340 Removal

[moparlee]

I am a new member to this forum and looking for some pointers. Need to pull the 340 out of my 71 Challenger. Can I remove the engine along with the 727 auto trans out the top? I plan on pulling the radiator and can unbolt the water pump if I need additional room. It has headers so will probably need to unbolt those from the heads. Don't have a hoist available to drop everything out the bottom. Thanks for the help.

 

[burdar]

It depends on what you are doing to the car. Are you just rebuilding the engine/trans? Are you going to be rebuilding the front suspension when the engine is out? Are you pulling the car apart for a total restoration?

If you are doing more then just an engine/trans rebuild, I would drop it out the bottom. It is easy to do with just a cherry picker. You'll need on of those to pull it out the top anyway.

By dropping it out the bottom, you can keep the engine/trans/K-member/front suspension all together as one piece until your ready to work on those parts. It takes up less space in the garage and you are less likely to lose parts that way.(and forget how everything goes back together)

All you have to do is remove the front bumper and front valance. Bolt some angle iron onto the car were the front bumper was mounted. It would also be a good idea to weld a brace between the to sections of angle iron for strength. Hook a chain up to the cherry picker and your brackets. Use jack stands to support the front of the car and the k-member assembly. Once all the fasteners are removed, you can just lift the front of the car off of the entire assembly. Reinstall the same way.

 

[btceng]

My 11 year old and I were able to pull my 318 & 904 through the top with a couple of jack stands and a cherry picker. I wished we had removed the whole assembly through the bottom b/c I'm doing a restoration and the suspension needs work also.