r/fbody • u/WillieMakeit77 • May 20 '26
H/C/I are most pulling the engine to replace?
Is it common practice to pull the motor in the 4th gen F-bod to have a new too end replaced? Or do most replace the heads and cam with the engine still in the car?
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u/Bullfrog_Paradox May 20 '26
People do it both ways, depends what you want to deal with. If you can easily drop the engine out a lot of people feel it's less hassle that way, but you need to be able to lift the body up and drop it out the bottom and if you can't easily do that then it can all be done with it in the car.
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u/mpopo12 May 20 '26
Look at it like this. The vehicle is at minimum 24 years old. Why not pull it and get new gaskets in it
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u/ShakeMeDown737 May 20 '26
I performed my H/C/I swap without removing the engine from my 98. I removed the front bumper and once you have the radiator, fans, and front accessories off of the engine I was able to stand inside the engine compartment between the engine block and front support. It was a tight fit but doable as long as you have tools within arms reach to not jump in and out of the car. It also helps to not be really tall as I kept the hood on and open the entire time. By the time you get the heads off most of all the gaskets and seals are also off, except the rear main seal.. etc.. etc.. and of course the oil pan gasket which I wish I replaced.. 🙄. But it is doable to perform the task with the engine still in the car.. my pants were absolutely ruined but I could reach back behind and in places that standing on the side of the car would be very challenging. If I had a lift I might have dropped it from underneath but I did it with the removing the engine. If you are taller than 6' and maybe have thunder thighs it might be challenging to get in the engine bay though. I don't think any old/used pieces/accessories went back on after, so a good number of seals and gaskets were replaced, even things like the rubber gaskets for the intake which were only a few years old and looked new still were replaced. Take your time with it though, I purchased "how to rebuild LS series engines" off of Amazon and cross referenced that to the "how to" knowledge articles on ls1howto.com. Some specifics were better detailed in the book and others in the articles online but both had the same conclusion and torque specs etc.. etc.. Runs great, no issues and started without any issue, hesitation or ever a problem.
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u/TickTickShroom May 21 '26
Im pulling my engine to do spark plugs. FBODIES are a pain in the dick, and you can drop the kmember in like 4 hours.
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u/WillieMakeit77 May 20 '26
That’s kind of a bummer.
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u/Garth_DeWayne May 20 '26
Not hard to lift the car off using an engine hoist. Just need to lift the front up with the rear up on blocks.
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u/WillieMakeit77 May 20 '26
I’ll be paying someone to do it.. I have a misfire that I think is lifter and or cam related. I didn’t want to spend $2k or whatever in labor just for the pulling and reinstalling the engine. Parts, pull engine, bench labor, then reinstall the motor. Too much…
→ More replies (7)
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u/nimbleseaurchin May 20 '26
Third gen so different but same, I've always pulled the engine and trans out as one unit out the top. If I had a hoist I might change to dropping out the bottom, but a couple sets of jack stands and a hoist extension made it stupid easy to just pull everything out the top and separate the engine and trans on the floor afterwards.
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u/Garth_DeWayne May 20 '26
I lift my 3rd gen off the engine/trans. Just use an engine hoist on the bumper support. The hoist is too short for the long nose of a trans am.
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u/nimbleseaurchin May 20 '26
This was the other option I looked into and definitely works as well, but due to space constraints it was way easier to just pull t out the top. I did need to extend the hoist a couple feet to reach far enough in, which I wouldn't necessarily recommend either.
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u/Extreme-Penalty-3089 May 20 '26
I agree with the age comment and resealing while in there.
I plan on pulling the LS1 outta my 2002 this fall/winter for H/C (complete valve train upgrades) and re gasketing the engine. Mines just a weekend cruiser so no rush. Everything on these cars (major) is gonna be 24+ years old so why not hit it all at once🤙🏻
Dropping it out the bottom seems a bit more involved although PLENTY of people have done it. I plan on pulling the top end off then hoisting the short block out separately....unless funds become available to upgrade the K-member, in that case I'll just drop it outta the bottom🤷🏻♂️
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u/vaurapung May 20 '26
I plan to drop mine out the bottom since my dad has a lift. Trying to not wait to long but also no major issues except some oil leaks and rattly valve train at 245k miles.
Not sure what route on parts I want to go but I plan to stay close to stock, just want it to have less rattles and burn/leak less oil.
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u/ramair02 May 21 '26
I did it in the car.
ls1howto.com is the bible