With the car supported off the ground, drain the engine oil into a container and remove the oil filter. Next drain the coolant from the radiator into a bucket. If your car is equipped with an automatic transmission, disconnect the trans-cooler lines from the radiator or trans cooler. On engines that operate with a non-electric-type fan, loosen the bolts or nuts attaching the fan before loosening the attaching belts. Doing this before the belts are removed makes it easier to unfasten the attaching hardware without the fan and pulley turning. With the fluids drained, disconnect and remove all of the hoses and belts. Carefully scoring the end of the hose first (this will be replaced anyway) with a knife or razor blade and peeling it away with a flat-blade screwdriver can help remove stubborn hoses.
Seal Of Approval
An engine swap means that you will also be installing or replacing items like water pumps, thermostat housings, valve covers, and more. For these jobs you'll need an assortment of sealants. |
| RTV Silicone | Valve covers,
thermostat housings |
| Gasgacinch | Fittings, bolts |
| The Right Stuff | Intake manifold end seals |
| Stripper | Silicone gasket remover |
| Hi-Temp silicone | Exhaust gaskets |
| Ultra Copper | RTV, use with O2 sensors |
| Rubber Gasket Dressing | Squeaking belts |
Trans-Plant
On stick-shift cars, disconnect the clutch cross bar and on all types of transmissions, remove the driveshaft and the shift linkage. Now, using a floor jack (or the attached engine hoist), raise the trans slightly and add a jackstand and small piece of 2x4 wood below the engine oil pan. With this in place, remove the crossmember. Three- and four-speed manual transmissions can generally be removed after removing the speedo cable and the four attaching bolts, then lowered to the ground with an assistant. Later-model overdrive manual transmission and all automatic transmissions will need a trans jack or good floor jack for removal. To remove an automatic transmission, drain the fluid, loosen the trans lines, remove the dipstick, and unbolt the three torque-converter bolts from the flexplate. To do this you'll need to rotate the flexplate by hand or carefully use a remote starter switch. Once unfastened, push the torque converter rearward about 1 inch. Next, with the bottom of the trans supported with a floor jack and a suitable size of plywood, remove the crossmember and unbolt the trans from the rear of the engine. Then (with a helper) wiggle and move the trans and floor jack rearward about 3 inches and lower the jack and trans to the ground.