The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Pulling engine in 51' 6400?

Hi all, new guy with a question for you.

I have a stock Chevy 1951 6400 that needs enough engine work to remove the motor.
I have the truck in a 12foot ceiling barn building,concrete floor, with a movable overhead 3ton trolley hoist on I-beam to hook heavy parts onto.

To start to remove the engine ---
Do you all think I should I remove the hood and whole front clip, or should I try to remove the radiator and the front grill alone?

Thanks for any help you can give me!

Hy Jackass_Jack, welcome, you can remove the engine by removing the hood, radiator, fan and waterpump. The more of the front clip you remove the easier it is to do this job, but if you're going to remove more than the hood I would remove the whole front clip as a unit. Just a note, the transmission has to be removed before the engine can be removed, hope that helps.

Hi Jack, I pulled a 261 from a 52 6400 in about 4 hrs by myself exactly as 3B said but I didn't pull the fan or pump. It was a lot of fun as compared to the junk engineered these days. Enjoy!

Why do you have to remove trans before engine ?

because of the amount of room to move the engine forward, the input shaft needs to come out of the clutch before the engine can be lifted up.

Hy Guys, actually the reason for the transmission removal is; because the transmission will not fit over the engine rear crossmember, hope that helps.

FWIW: removing the hood can lead to a great deal of frustration in putting it back on and aligning it. Seems easy enough but isn't always so.

Thanks guys for all the help!

While getting ready for the "pull", I was pre-lubing all the bolts to let them soak and I found a single busted mount. It was near the radiator supports that was causing the whole front end (fenders and hood!) to tilt slightly towards the drivers side. This is a bit off topic , but it sure made me glad that it was the reason for the tilt, and not something in the front suspension or leaf springs!

I have also been reading the on-line manual Shop Manual Engine Removal.
53moneypit: Thanks for the caution on the hood. I will scribe the hood mounts, and yellow crayon the outline of them on the hood underside too.(I found a friend that's a body-man to assist the eventual re-assembly).

I am still confused on the transmission. Since this a 1951 6400 2 Ton, do I remove the trans from underneath first, or just pull the shift cover off and remove trans with the engine?

What if you remove the radiator, and the metal in front of the radiator, and the grille, isn't it possible then to pull the engine out then ? Without removing the trans first ?

I have done it in a car, a -50 with 235 that way. Just removed the supporting bar and the radiator not even moved the grille out.
( but it had a powerglide )

I would leave the transmission attached to the engine if possible. 3B stated it will not clear the engine cross member though so I would remove it(the cross member) if not riveted in or make some really good measurements before trying to take out in one piece.

I always pull together if I can because you don't have to wrestle with the transmission as much that way, but you definitely don't want to get it up in the air and part way out and then realize that 3B was in fact correct (not that I don't believe him....I just always double check everything) and the transmission won't fit out.

Tad

Remove the driveline, pull the four bolts on the tranny, bar it loose, grap it by the shift lever in the cab and lower it to the ground and pull the motor as 3B said. It is really a small tranny.

This is what we all face when not listening to what guys who knows what they are doing tell us to do.

Believing there is a better way now than what has been done last 60 years !?!? Anyhow I still try from time to time, and YES I have to suffer. It takes 8 times longer time, and some things can break during trying. And when I stnad there trying to fix the impossible and sort out a mess I shouldn't have been in if I listened the first time, I will think of everyone here who tries to beat some sense into me, and others... when we try to be wiseguys