[SOCAL.M6.ZLE]

Ok... Day.2 Progress report.

The motor is out and on the stand.... and holy sh*t was it a PITA.
A few ramblings for those who are interested.

1. The AC pump CAN be set aside... the bolts are just hard to access and there are alot of connectors. Big tip was that the top bolt is a stud... and you need a 5mm to back it out to allow the pump to be set aside.

2. Clearance. I know some guys drop or shift the trans back, I opted for the cradle drop. To do this you will not only need (4) jack stands for the car, but you will want a 5th for the trans. Youll want to jack it up about 2" then brace it. you will be moving it up along with the motor. As this point, you will still be 2" below the cradle, so we removed all of the bolts except the front ones. those we left in, but with only a few threads to piviot on. TIP: you will need to remove the lower HX bolts. This allowed us to drop the cradle about 2.5" and that is all we needed.
3. But wait... now the fan shroud was in the way.... and good thing GM made this simple to remove... NOT :( There are a few screws on the bottom, and several harness clips and 2 bolts up top and then... a fu*king hard line that makes it tremendously challenging. What a dumb obstacle. I ended up cutting one of the tabs, and the shroud needs to lift an inch, then shift left 3" then come out... not easy at all.

4. Ok... 33 electrical connections, 327 harness clips, 86 hidden bolts and straps... and she is ready to come out. luckily, she disconnected from the trans pretty simple. Just some light prying from under the car, and a slightly scary amount of rocking and jerking and there is just enough room to bring her out. Remove clutch and flywheel (24mm socket needed to hold crank) and she is ready for the stand.


Im beat.