I'm getting ready to pull my engine. I'm hoping to pull the engine and C6 simultaneously. Is that possible? It's looking like I'm going to need every millimeter to get that engine over the crossmember hump, and still clear the top of the engine compartment.

 

i pull them attached out of trucks, i think with a leveler or carful chaining you could from a van too. drop the transcross member and pull petty much up at 45 deg

 

If you are not sure, pulling the c6 off the engine is very easy. I was surprised at eh simplicity when I took it out to replace my torque converter.

If it were me I would separate them unless someone can say for sure that it will work pulling them together. It could be a pain to get halfway through pulling it and realize it won't work........just my .02.

Good luck

 

I don't think anyone really understands just how damn tight it is to get that engine out of a van until they have done it. It really helps to take as much off the engine as possible.... You are going to need every millimeter of clearance you can get. Since the C6 is more or less a tapering cone behind the engine, it might not cause clearance problems, but the added weight is going to be a disadvantage. When I pulled my core engine from a '94 van, I found that manipulating it on the clockwise/counterclockwise rotational axis combined with fore and aft pitch was the key to getting it through the core support opening. The extra weight and imbalance of a transmission would make this extremely difficult I would think. As attractive as it is to pull it as a unit, I would recommend separating them. I pulled the 6.9/T19 out of my truck in a matter of minutes after getting everything disconnected. In contrast the van engine without transmission took about an hour and a lot of swearing after getting everything disconnected. And that was caveman style not caring what happened to the vehicle itself while extracting my prize. Did I mention it's a REALLY tight fit???

 

is this your keep van, or the parts van?
if it is the keeper, i would separate the engine trans combo, and take as much off the engine as possible for added clearance.
if it is from the parts van, i would get a set of torches and cut a nice wide opening and pull as one piece.

 

i take the bumper off my van. thats a big obsticle. also i drilled the spot welds from the front sheetmetal thing that goes down to the radiator bottom and pull that off.

 

I found the cross member to cowl height to be the main problem. Tilting the engine to clear the bumper and core support was the least of my worries.

 

might be time for a body lift. my vans a 82 so i have lots of clearance. newer ones look tighter.

 

A 1982 IDI??? Really??? Lucky for me I only needed to get the core engine OUT of the van. I would hate to have to put it back in...

 

You'd love the mod engine swaps I've done in vans then. Currently working on replacing a 5.4 with a 6.0 PSD on a 4x4 van with a 4" body lift. Very tight.
In the engine swaps I have done, I always separated the trans first, then strip the top of the engine down and reach the boom right into the valley. On the IDI this includes removing the IP and gear cover.
An alternative method would be to lift the body off. I am going that route when I stud the engine in my van this summer.

 

82 on a 77 chassis, it has a 351w

 

That explains a lot. IDI is waaaaay bigger than the 351W....

 

dont be a baby its not much bigger

 

This is coming out of my parts van. So, yeah, maybe i'll be cutting it up a little. I already removed the bumper and I'm in the process of removing the fenders and inner fenders (in the hopes that I might gain a little more room somehow). I'd like to pull this out without removing the IP, so I'm considering jacking up the body 6 inches off of the frame.

Ideally it'd be nice to pull the tranny out all at once, but it's looking pretty bleak that I'll manage to pull it out considering what everyone is saying here. It looked pretty bad when i was measuring the required oil-pan-to-crossmember clearance compared to the IP-to-bottom-of-engine-roof clearance. They are essentially the same height, so if this is going to happen, I'll have to do the 45 degree lift, then hope allow the oil pan to graze the crossmember. Considering the valve covers are less than an inch from the side walls, this is going to be a pita.

I've already unbolted the torque converter from the wheel, just in case I get the engine out with the tranny. That way I'm not trying to turn the engine while still on the crane.

 

It took me 15 min to drop the C6 out of the motorhome few years back for a rebuilt, that's with 2 guys on it.

For that, I'd take that extra 15-20 min to remove it before pulling the engine, it'll be one less headache to deal with.

Let us know how it goes, i've never pulled an engine out of a van before....never had to (fingers crossed)