I'm asking this for clarification, because I've read in some places you can do it by pulling up on the decklid latch. Other places say it'll bend, distort, and never go back to normal. I will jack up the rear of the car by the cradle enough to get under it and start loosening everything. The cradle will be unbolted, and the rest of the car will have to come up. Can I pull it up by that hatch, or is it not strong enough? Keeping in mind it will not have the weight of the cradle/engine/tranny on it.

I blew out part of my transmission, will need to send it off for rebuild / or replace, either way, it needs to come out . Just trying to get everything planned out as best as I can.

Thanks!

Attach to the engine mounting lugs. Lift the entire car with them, then put it on the stands to do your work. When your ready to drop it, lift it off the stands with the engine hooks and lower to the ground. Remove the loosened cradle bolts and move the two chains to the strut towers. Now you can lift the body off the cradle with no worries of pulling apart your trunk.

Personally I would never use the trunk latch to lift the car. One weld breaks and the body comes crashing down. Two chains first to the engine lugs, and then to the strut towers are quite a bit safer, and just as easy. I have hooks on the end of my two engine chains.

I use a towing strap that I wrap around the bumper support (you have to pull the urethane bumper cover off). I find that by lifting there I have more room to pull the engine out without the cherry picker getting in the way.

Joe Sokol

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85 SE Daily driver with a 3.4 DOHC OBD II
88 Formula/GT 4.9 Allante Intake (My Baby)

Here is another alternative that I use with my V8. I put a 4x4 post under the car, crosswise just in front of the front cradle mounting points. I cut it to the correct length. Then I jack the car up with a floor jack in the center of the post. When the car is high enough I put jack stands under each end of the post and remove the jack. I then extend cherry picker over the rear of the car and hoist the engine enough to take all pressure of the 4 cradle bolts. When the cradle is all free I lower it and engine/transmission onto a Harbor Freight furniture dolly. I disconnect the cherry picker and move it out of the way. Cradle then rolls out the right side of the car.

Why take the chance of bending the latch?

You can use the latch, but I wouldn't trust it. Take the trunk carpet out and there are two slots in the firewall sheetmetal where two hooks on the end of a chain can be slid in. Use this point to lift the car up with.

I use an engine hoist and lift from the trunk reinforcement bar or from both strut towers.

[This message has been edited by InTheLead (edited 10-21-2010).]

I use the holes in the trunk reinforcement cross member.

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Dave

www.ltlfrari.com

Lift the trunk carpet,and you will see where to attach the hooks,I think there called J-Hooks and I baught a set of 4 small ones from Harbor Freight Tool (I dont know if the larger hooks will fit).Two go on each side of the chain (with the chain being in the center on each end),so you will also need a bolt for each side (2 total),2 washers for each side (4 total) and 1 nut for each side,a lock nut would be better if you can find 2 (a good safety feature).now if your able to find a low milage Camaro motor,you might consider that because a rebuilt tranney is going to run about $1,500.You can get the engine and tranney for $500 or less at the wrecking yard.So if you engine has high milage,you might consider doing an engine swap.

You can use the trunk latchm but you will bend it. I remove the latch and attach a bracket I made out of 1/4" steel flat stock. It mounts using the two trunk latch bolts and has a big hole for the engine hoist hook. I pick he car up by that and nothing bends.
Jim

I do mine as phonedawgz says with the shock towers.
One other tip is to have the front wheels up higher on ramps or blocks so the nose clears the ground. Make a lot more room under the car. If you do though you have to be able to lift the body high enough to be able to roll the engine out since you will not be able to move the body.
I had the front bumper off in the pic so nose was not a problem but was still close to the ground.

[This message has been edited by Dodgerunner (edited 10-21-2010).]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by rourke_87_T-Top:

I forgot to mention,you'll probubley want to place ramps under the front of your car ( I dont think you can drive it up the ramps).Jack up each side and push the ramps under.I dont know if Dodgerunner has his front bumper off or if its touching the ground.You may scrunch the front bumper if you dont.Use tie down straps,to strap the wheels to the ramps as a safety precaution (their cheep),

I use a 4X4 post like garage monster, except that I use a hydraulic floor jack on each side of the car rather than in the center of the post. It's probably safer this way since you don't have to be under the car to jack it up. Once everything is disconnected except the cradle bolts, put the post under the car and support the weight of the car on the post and lower the post onto a pair of jack stands. This allows you to re-use one of the jacks to raise the cradle a little to take the pressure off the cradle bolts. That makes it easier to remove them. Once they're removed, lower the cradle a couple of inches onto some wheel skates or a low dolly. At this point the cradle will be free of the car. Using your hydraulic jacks under each side of the 4X4 post, start lifting the car up while jostling the engine cradle around a bit to make sure it clears everything. Put a level across the decklid (left to right) as you raise each side of the 4X4 post with a couple pumps at a time keeping an eye on the level. DO NOT block the front wheels as you're lifting the car since the pivotting action of the hydraulic jacks causes the car roll a few inches on its front wheels. If the car is prevented from rolling with blocks, it will fall off the post or the post will fall off the jacks once you get past the halfway point due to the stress. Always keep a pair of axle stands under the post in case one of the jacks decides to blow a seal too. If you place the jacks so they're facing towards the rear of the car, you'll have plenty of room to pull the cradle out from the wheel well without any interference. By pulling it out from the wheel housing, you don't need to lift the car anywhere near as high as you would to pull it straight back since you won't need to clear the low hanging trunk metal. Here are a couple pics that might help visualize the process:









Edited for clarity

[This message has been edited by Bloozberry (edited 10-22-2010).]