the way that it turned out. Going to be pulling the inner fenders out one at a time and cleaning them up and repainting them as well. Then, about all I need to do is reinstall the radiator, hoses, fan shroud, battery tray, bleed out the new clutch slave cylinder, and install a new exhaust to the headers. Not much work at all! ....Joe

Starting where I left off with the last pictures......Bellhousing cleaned, painted on the outside in factory black left bare aluminum on the inside. New throw out bearing, clutch fork, and new GM pivot ball since none of the parts stores had the one that I needed!
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Taking parts off of 355 prepping for install!:
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Stripped down enough to get the shop crane hooked up.
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Installing new flywheel, pilot bushing and clutch assembly.
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By this point on install day I was losing daylight FAST! It was now or never, and my neighbor offered to help do the install real quick. By the time that I got the clutch all assembled though, he got company, and here I was with this thing hanging in the air! I got it in ALONE, but had to fight with it for a while to get the crankshaft and trans input shaft aligned where both of them were happy. After that, ONE HARD shove was all it took to slide her home! Notice that I didn't put the clam shell mounts on until AFTER I got the trans and engine bolted together. This made things go together much easier since they couldn't hang on the frame mounts, and wasn't too bad to go back and install afterward.
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[ChaseDale3and8]

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[ChaseDale3and8]

Don't know what my deal is today. Can't seem to get the pictures loaded, only the links. I'm going to try this one more time.
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[ChaseDale3and8]

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