350 engine swap videos

[LAsquarebody]

Hey guys, well its time to charge the heart beat in this old Squarebody. I have done a lot of work on cars and trucks over the years but its been a long time since I did a full swap. I was curious if anyone had a how to video that could walk me back thru the little things I might have forgotten about prepping a vehicle for an engine pull and reload? Ive googled a bit but keep getting things that havent been as helpful as I'd like.

Anyways Im planning to start on this next weekend.

Pics to follow

Thanks for your help

 

[newguy11]

Make certain you used good grade 8 bolts if you are using an engine stand… this cost me 2 hours the other day

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[newguy11]

Just about everything is 9/16 , 5/8 or 3/8. I did have a couple oddball metric in my 1985 too.

I’m in the process of a swap and 2 things that made my life much easier was spraying all the bolts multiple times over several days with a good penetration fluid and also using air tools. The wrapping of an impact gun reduces the Likelihood of a snapped bolt. In my case the only bolt to break was an exhaust bolt that I tried to remove by hand.

Take the engine out in stages.

Remove battery. Starter, y pipe . Transmission inspection plate, flex plate-torque converter bolts (15mm), 6 bolts around the tranny and the motor mount cross bolts. Also while your down here, on the starter side of the engine there is a clip bolted to the oil pan that holds the trans cooler lines ( un bolt that)

It’s good practice to remove the electrical connections from both sides of the tranny. And put a jack underneath to support it.

Up top there are no surprises to be had drain the radiator, remove the upper fan shroud and the fan to get some more working room. Leave the a/c and power steering line connected and lay them in the engine bay. After that I think everything is fairly obvious . Take your time, label and uses plastic baggies.

 

[StickyLifter]

Take pictures of your linkages and vacuum lines. I would spray the exhaust bolts with penetrating oil a few days ahead of ime.

 

[LAsquarebody]

Make certain you used good grade 8 bolts if you are using an engine stand… this cost me 2 hours the other day

You must be registered for see images attach

You must be registered for see images attach

I have a bachelors in tap and dye at this point but because my trans case. The trans dip stick popped out at one point so I ordered a Lokar braided steel replacement but upon undoing the the trans pan I found silicone in a few bolt holes. Needless to say they were striped and made myself a nice afternoon of rolling around in aluminum shards on the ground while I tapped out and helicoiled the pan in a few spots.

 

[LAsquarebody]

Just about everything is 9/16 , 5/8 or 3/8. I did have a couple oddball metric in my 1985 too.

I’m in the process of a swap and 2 things that made my life much easier was spraying all the bolts multiple times over several days with a good penetration fluid and also using air tools. The wrapping of an impact gun reduces the Likelihood of a snapped bolt. In my case the only bolt to break was an exhaust bolt that I tried to remove by hand.

Take the engine out in stages.

Remove battery. Starter, y pipe . Transmission inspection plate, flex plate-torque converter bolts (15mm), 6 bolts around the tranny and the motor mount cross bolts. Also while your down here, on the starter side of the engine there is a clip bolted to the oil pan that holds the trans cooler lines ( un bolt that)

It’s good practice to remove the electrical connections from both sides of the tranny. And put a jack underneath to support it.

Up top there are no surprises to be had drain the radiator, remove the upper fan shroud and the fan to get some more working room. Leave the a/c and power steering line connected and lay them in the engine bay. After that I think everything is fairly obvious . Take your time, label and uses plastic baggies.

I listened friend. Still taking my sweet a** time as I do have to make a living as well but not biting off more than you can chew in a days work is what has kept me sane. of course this is because in the beginning I would show up and want to get 5 different things done and then the first job of that afternoon would throw me a curveball and Id be trying to figure out a work around for the next few hours.

Just for reference. I was bolting it all back together with new engine in, and I find one of the water temp sensor slots on the intake manifold has some JB weld covering the first few threads and that's why I can't get a plug in. I defiantly cannot tap out the open port, and my welder says the arc will detonate the residual oil in the engine and light the whole thing on fire, so pull the manifold it is. Upon inspecting the distributor prior to removal I notice the inner wires are detached and the tiny screws are missing that hold the inner wires flush as to not interfere with the rotating upper part. So now Im buffing up on MSD distributors like Im studying for the SATs cause of all things frying out this distributor would be an expensive lesson I don't wanna pay for lol.

But all in all its been a hoot. Long days, but Ive learned more about some stuff I didn't know I needed to learn.

 

[LAsquarebody]

Take pictures of your linkages and vacuum lines. I would spray the exhaust bolts with penetrating oil a few days ahead of ime.

This was hilarious to me once I got in there and looked at those bolts. You weren't lying. I think Squares have conjured up a new form of rust.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Manifold bolts are always the killer, no matter the make. I've torn down hundreds of engines, those and oil gallery and water jacket plugs were the biggest time consumers.