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Removing the motor

  1. Disconnect the battery, remove it from the car and put it out of harm's way (preferrably on a trickle-charge).
  2. Pull up the rubber shifter boot, undo the shifter and remove it.
  3. Put the car on stands so you can work underneath it with no chance of it falling on you.
  4. Undo the four bolts holding the driveshaft to the transmission flange. Swing the shaft out of the way and put the bolts and nuts back on it so you don't lose them.
  5. Undo the speedometer cable and separate it from the transmission.
  6. Support the transmission with a floor jack or boards. Undo the four bolts holding the crossmember and the large nut on the transmission mount. Remove the crossmember. Bag and label the hardware.
  7. If you have a hydraulic clutch, unbolt the cylinder from the bellhousing and bag the hardware. If you have a cable-operated unit, undo the cable and pull it out of the way.
  8. Drain the motor oil. Remove the oil filter. Screw the drain plug back into the pan.
  9. Set the heater control to full hot. Drain the coolant (and recover it if there's any antifreeze in it) by opening the petcocks at the bottom of the radiator and on the block to the rear of the oil filter. If the block drain is plugged, unscrew it completely and poke the rust out of it with a piece of clothes hanger.
  10. Mark around the hood hinges for future reference; unbolt the hood and remove it from the car. Put it where it won't be dented.
  11. When all the coolant is drained, loosen the radiator hose clamps, undo the two bolts holding the top of the radiator and remove the radiator. Put the bolts back in their holes.
  12. If you have an Amazon, take the hood release cable loose and then remove the whole crosspiece from in front of the radiator opening. On an 1800, remove the fan and its pulley at this time.
  13. Separate the two rubber heater hoses from the back of the head and from the pipe thing that runs back from the water pump.
  14. Undo the braided grounding strap from the body.
  15. Unbolt the water temperature sensor from the back of the head and pull it out of the way.
  16. Tag and remove all wiring from the generator or alternator, the starter, the distributor, and the oil pressure sensor forward of the oil filter. On a fuel-injected car, there will be more wiring -- deal with it in a similar manner.
  17. If you have an 1800, undo the flexible oil tube from the rigid pipe that goes through the firewall. Undo the oil temperature sender from the rear of the oil pan and put it safely out of the way.
  18. Take loose the rubber fuel line from the injection system or from the rear of the fuel pump on the block.
  19. Disconnect the throttle linkage and choke cables. Put the small hardware back on so it doesn't get lost.
  20. Unbolt the exhaust manifold from the headpipe. If you have a header, you will need to remove the intake manifold from the car at this time to separate the header from the motor -- remove the four inserts from the intake ports and bag them with the hardware.
  21. Undo the big nut on top of each motor mount.
  22. Remove the valve cover and set it aside.
  23. Using the breaker bar and 11/16" socket, take out the right rear and left front head bolts. Use them to fasten the ends of the head chain to those two points. There's no need to torque them down tight.
  24. Check that absolutely nothing is still connecting the motor to the car. Pick up all those tools you're walking around on.
  25. Hook the engine hoist to the head chain about 1/3 of the way back from the front. You want the motor to come out at a front-high angle. Hoist enough to take the weight off the motor mounts.
  26. Lower the rear of the transmission slightly (pull out a board or two, if that's the method you're using). Disconnect and tag any wires from the rear or top of the transmission gearbox and from the OD solenoid.
  27. Alternately hoist the motor, lower the transmission and pull the motor forward until it comes out. You may have to lift the transmission over the front of the car by hand, but it's not that heavy. It's also fair to lower or raise one end or the other of the car if that's what it takes (watch that nose on your 1800!).
  28. This might be a good time to give the motor a good scrubbing. You'd rather have all that stuff come off in your driveway than in your garage, right?
  29. Lower the motor, unbolt the transmission from the bellhousing and remove it by pulling straight back. Put it where it won't tip over -- it's still full of juice. If you don't have the 1800-style extended shifter, tape up the shifter hole to keep dirt out.
  30. Remove the starter and bellhousing.
  31. Hoist the motor back up, wheel it into your workspace and lower it onto your cinder block setup or bolt it to your engine stand.
  32. Unhook the hoist and remove the head chain.
  33. Congratulations! Go have a nice lemonade -- you deserve it.

Section three: Evaluating your motor's condition

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