No its not really a big deal, you just gotta make sure that the crankshaft aligns with the center screw of the stand and be careful when you flip it over, because the slant is very top heavy especially with the head still on it.

So how in the heck does the thing hold onto the block? I'm looking at this stand from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/D ... mber=32916 and those pegs sure don't look very sturdy.

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

You may want to get a heftier stand, I remember reading somewhere that the slant with head and all weighs 700+lbs.
Those black pegs have a hole in the center. You insert a long screw/stud, and this screw/stud also passes through the transmission/engine mating holes. Put a nut on the other side and voila. As I said before, you have to make sure those pegs are aligned so that the center of the orange plate that all the black arms attach to aligns with the center of the crank. What I do is pull the enigne out and leave it hanging on the hoist, remove the plate/peg assembly off the stand, align it and screw everything down tight, then lower the engine so the plate can slide into the stand.

Oh I get it. Pretty handy that is. So I take it it's easier to disconnect the tranny from the engine while they're in the car and then pull just the engine?

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

If you want to pull the trans to do some work on it, , it is lots easier to pull it with the engine instead of from under the car, imho. Otherwise, Hook the engine to the hoist and support it, then disassemble the engine/tranny bolts and the torqueconverter/flexplate bolts, then finally engine mounts. Remember to keep blocks under the tranny for support. You will have to use a pry bar to seperate the engine from the tranny so the bump in the middle of the torque converter disengauges from the crank.

Sure, you can take the engine out and leave the trans in, thats how I did my engine swap in my Satellite. By doing it this way you can leave the radiator and trans lines and linkage in to save time. All you have to do is remove the fan, take off the steering pump (if equiped) and disconnect the wireing. Attach the chain to the two bolts on the head. they are between the valve cover and manifolds. This will balance the engine perfectly to lift right up and out. Oh, use a floor jack to support the tranmission.

In the small a body engine bay - I do not like the radiator around when I am pulling an engine. Maybe I am a bit clumsy (or maybe Murphy is helping) but it is much too easy to get the engine swinging and crush fins on the radiator - usually when trying to pry the engine away from the trans. - So I take out the radiator before lifting the engine. Looks like the other methods described are much the same as my practice.

That Harbor Freight stand is perfectly fine, I own two and both had 400-4V long blocks bolted to them for 1 year before I shoveled the big blocks out the door. The one I have assembled in my garage also was used to assemble and hold the slant six in my car....

For the past 4 months it's had a short block on it with a full head to mock up my intakes...



Here's a quick pic of how you bolt it to a slant.




A slant with the A904 attached should be about 7-800lbs...I hear a 383 in full cast iron trim weighs 635lbs.

watch the ads, that stand goes on sale for $29.99 every other month. I also have one of their cherry pickers I bought in 1998, it's pulled 4 big blocks, 3 slant sixes, and 3-318's to date...and still works great!!!

the real problem with the slant is rolling that weird block over to work on the under side...have a friend help....

-D.Idiot

Ahh its engine and transmission that weighs 700... I thought it was engine alone. Oops

DusterIdiot one time my brother was turning over a /6 on the stand by himself, he couldn't hold it and the engine swung itself over, engine slamed against metal table (on the waterpump pully) then on the floor. That sure made a terrific noise... The only mishap was the waterpump shaft bent/seized. I'm running that engine now in my car. Lets see how long it lasts.

All I can say is 'OUCH!' glad no one was hurt (or smunched).

I've pulled lots of big blocks in the last decade and pulling a slant is pretty nice, once it separates from the tranny, you look over and go 'Is that it?'...unlike when a big hunk of b-block lets go and it feels like a whale on the end of the cherry picker....

I think doc, posted the weights in the block prep article...yeah it does feel heavy (150-200 lbs for the block, 100 for the crank, another 100 for the head...it does add up...)

-D.Idiot

FYI, the only reason I know the weight of the 383, is a ford guy at work was bad mouthing the 'B' block over Ford's FE block, after some research I asked him why his hunk of cast iron weigh 15 lbs more than mopar's did?

The table was made out of sheet metal... pretty thick too maybe 16awg or 14. The pulley.. wait come to recall it wasn't the pully, the pully was not on the pump it was the disc of metal with 4 threaded holes in it that attaches to the pump shaft. 2" or so in diameter, and it made a gash clear through the sheetmetal on the table. The patch of cement that was its final destination also got chipped up.

Yeah you oughta see the pics I took of it. Nice deep hole between two fingers. Prolly won't post 'em here though. Wanna try and keep it "work safe".

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me

All this to change an oil pump and maybe some bearings?? I guess some guys like extra work!

"DW"

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

What a retard. Since when has the FE motor ever been a powerhouse, except for a few cobra jet motors and stuff? 99% of FE motors produced were installed in stuff like trucks and big LTD barges. The heads and intake manifolds that were used reflect this fact. That's why for so many years before the Edelbrock FE head was released, very few people chose an FE motor over a smallblock or 385-series (429/460) big block to race. They weigh a ton and had crappy heads for the most part. True, they did have the deep skirt block design, but when the heads restrict flow so much, who cares? At least the 383's came with decent heads that have a 15 degree valve angle, and were installed in plenty of performance cars. I mean really, when was the last time you saw someone get excited about the performance of a 390 ford? There were a ton of those made, but most of them were 2 barrels or low performance 4 barrel motors in land yachts. I suppose now someone will pipe up with a magazine article done on an FE motor and proceed to show how an FE will stomp on any big block chrysler ever made. I'll say it in advance: "Blah blah, lets compare factory head-to-factory head, basic or no porting, no expensive rare or heavily massaged parts."

Sorry, but I'm a huge fan of the B/RB motors. I guess I got fired up. FE indeed. *snicker*

Well I couldn't find any easy way to do all that in the car, plus it'd be nice to be able to work in the garage if it's going to rain on me. I prefer to do my work dry

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'74 Duster w/ HEI ignition, beat to snot suspension, A904, 8.25" 3.55 SG rear, still being tuned up and gets 17 MPG

Know how they always build a better idiot? That's me