So I have a general mechanical question. I got a donor truck with a 300 I6 that has been sitting about 9 years. The C6 transmission is unbolted and backed out about 2" from the engine. The transmission crossmember is unbolted but resting in place to keep the transmission from dropping out. The shift linkage, coolant lines and speedo cable are also disconnected.

I would really like to see if the engine will start and run before removing it from the donor truck. It turns by hand and I have it pickling with some Marvel in the cylinders right now.

My question is: is it possible to get a run on the engine with the transmission removed? The 2 issues I see are that there is no rear mount on the engine so it would have to be fairly balanced fore/aft on the 2 side mounts. And probably more of a problem is - how would I mount the starter to turn the engine over because I think it bolts to the bell housing.

Otherwise, if I bolt up the transmission, how could I be sure it is in the park position before trying to start the engine?

 

Can you pull the torque converter? I would thing the shift arm on the side of the tranny would be pulled up. Can you move it and count the clicks? Lastly get the rear wheels off the ground.

Good luck on the test run.


John

 

If the drive shaft has been remove which it must be if you have the transmission back away from the engine. I would bolt the transmission back and not put the drive shaft in. Then connect the items you need to start it and go to it. A short run will not hurt the transmission. It won't hurt the engine not connected to the radiator as long as you don't run it to long . I always take the fan belt for the water pump off and not run it dry , may or may not damage it.




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Thanks to you both...Exactly the kind of ideas I was looking for. It hadnt even occurred to me that the drive shaft is out so it's not going to lunge thru my garage wall.

So I'll have to bolt up the tranny if for no other reason than to give the starter something to hold onto. I wonder if I went ahead and took out the tranny and then just put the bell housing back on the engine, if the engine would sit balanced enough on the 2 side mounts.

As for cooling - one of the reasons I wanted to get a run on it in the donor truck is because I could leave it hooked up to the radiator. That would give me a better chance to evaluate the engine.

 

A few years ago I made a test stand out of 2X8's so the engine could sit on the mounts with a Ford radiator attached to the front. I attach a flex plate to the back side and the bell housing to bolt the starter to. I used a battery with a solenoid and a push button to start. No alternator needed just run off the battery. I used a 6 gallon boat gas tank and added an electric fuel pump. It worked great. I had temp and oil pressure gauge's and hooked up my tach & dwell meter and timing light. I made the stand wide enough so the engine wouldn't tip over and I mounted 4 heavy duty casters so i could roll it around. For the exhaust I used the H pipes from the exhaust manifolds to just past the H portion then ran flex tubes outside. That worked great.

You can make something like that really cheap and it's a lot easier trying to climb under a truck and re-install the tranny. The best thing is in the winter time firing up the engine for awhile will nicely heat your garage as long as you run the exhaust outside. Be careful of the fan or use an electric fan on the radiator for safety.

You can run it, tune it and have it running purrfectly before you install it in your truck.....

 

Good catch jim collins I didn't think about the ds either.


John

 

I run engines in my garage out of the vehicals all the time. Just got though testing a 60 292 Y-block. I let it sit on the floor hanging under the hoist to help keep it from tipping over . Placed some blocking front and rear and cranked it up. Ran real good for an engine i had stored out side though summer and freezing winter for 10 years. I'm replacing all of the gaskets now so i can set it to run on a stand with a radiator, just to play with.