In the not too distant future (I am hoping this year) I am going to swap out the engine in my 92 F150, 351W. I know (at least I think) that to remove the old engine I need to take off the upper intake manifold so that I can disconnect the connectors on teh injectors. But I think this is the only reason why I need to remove the intake manifold. And when I put in the new motor I need to put on the intake last.

Well, it'd be a lot easier if I could put on the intake manifolds while I have the engine on the engine stand. Is there a plug or connector I can use for my injector wiring such that I could connect the injectors to their plugs, install the intake manifold, put in the new engine into the truck and then connect a connector or something for the injector wires? Sure would seem a lot easier that way.

Thoughts?

 

Should be able to unhook the harness for the motor it is a smaller separate harness least on my 94 it is. And leave it on the motor.

 

You can pull the whole engine out with out pulling the upper intake with a 302. Never tried it with a 351w. I used a rope loop under the intake and hooked that to a fork lift to pull it out. To pull the engine, you are going to need to drop the exhaust off the manifolds, pull the radiator, and front accessories. The ground for the battery, the O2 sensor and all the vaccum lines that attach off of the engine. Then the two motor mount studs, and the 6 big bell housing bolts and dont forget the 2 little ones on the very bottom(they will hold the engine in!). Then the starter. I can have an engine out of my truck in about 2 hours. Not to hard.

 

Don't mean to doubt you since it seems like you have done this a lot before but are you sure you can't remove the engine without needing to remove the exhaust and accessories? I ask because sure looks like I have a lot of room in the engine compartment and I thought it could be done that way.

The exhaust for me will be the hardest, I have headers and it is a tight fit. If I do need to remove the accessories, that won't be a challenge, just adds more time.

 

I have a 1992 F-150 with the 351W like you. When I pulled my engine I removed the hood. Just mark where it is before you pull it off for easier alignment when reaasembling.

I left the entire engine assembled. I pulled the exhaust connections at the Y-pipe, pulled the plug on the main wiring harness, disconnected the fuel lines from the rail, disconnected a few vacuum lines, removed the rad and set the A/C compressor to the side without disconnecting it, and unbolted the tranny from the engine. I am sure there is a few things that I am forgetting but I then just lifted out the entire engine assembled.

I wrapped a HD web harness around the whole engine in a choker setup and had no issues. I don't think that I would trust just lifting it out using the upper intake as the point of lifting.

The other poster is right though, if you go in organized with all that you need you can have the engine out in just a few hours. It really is not that difficult.

 

I second pulling the hood off, just makes maneuvering the hoist that much easier.

 

Short version:

Remove hood, pull the radiator, unhook harness and exhaust at the manifolds, drop the starter and unbolt tranny. Support tranny with a jack and separate it from the engine. Pull the fan assy off the water pump. Remove power steering, ac, etc from front of engine. The motor can now be hoisted out. You will need to lift - pull - lift - pull a little at a time to get it clear of the firewall and crossmember.

 

Also, shorty headers should be able to be left on, if you have long tubes, thats a different story.

 

I have shorty headers on this truck.

Where is the best place to connect a strap/chain to the motor when I lift it out and put it back in? When it goes back in, it will have aluminum heads.

 

to pull it, you can use accessory bolts as chain anchors in the front. i used a head bolt for the rear just cuz it was easiest for me at the time. with aluminum heads, i'd only use headbolts (threaded into the block) to anchor the chain.