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Thank you all for the advice. That is all very helpful. I'll be taking the front clip off in one unit, if all works well. The load leveler I bought has metal tabs with holes in them for mounting, four total. So I will try and mount to four head studs. I'll put the head back on, but will only put the four nuts I'm using back on. Do I need to put the head gasket back in place?

The engine lift and stand will be a tight fit, but should still work. If I set the lift to 1 ton it should line up about perfect.

Here's the Speedwell method. Sorry I don't have a better photo handy. We have a bracket that attaches to two head studs and has multiple lifting holes for balancing. A piece of 2 x 2 angle iron works nicely. Balancing the engine somewhere between the #5 and#6 sparkplug works well to get a good angle to extract. Head on or off, gasket or not does not matter.

Roll your cherry picker outside and put a tarp over it. Put the car on the lift and undo all the necessary stuff. Remove the 6 bolts that hold the rear crossmember in the frame and let it down onto the flange of the X-member and just sit there.

Run your lift up and put a heavy iron bar between its slides. Fasten a chain to that and to your bracket on the engine. You have already removed the radiator and splasher. Now take a hacksaw and cut the top bar of the radiator cradle out. It will only take 4 minutes to weld it back if the car is put back together. This completely saves removing the front clip and all that attendant labor and potential damage. Dropping the idler arm down saves much hassle with the oil pan.

Then you just lift the engine off the front mounts and push the car back a bit. Repeat that sequence till the engine and tranny are clear. The rear mount will simply slide out of the X member. This is only a fraction of the effort to wrestle with a cherry picker and get it stuck between the wheels etc.

After the trans is off on the floor, rebalance the engine and use the lift to get it on the engine stand. I simply don't use the cherry picker for engines any more. It is way too much work.

Using this technique we have an engine out in about 10 minutes, and the one in the picture went in in 12.

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Nice, Ross!

Forgot the idler arm trick, but very important so you are not struggling with getting the correct angle to squeeze the powerplant between the steering linkage and the cowl.

Also, at least on V8 cars, the transmission rear flange can get caught on the rear mount support as the powerplant tips back. Shouldn't be a problem if you balance it correctly, but there is a chance you will need to roll a jack under there real quick to nudge it up.

I've encountered several '55 -'57 Chevrolets with the radiator harness top piece cut out and replaced.

Ross - thank you, that is very helpful. I recall seeing you do this in an older thread ("fun with used cars" maybe?) and it looked pretty slick. I would love to see a picture of the iron bar you are using on the lift, and an idea of how you are hooking the chain up to the bar. I'm not even sure where I'm going to find a piece of iron that big. Might have to check a local scrap yard.

I'm assuming hood off for this? I'm leaning towards removing the engine the way that you outlined. Initially I was going to remove the entire front clip because I wanted to see how much work was involved, to see if it was a viable option for my Panama. But your way looks much quicker and easier. I don't have a problem cutting the radiator cradle bar. Welding it back should be easy enough and the splasher covers it so it can't be seen.

-Kevin

With a friend, removing the hood is like a 5 minute job. Just remove it first thing and save any hassle.

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For sure, I've done it before with my wife. Super easy. Just wanted to see if he did it with it on or off. But now that I'm thinking about it the hood is going to have to come off because the chain is coming down vertically. So ignore that question Ross.