Gonna pull the original 401 and transmission together from my 63 wildcat for a thorough cleaning and repaint to original green. Both run fantastic so no rebuild here, just going to replace or repaint all the externals. Also going to do the same to engine bay. Looking for advice and “should dos” during the process and while it’s apart because this is my first time at this and I could probably learn a thing or two. Thanks Tom
If you’ve got a dynaflow trans. Then remember to unbolt the converter from engine before you start pulling it.
Because it has the dynaflow and everything works fine, my plan is to pull the whole thing together and leave it together. My understanding is that they were balanced together as a unit, plus the potential problems I’ve read about in getting them back together makes me not want to mess with it. Think it’s doable?
While you can pull without removing the radiator it would be easier with it out and IF the radiator needs any attention now would be the time to do it, Tom. Likewise if there is any evidence of oil leakage (or coolant from the water pump) address them now as they will be much simpler with the engine out of the car. Lastly - rear seal on the transmission. Under hood cleaning and painting is pretty straight forward - just a good bit of grunt work...
Good stuff Gene, thank you. I did not think of the rear seal on the transmission, will do that. Radiator is coming out and being recored, then sand and paint. Good to hear reassurance that it should come out without too much trouble.
I would unbolt the transmission cooling lines from the trans and leave them in the car. At least to that point that the driveline is out. They are quite flimsy and will easily get stuck some place.
I'd separate them. if your not going to put the engine on a stand you're making the job 10x harder on yourself. clocking the converter to the flexplate is easy enough.
I am fabbing and welding a custom engine stand with nylon casters that will bolt to the motor mounts or exhaust manifold holes and provide a resting place for the transmission. The base is similar to the one in the picture and I will build from there to the engine and tranny. Or at least that’s the plan. Transmission lines to be replaced while it’s easy. Short money for pre bents at inlinetube.com.
I think you will need to remove the trans cross member, we just pulled a 66 big car and had to , and the starter cleared but the drivers exhaust is close to the steering box.
thats cool. however you are creating a huge project to avoid a 15 minute job. being able to rotate the engine on a proper stand will save you a lot of time.
First, the mileage. Showing 26K, gonna assume its 126,000 but one could say unknown because this car was an older restoration bought 2 years ago with no known history. It has run flawlessly since and burns no oil and shifts normal. Was it rebuilt? Don’t know. Not gonna mess with it till it ask me to. Plus, no money for a rebuild... Crossmember - yup, heard about that and yes, that exhaust, steering box and starter are all jammed in there together. I’ll watch that... engine stand - can’t find one that would allow rotation with transmission attached, heck, can’t even find one for the nailhead motor alone that’s reasonably priced. Plus, I get to hone my welding skills. Just looking for an excuse to play with my new toy. Figuring I got 4 months plus of New England crap weather to get this done. And thanks for the feedback everyone.
Do a checklist of all that needs to be disconnected. Easy to forget little stuff like the ground straps from the engine to firewall and the speedometer cable.
Thanks, you got that right!!! I’m 55 and a product of the 80’s. If I don’t write it, bag it, and take pics of it, IT will never go back together right.
So now I’m ready to hook up the hoist and my local mechanic buddy, who admittedly has limited knowledge of the nailhead, questioned the 4 contact points of the engine balancer thing I have that hooks to the hoist. I’ve got them at the 4 corner points of the intake manifold. They’re nice and tight, caught at least 4 or 5 threads, but where it looks like it is bolted to a “tab” on the head, he wonders if it is a weak point. I also have a carburetor lift plate but I assume I can’t use the balancer with that.Any more experienced thoughts on this is appreciated. Busy weekend, not pulling till mid week.... thank you...
Either way. Just bolt two chains to the rear hole and two to the front hole of the carb plate. The load leveler will help since you are pulling everything together. Remember that is a lot of weight you are moving so lower it as soon as you can. Take pictures with a digital camera to document where everything is in case you have questions when you put it back together.
