This is how
I drop an engine out of a 4th gen with out a car lift. This is all done using my 1997 LT1 Pontiac Firebird and most if not all the info here will transfer over to all 4th gen F-bodies.
Well first you will want to get all four corners on jack stands and once it is up in the air go ahead and disconnect the battery.
Then go ahead and drain the coolant system (note if it is still hot skip this and start somewhere else), you can also drain out the oil.
Then you can start with the wiring harness. I would start on the drivers side and work my towards the passenger side seeing as how it all stems from over there any ways. Know that the harness in the engine bay also goes down the back and side of the motor so make sure that you get all of the harness.
Note some of the LS1 boys find it easier to take the alternator off to get that part of the harness out and LT1 peoples would benefit from taking off the whole coil assembly off to have a spot to put a chain when you pick it off the cradle If your car has ac you will have to either A disconnect the compressor from the motor or B disconnect the lines from the compressor. But if you do disconnect the lines from the compressor you will have to drain your ac or it will drain when you disconnect the lines and if/when you disconnect the lines you will want to make sure you find a way to cap them off to keep the moisture out.
Now I would go ahead and take out the radiator and the fans, you can do this by taking out the 3 bolts in the rad support and disconnecting the hoses from the engine, heater core (auto trans coolant lines), oil cooler lines (if you have one) and over flow bottle.
Now go ahead an disconnect the fuel lines and vacuum lines and throttle body cables.
Note LT1 folks will want to take the steering fluid reservoir from the wheel well and hang it off the motor. Now its time for the suspension and steering fun.
First disconnect the steering knuckle from the rack.
And you
should be able to take the lower part free from the bottom half, if not go ahead and take the bolt out for the part that goes to the column.
Than you can focus on the front susp., I start with the upper ball joint.
Than the part of the shock that is mounted to the lower control arm.
Than disconnect the sway bar from the body.
Than disconnect the brake lines from the abs control mod.
Note I no longer have that part on my car but you get the idea.
Go ahead and disconnect the abs sensors and wiring off the craddle.
Now you will need to take off the exhaust, drive shaft, torque arm, trans cross member and disconnect the shifter linkage/shifter. You will want to support the back of the trans when removing the cross member.
Now get yourself out the cherry picker and some floor jacks. Lower the car down on the floor jack to lower the car all the way down on the cradle leaving the jack under the cradle. Than take out the 6 bolts that hold the cradle to the body. Note a trans jack works awesome for this.
Now attach the cherry picker to the radiator support and lift the car up.
Note this will tweak the lip on the rad support a little but can be fixed with a BFH or you could use a thick strap to avoid this all together.
Now lift the car up with the picker until it looks like this.
Than support the car with large jack stands.
You might need to use concrete blocks under the stands to get the car to sit up high enough to get the engine out.
Than get the picker out of the way and wheel the motor out.
And there you have it your engine and trans is now out. There might be some different steps for different models but it should just be this simple.
Subject: Dropping a engine and trans from a 4th Gen Fbody 
Fri Nov 12, 2010 4:03 am
