This write up is intended only to show my process. There are more than one way to do things, and sometimes different ideas help. Im not going to include every little detail,(engine cover removal and every sensor that you disconnect, or every little bolt) I am not a certified mechanic.* This is not a follow along for those with no mechanical experience! Proceed at your own risk!
Thank you to Pray for helping with any questions ive had during this. Also some pics are borrowed from Hurst. If there is a problem with this please PM me and I will remove them ASAP.
This is in Progress atm, so this is subject to change as I finnish up. I will hog the first 4 posts in case I hit a character limit!
Parts/materials
-Anti sieze
-Assembly lube
-Brake cleaner
-8 new flywheel bolts. PN/12563485
-6 new pressure plate bolts. PN/12561465
-10 qts break in oil
-Gm rtv engine sealant
-Oil filter
-Penetrating oil
-Prefered brake fluid (m6)
-Scotch brite pads
-Shop rags
-Thread locker
-Water pump gaskets PN/ 12657430
********************** tools
1-2 helpers
*Access to a hoist
OR
**2 floor jacks, and jack pad
** at least 2 jack stands
**wheel chocks
-5mm shallow
-6mm Allen head socket* (1/4" drive)
-8mm shallow
-10mm deep & shallow
-13mm deep & shallow
-13mm Allen socket
-15mm deep & shallow
-17mm shallow
-18mm shallow and wrench
-22mm shallow
-24mm impact socket
-T25 Torx bit/driver
-T40 Torx
-T50 Torx
-3/8 fuel line disconnect tool
-1/4", 3/8", 1/2" ratchets
-3/8 and 1/2" breaker bars
-3/8 wobble adapters
-Center punch (fairly big)
-Clutch alignment tool (katech has one for $5 under the c6 section)
-Drain pans
-Engine hoist
-Engine stand
-Extensions -various
-Hammer/small mallet
-Harmonic balancer removal kit
-Hydraulic press/drill press
-Impact gun
-Prybar
-Rubber mallet
-Screw driver, flat
-Snap ring pliers
-Shop vac
-Soapstone/chalk/permanent marker (or bright paint marker)
-Torches
-Torque wrenches, in-lbs and ft-lbs
-Trim removal tools
-Zip ties
**This is tailored towards M6s since that is what I have. Autos may not have to do some of these steps**
***Let the car sit for an hour or two before doing this( so the fuel system can depressurize)
Step 1
Lower windows or open at least one door, leave it open. Then disconnect the battery. (If you drop the tranny like me (m6) you'll have to get in the car. You don't want to close the door with the window in the 'up' (sealed) position.
Place a small towel over the trunk latch and lower the trunk. I used a junk microfiber I have just so the trunk won't latch. I stored some parts in my trunk during this project
********* Under the car portion
Step 2
Remove the splash panels, and aluminum shear plate.
Step 3
Remove the coolant expansion tank lid, and drain the radiator. The plug is on the front right side of the car.
Step 4
Disconnect, then remove the (4) 02 sensors. 7/8" wrench and maybe some penetrating oil if their stuck. Remove the (5) 13mm tunnel brace bolts and brace. Remove the exhaust(cats &catback)
Step 5
Make a scribe mark on the drive shaft flange on both ends. Remove the (6) 10mm bolts on the tunnel heat shield. Remove (4) 13mm bolts holding the small tunnel brace. Remove (3)18mm bolts & nuts from each flange. Remove (2)15mm bolts carrier bearing, near the u joint. Remove driveshaft by squeezing the two ends together, careful not to let it fall.(m6)
Step 6.
Grab under the bezel where it meets the leather and give a firm tug straight up. this is the easiest way to remove the bezel. Ive done this 3 times now with no problem, but I don't guarantee something cant go wrong. Alternatively use trim removal tools. Use your T25 to remove the set screw holding the knob, remove bezel and knob. Use a shallow 10mm with a wobble adapter, followed by and extension to get the front (2) bolts. The rear (2) are easy. Now you may either (A.)remove the shift housing(
http://files.dpbrands.com/hurst/inst...ns/3916031.pdf) or (B.) wrap a junk microfiber towel(or similar) around the bare shift rod. This should protect it from scratching later on. A is safe, B is a shortcut I used(no guarantees, your risk)
*****0**** Back to the top! (For now)
Step 6
*it's a good idea to vacuum things off before you remove them*
Unplug the maf sensor (not remove the sensor, just the harness) and remove the cai. I did mine as a whole assembly.
Step 7
Undo the (10) 10mm bolts on the intake manifold. Unplug the map sensor and use caution removing the brake booster line in the rear. I unhook that at the 'Y' below the brake fluid reservoir and carefully snake the IM/TB assembly and line out.
Step 8
Use your fuel disconnect fitting to remove the braided crossover line where it goes into the line on the left side. unhook the fuel injector connectors, remove the (3)17mm wrench high pressure line fittings from the fuel rails and HPFP pump, it may help to loosen the 10mm that holds the HP lines. Unbolt (4)15mm and and remove the rails. *again vacuuming is very good before removing things *
Step 9
Remove the coolant expansion tank once it has drained by removing the small hose from the front and the larger one from the rear. (1) 10mm holds the tank down.
