Today was an exciting day. The goal was to remove the engine in preparation for painting the engine bay. Who doesn’t want a shiny clean engine bay? This was new territory for me. I’ve only ever read about this process and watched poorly made YouTube videos, so it was nice to dig in and work on it myself (with the help of my trusty mechanic, of course).
We drained fluids from the radiator, engine, and transmission before removing the hoses. The radiator came out next. We then removed the front bulkhead which housed the radiator. Unfortunately, the front bulkhead metal was somewhat weak and split while being removed. It will need to be welded when it gets reinstalled.
After removing the exhaust manifold, wiring harnesses, detaching the throttle cable, and removing the fuel lines, it was time to loosen the engine mounts. We used the engine hoist to stabilize the block while we tapped out the mounts with a mallet. The mounts were surprisingly easy to remove. I remember reading several posts on forums where people complained about the engine mounts. After everything was detached the engine lifted right out.
Within a matter of minutes the engine was stripped down to just the head and the block. The block will be inspected and re-machined if needed.
It was time to call it a day. The next step is to remove the remaining components in the engine bay.
