I’m pulling the 5.0 SC engine and already removed 11 bellhousing bolts + 2 starter bolts + 4 torque converter bolts. Starter is off.

When I lift with the cherry picker, the transmission comes up with the engine - there’s zero gap between them. I can see the alignment dowels, and they’re rusty.

Could corrosion on the dowels really hold it that tight?

 

You need to move the engine away from the transmission before you start lifting. Shouldn't take too much effort to pry them apart if you have all the bolts out.

 

There’s no gap at all between the engine and transmission - not even paper thin. I can’t get anything in there to pry.

 

yes lol

propane torch on the dowel area it will let go

 

Thanks for your replies.

After heating the dowel area with a heat gun, I started driving the putty knife in with a hammer. Little by little, I widened the gap until I could fit a screwdriver in. After about 8 hours of struggling, I finally got the engine out!

 

WOW!!

I did a few "engine swaps" in my younger days, and none of them involved anything near the complexity of one like that!! Props to you, for persevering through it......

 

Thanks. To add some more colors: it’s being done in a storage unit…
Now need to bring it to my place and learn how to rebuild that thing. Good luck to me 😀

 

Well done.
I've had to remove the engine from mine twice, I pulled it from underneath with trans still attached, not too difficult. There's HEAPS of things that need to be undone / disconnected. It's 2+ days to remove, same to reinstall.
As a humurous comparison, I have a 1959 Fiat 500 restoration project, took me 40 minutes to remove the engine & gearbox! 13hp vs 415hp!

 

You just reminded me of my first car, a 1965 Chevy Corvair, that I purchased in 1970. For various reasons, I had to R&R the engine/transaxle (rear engine) a couple of times. It came out from the bottom, therefore the car needed to be lifted up on to jackstands, first, then the shift linkage and half shafts got disconnected, followed by the throttle linkage, and a couple of electrical connections. The first time was a "learning experience", and it took a couple of hours. The second time took about an hour, with a lot of that consumed by getting the car jacked up.....

 

Good luck putting it back together.