Step 10
Remove spark plug wires, and the dipstick tube. It just has (1) T25 bolt on the right head, and then pulls right out.
Step 11
Scribe both ends of the steering shaft, undo the 13mm bolt near the bottom. simply shove the long piece strait in to the firewall
Step 12
Undo the (5 on each) header manifold bolts. Now you may remove the headers at this time if you want or you may let them sit loose. I let mine sit loose since I have kooks LTs. If you leave them in,* zip tie them out of the way for now.
Step 13
Remove the* (3) heat shield bolts for the starter. Remove the electrical connectors. The power cable one is a PITA, and is probably easier to undo the nut and leave the cable on for now.
Go under the car and remove the (2) 13mm bolts that hold the starter on. Carefully slide it down and guide the power cable off of it. (The one we left earlier)
Step 14
Remove the (20) 10mm valve cover bolts.* Remove the valve cover. Remove the(16) 8mm bolts holding on the rocker arms. Remove rocker arm and push rods. You may also remove the spark plugs ( I did not, but be careful later on)
Step 15
Remove the (2) 13mm bolts/nuts From the back of the left head that holds ground wires on. Remove (2) 13mm from the right side as well. There is a wire hanger on both side that just slides off of a stud. **In the pic below you can see an example of the studs that have little grey wire holders on them. they just slide off of the stud (this ones on the bell housing tho). right under the large black connector
Step 16
Remove the (19) 15mm, and (1) 13mm Allen head, head bolts. (9), plus the (1) will be in with the rocker arms on the left side, (10) will be down by the exhaust manifold.
Step 17
Carefully remove the heads. Wipe/vacuum any coolant out of the cylinder. Dip a clean rag in clean oil and lightly coat the cylinders. (corrosion prevention from the coolant) Once the heads were gone I removed my headers from the bay.
Step 18
Remove ac compressor belt. The gm service procedure is to "roll it off".* Push the belt towards the front of the car and slowly roll the harmonic balancer using a 24mm and a breaker bar or ratchet.* *car must be in neutral.** You may remove the serpentine belt at this time if you want, I did not. The tensioner takes a T50 to depressurize.
Step 19
Undo the ac compressor bracket.* Remove the nut from the top stud, (2) bolts up top, (1)13mm underneath by the sway bar. This one it's almost necessary to remove (4) 13mm nuts on the sway bar, and loosen(1) 19mm on each endlink of the sway bar. Then swing it down. then use a 5mm to remove the stud up top. slide the compressor off and tie it out of the way.
Step 20
Remove all remaining connectors, and coolant hoses as you go
Step 21.
Time to bring in our helpers (if they arent already) Remove the hood. 2 bolts on each side. 2 people can do this.
Step 22
I staggered my chain for the engine hoist. I used the 2nd from front on one side and the middle on the other so it would tilt backwatds as i came up(see pic)* (m6)* use 2 of the old head bolts, and tighten all the way down* (don't torque, you just need all the threads in there) Snug the chains.
Doing this method means you will have to lift the engine higher, so you need the boom as low as it will safely go towards your car. i did this with the car on jackstands the whole time.
Step 23
Undo the motor mounts. There are (3) on each side that go into the block.* Do the higher ones that look hard to get to first! The motor may shift/roll a little and make them more difficult later. Wobble extensions are nice here. you may have to remove the lower piece. im not sure, i had to, but i would do it different if i could.
Step 25
Double, triple check you have removed all electrical connections and various hoses from the engine.
Step 27
Remove the bell housing bolts. There are (9). All but one are easy to get to, but the one is very easy with a long extension (s) and a wobble extension.* It's on the right side by the firewall* (see pic)
Step 28
Now is a good time for the 2 helpers. Use the rubber mallet/ light jacking/pry bar to get separation started. JUST STARTED. The m6 will not separate without tilting the motor/trans. (Or at least I couldn't figure it out. The oil pan will hit on the k member which means it won't get enough separation.
Edit: this looks way nicer. Start at 9:30. I'm sure this could still be done with 2 Jack's and some buddys
https://youtu.be/1KL862z9mFM
Step29
Use a jack on the front and rear to support the trans. Undo the trans crossmember/mount (4) hold it to the chassis. If you didnt remove the shift housing earlier, you could now. use the link above and follow the hurst instructions.
*Important note!* you need to remove one trans cooling line, some electrical connectors. And disconnect the line for the slave cylinder. My brother did the slave cylinder and he doesent remember if the trans needed to be lowered slightly or not. Proceed with extreme caution!!
Step 30
Slowly and carefully are important.
Slowly lower the rear of the trans while lifting the front of the motor* (this is why we used the 2nd from front holes!)* This will involve 3 jacks being used almost simultaneously. (The 2 holding the trans, and the engine hoist)
* As the rear of the trans comes down, the front of the motor must go up. This will make the rear of the motor go down, which means lowering the jack thats near the bell housing.
Step 31
Once we had the rear jack about as low as it would go, and it looked like the oil pan would clear, we left one person under to support the trans and had 2 people up top to Finnish separating the engine and trans. Once seperated we braced the trans so it wouldn't fall, and eased the motor up out of the bay!
I bolted my trans back to the car.
Congrats! You just removed the motor from your still pretty new car!