The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Engine removal advice needed

I purchased a restored ‘46 1/2t with an updated’54 235 engine. Unfortunately I determined it has a rod/ crank issue and need to pull the engine out for repair. Yet to be determined is the quality of the previous rebuild.
I have a fair amount of experience with sbc & a/t. This my first experience with the 6 cyl. & 4 speed crash box. I tried to research some info but came up short.
My question is, what is my best option, I would like to pull just the engine with bell housing but is it a better option to leave the trans. attached. I’m looking for the easiest option for both removal and reinstalling. My main concern is my inexperience with manual transmission and related items. I thought I read that the engine & trans could be removed separately.
Any tips and advice or even a link to a related thread would be greatly appreciated.

I recently removed the 216 and transmission from my completed truck after experiencing a rod bearing issue. What I did was remove the front clip, consisting of 4 or 5 bolts on each side holding the fenders to the cab and the two radiator support bolts at the front. It all came off in one piece without needing to remove the hood. I had built an engine leveler that bolts to the two valve cover studs, and pulled engine and trans together without damaging the recently painted firewall. My transmission is a 3-speed, so just removing the u-joint bell cover bolts, the speedometer cable and the shifter linkage was all that was needed. With a 4 speed, the top cover would have to come off the transmission to clear the firewall.

Optionally, pulling the transmission would require unbolting the u-bolt halves, either raising or dropping the torque tube out of the way, and then supporting the transmission while pulling the input shaft back out of the clutch, and then dropping it to the floor. Using an engine hoist through the passenger door is the easiest way to accomplish that. The transmission is pretty heavy to manhandle from underneath, especially for an old guy like me. If you've been working out at the gym doing bench presses, you might be able to do that, but I like to take the easy way out.

Pulling the transmission separately, or leaving it in the truck, complicates re-installation, including stabbing the input shaft back into the clutch. That's way easier to do with the engine hanging on a hoist or sitting on a cart.

The 235 is a heavy and awkward son of a gun. I’d probably remove the trans and then pull the engine with bellhousing together.

I’ve never pulled the front clip on a Deco truck. That might be worth considering.

Here's my 216 with 3-speed attached hanging from the engine hoist. The engine leveler is a must if you're going to leave the transmission on. The front of the engine has to be tilted up for the bellhousing and transmission to clear the firewall, while the oil pan clears the front crossmember. If you don't have access to an engine leveler, I'd pull the tranmssion first, although leaving it on might make it balance better. I didn't get a picture of it coming out of the truck.

The pre-1947 trucks are extremely tight in engine compartment clearance. I'd strongly suggest pulling the front sheet metal before trying to remove the engine. You're likely to do quite a bit of damage to the paint and sheet metal trying to pull the engine/trans assembly otherwise. The crash box trans is a lot smaller and lighter than the SM 420, so it could probably stay attached.
Jerry

I believe I pulled the grill off mine and yes, it’s tight in there. Slow and easy….

I have started the process. And I do realize there’s pros and cons in doing this in different ways. I unfortunately have limited help and little storage space for the complete front clip. Although maybe not the best option, I have removed the hood, grill, radiator and bumper. Working over the fenders is less than ideal. I can understand the difficulty of installing the engine to the already installed transmission. So I guess I’m leaning toward pulling the transmission with it. I do have a leveler.

My truck is a totally different animal than yours, but I would have preferred to keep the engine and trans as one unit when I removed them. It wasn't an option for my application to keep them together but suffice it to say, it would have been an easier job.

Are you sure you have a crash box or an sm420? If you have a 235,from a later than 1947 it might be a am 420. This could have happened during the previous rebuild.

The issue you may have is where the pedals are mounted. On a 46 they mount on the bell housing. On later years they mount some other way. You should also verify the year of the engine. I have been told a 47 bell housing bolts to the 235 and has a bell housing drilled for the pedal mounting.

I’m telling you this in case you may want to upgrade to the sm420. It is a great upgrade. It will require fitting a new drive shaft and enlarging the hole for the shift lever.


I agree with HRL pull the grill radiator and supports and go in from the front. It may be easier to pull the transmission before the engine. The easiest way to do this is with a transmission floor Jack

It is the crash box with the pedals mounted to the bell housing.

A later manual suggests removing the trans top cover and replacing it with a piece of cardboard to keep the dirt out, giving extra room when the trans goes by the hole in the firewall. And pulling the engine and trans as a unit. I think this was on a task force truck. I have done the same on an AD truck. I have puled many engines and found that if you have equipment to handle the weight and you have room in front of the truck, it's a lot easier to pull both as a unit. Pulling the trans from underneath was never fun and fifty years later nearly impossible given the shape of the case and my age. On my AD I long ago cut welds on the top cross support and drilled it for bolts to reassemble. I'm not sure how much you would gain on a Deco truck by doing that. I like the remove-the-front-clip idea. Mind you I have not worked on Deco trucks.

Tilting the whole shebang to get it out of the engine compartment with the radiator support in place I think is dangerous. I also would not pull the engine by the rocker shaft bolts. You are lifting 700+ pounds with two 3/8 bolts. Then, if you pull the trans too that's another 180 or so pounds. That makes me uncomfortable. Go buy some *forged* eye bolts to replace two head bolts the hook on to those.

re: 3/8 bolts. A grade 2 fine thread 3/8 bolt has a clamp load of 3600 lb. The two rocker studs are likely grade 5, which have a clamp load of 5500 lb. No issue lifting an engine and trans IMO. I've used them twice for that purpose.

Pulled the front clip on my 41 to remove the engine. We left the transmission in and it was still very tight with the firewall pulling just the engine.

I kept the tranny attached per shop manual when In pulled my 235. . It can be done but I'd never do it again. What's more, the shop manual says to put the engine on the stand with tranny attached. What kind of engine stand were they using?

Was that a 4 speed, Wally?

Wally, good you had help. That picture is why I don't try to do it that way any more. Once was enough. Now all I have to clear is the top grill bar. It comes out at just a slight angle. The last installation, 2 years ago, I put engine and trans in separately and found I no longer have the strength to man handle the trans on a floor jack. Ended up using ratchet straps blocked with 2x4s to stabilize it on the jack with a friend holding the reinstalled shift lever along with as long as possible guide pins. I didn't put them in as a unit because of limited floor space in front of the truck.