I have everything disconnected, and radiator and hood removed from my 54 210. I am ready to pull the 235 out, but where do you attach the hoist to? Pics would be great of the attachment points you used. I plan on pulling the trans out attached to the engine. Thanks Mike
I usually run a good sized chain from a manifold bolt near the back, and a water outlet bolt on the other side at the front. It's a bit lopsided, but it works. Make sure you fasten it well, with strong bolts with plenty of threads engaged, a big washer, and tighten the bolt up (use a bolt that is just the right length, not one that's too long)
Do you plan on tearing it down? When I pulled mine I removed the head and bolted the chain ends directly to the block. Pulled engine/trans no problem, but it was a pick-up not a passenger car.
Hook a heavy chain to the front pulley/end of crank, hook the other to a hitch on a truck that is backed up to the 235, put it in drive and hammer down. Video it please.
I ran a chain around the motor, between the sump and flywheel at the back and betwen the front pulley and sump at the front.
According to the shop manual, you need to remove the rocker arm assembly and then use two of the head bolts to pull the engine and trans together. If you have a three speed you use the fourth head bolt from the rear on the left side, driver side. Then the third head bolt from the rear on the right side, passenger side. I used these same bolts when I pulled a 54 235 from my 52. It worked fine. If you have a powerglide use the second head bolt from the rear on the left side, drivers side. Then the fourth from the rear on the right side side, passenger side. Dom
A few years back, when I pulled my 216 with 3 speed, I got an engine leveler and a couple of load-rated eye bolts (not the cheesy ones from the hardware store), replacing two head bolts. That's how the old chevy shop manuals suggest it and it has worked well, using the leveler to easily shift the weight, as I pulled it all out, by rolling the car back. The fresh 261 with same 3 speed attached went back in the same way, just in reverse.
I've done it by wraping chain around rocker shaft. Slide spring over and tape shaft so spring wont move then wrap shaft with shop rag to protect it.
in Italy it's ard to find eye bolts that are load rated and with the right threads, so we wrapped the engine with two belts, getting sure that the belts won't move, the engine was already dismantled, so no oil pan, no generator, fan, water pump and so on, it come out pretty easily without removing the hood!
usually when I work on my stuff its fairly late at night and I had to buy a 6 foot length of 1/2 inch NC redi-rod and cut it to length and used big washers and pulled out 2 head bolts, i kept the rocker shaft on and didnt damage anything.
they hooked it to the rocker shaft when I took my engine to the rebuild shop and I got a little worried, but they said that was the way they always did it too???
An old time Chevrolet mechanic who started working before WWII told me to put the chain through the rocker arm shaft because it was the strongest place on the engine. I probably pulled hundreds of Chevrolet inline six and GMC inline six engines in my life and never harmed any of them. The rocker arm shaft will not bend if all the rocker arm bolts are tight. If you are working on somebody elses car you don't want to do this in front of them because it is too hard to explain.
No, no, I get what you're saying, but the way I read his was that he wrapped the chain AROUND the rocker shaft? EDIT: just read what 33Chevy posted... I guess I did read it right.
What size and length are the lifting eye's that you used? This looks easy and safe. Just getting ready to pull one this weekend
8 x 1/2 Long enough to keep the rocker arm assembly in place. McMaster-Carr has them and they are made in Chicago.
When I was running GMCs the wrecking yard I got the first one from had a piece of angle iron drilled to pick up the two valve cover hold down studs on a GMC or an early 216-235. Piece of a coil spring welded to the other side of the angle iron to make a loop. Worked great. I made one drilled just for GMCs and still have it. Looks scary but I never dropped one.
Mike, I did it the same way squirrel said and it worked out fine, pulling it and putting it back in at least 3 times. Brian.
Thanks all for the replies. Helped out tons. Went with the eye bolt and engine leveler method. That's one heavy pig of an engine. Hardest part was getting the oil pan over the grill. The hoist barely went high enough.
I've pulled enough of them to meet my quota a few times over, and I usually do it the way squirrel described.