First time 460 removal
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 331
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From: Courtenay, BC, Canada
First time 460 removal
Hey guys,
While I am not a complete noob with autos, this is the first time I have tried to pull a motor out of an old ford. Everything was going great, I removed the carb, accessories, disconnected the wiring harness, removed the radiator...
THEN I went to remove the starter. It's two 1/2 inch bolts are stuck. I tried tapping the bolt heads with a hammer (I don't like to do that to a starter), spraying them with penetrating oil & waiting. I can't fit a breaker bar or my impact wrench in there. It appears to me that the starter needs to come off in order for me to separate the transmission and engine.
I am at the point where I may just try to pull the motor, starter, and transmission out of the truck and then work on separating them. If I consider this route I am concerned about the weight of the tranny and engine on any cherry picker I try to rent for the removal. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to tackle this dilema would be much appreciated.
While I am not a complete noob with autos, this is the first time I have tried to pull a motor out of an old ford. Everything was going great, I removed the carb, accessories, disconnected the wiring harness, removed the radiator...
THEN I went to remove the starter. It's two 1/2 inch bolts are stuck. I tried tapping the bolt heads with a hammer (I don't like to do that to a starter), spraying them with penetrating oil & waiting. I can't fit a breaker bar or my impact wrench in there. It appears to me that the starter needs to come off in order for me to separate the transmission and engine.
I am at the point where I may just try to pull the motor, starter, and transmission out of the truck and then work on separating them. If I consider this route I am concerned about the weight of the tranny and engine on any cherry picker I try to rent for the removal. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to tackle this dilema would be much appreciated.
Senior User
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 494
Likes: 1
I really don't have anything to add to this, as I have never pulled one either, but I am interested in the process, so want to subscribe to this thread and see the answers. If I were to guess, I am thinking grinding or cutting off the bolts and worrying about it later, but that's why I read this stuff, just to see how stupid I would have been if left to my own devices...
Lead Driver
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 8,922
Likes: 153
Hey guys,
While I am not a complete noob with autos, this is the first time I have tried to pull a motor out of an old ford. Everything was going great, I removed the carb, accessories, disconnected the wiring harness, removed the radiator...
THEN I went to remove the starter. It's two 1/2 inch bolts are stuck. I tried tapping the bolt heads with a hammer (I don't like to do that to a starter), spraying them with penetrating oil & waiting. I can't fit a breaker bar or my impact wrench in there. It appears to me that the starter needs to come off in order for me to separate the transmission and engine.
I am at the point where I may just try to pull the motor, starter, and transmission out of the truck and then work on separating them. If I consider this route I am concerned about the weight of the tranny and engine on any cherry picker I try to rent for the removal. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to tackle this dilema would be much appreciated.
While I am not a complete noob with autos, this is the first time I have tried to pull a motor out of an old ford. Everything was going great, I removed the carb, accessories, disconnected the wiring harness, removed the radiator...
THEN I went to remove the starter. It's two 1/2 inch bolts are stuck. I tried tapping the bolt heads with a hammer (I don't like to do that to a starter), spraying them with penetrating oil & waiting. I can't fit a breaker bar or my impact wrench in there. It appears to me that the starter needs to come off in order for me to separate the transmission and engine.
I am at the point where I may just try to pull the motor, starter, and transmission out of the truck and then work on separating them. If I consider this route I am concerned about the weight of the tranny and engine on any cherry picker I try to rent for the removal. Any thoughts or suggestions on how to tackle this dilema would be much appreciated.
Posting Guru
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 1,052
Likes: 0
From: Out of Bounds
I'm picking up a 460 with C6, starter, and the entire works still assembled. Almost any cherry picker can handle this package. Even the imports. If you can't get a wrench in there to use effectively, pulling the entire thing might get you a better perspective.
More Turbo
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 644
Likes: 28
From: Hobart, WA
Always better to use a breaker bar rather than a ratchet in these situations. Less chance of breakage = less chance of removing the skin off your knuckles and inventing new swear words in front of your 3-year old daughter.
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Joined: Jan 2006
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From: Waterloo IL
I cant see where this would be that big of a deal. You say you can't fit a breaker bar or impact up there. Trying an impact swivel between the socket and a long extension then attach either the breaker bar or imact to the extension.
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Just have to be brave and not worry about scraping your skin or busting some knuckles. Hesitating to really pull on the ratchet is what's getting ya.
And I wouldn't worry about breaking a quality ratchet. Craftsman quality on up can take some abuse, even 3/8" ratchets with 4 foot cheater pipes.
Other than that if this is a 4 speed manual (I assume from the signature) you can leave the transmission and just unbolt it from the bellhousing and yank the engine and bellhousing as a unit.
Josh
And I wouldn't worry about breaking a quality ratchet. Craftsman quality on up can take some abuse, even 3/8" ratchets with 4 foot cheater pipes.
Other than that if this is a 4 speed manual (I assume from the signature) you can leave the transmission and just unbolt it from the bellhousing and yank the engine and bellhousing as a unit.
Josh
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 331
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From: Courtenay, BC, Canada
Thanks for the replies guys. I think I'm going to just pull the whole unit. It works out better for me to have the tranny out of the way anyhow. I am going to be doing some pretty extensive repair work on the firewall and floor boards.
Cargo Master
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 3,038
Likes: 4
From: South west Idaho
You may have a problem getting high enough with a cherry picker with the transmission attached , to clear the fire wall and the radiator mount, I just put a 460 in my f-100 with a c/6 , but I had the front radiator mount and grill removed to do some other repairs. 
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Courtenay, BC, Canada
I've already removed the radiator core support Jim. Good point though. If I had not pulled the core support out of the way I doubt a cherry picker would lift the motor-tranny assembly high enough.
Thread Starter
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Senior User
Joined: Aug 2009
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From: Courtenay, BC, Canada
Well all of the transmission and engine mounting bolts are off.
OK for my next newbie question I would like to ask you guys about the tailstock to drive shaft connection. Can I just pull the engine and transmission assembly forward and separate this assembly from the drive shaft? OR would anyone recommend disconnecting the differential and then pulling the drive shaft out of the transmission first before pulling the engine & tranny?
OK for my next newbie question I would like to ask you guys about the tailstock to drive shaft connection. Can I just pull the engine and transmission assembly forward and separate this assembly from the drive shaft? OR would anyone recommend disconnecting the differential and then pulling the drive shaft out of the transmission first before pulling the engine & tranny?
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 302
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How's it coming along so far? If you have the core support & everything else off the truck, just ****** it all out & do whatever you need to do! I put a 460/C6 in my '72 w/ all the pulleys & accessories still on(aside from the fan) AND the radiator was still bolted in! Didn't even scratch any paint. However, I can't say that I'd want to do it again that way.