[Dubchitts]

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!

[Dubchitts]

Step 32
We hooked another chain to the back of the motor now and had 2 people lift the back of it while one hooked the chain to the existing One! Now the engine is hanging level enough to mount it to our engine stand.
My engine stand will not allow my flywheel to stay on the motor. Remove the pressure plate and clutch. Remove one flywheel bolt and make some kind of scribe mark on that hole. You need to line this up exactly as it came off when you re-install. Remove the rest of the bolts and the flywheel. Make your scribe mark more visible if you have to.

Now mount your engine to the stand. I had to buy 3" bolts for this as the bell housing ones are too short for my stand.

Step 33
Remove the serpentine belt and ac belt( if you haven't already)* and tensioner. (1)13mm bolt and (1) 15mm bolt.
Step 34
Remove the alternator bracket bolts. Remove alternator and bracket as one (2)13mm bolts and (1)15mm bolt on the front and (1)13mm on the side of the block.

Step 35
Remove the line retainer and the bolt that hold the oil cooler feed line in place. Remove the (6)13mm water pump assembly bolts. Remove the assembly.

Step 36
Grab your torch set. Heat the crank bolt for 15-20 seconds. Nothing crazy. Using an impact and a 24mm socket, remove the crank bolt.
Now use your harmonic balancer remover to pull it off.

Step 37
Carefully remove the electrical connectors around the cam. (1)10mm the sensor on the right side(this one doesnt need to be unplugged). (1) 13mm will let you remove the harness when their all unhooked.
Remove the (3)T30 and gently remove the small cover

Step 38
Remove (12) 13mm bolts from the front timing cover. (2) are under and come through the oil pan. Carefully pry around the gasket surface to remove. *support this at ALL times, as it has a wire hooked on the inside. Once loose I tied mine to the side of the block so the wire has slack in it still.

Step 39
remove the (2) 13mm bolts for the HPFP and remove. Remove the remaining 13mm bolts for the valley cover and remove the cover. Place shop towels in the bottom of the valley, covering all holes.( the DoD plugs are very easy to drop!!!!) Grab your DoD plugs and a small hammer. Gently tap them in until they are fully seated and there is a solid thud from the hammer. remove (1) 13mm from the fuel pump lifter tray and remove the lifter.

Step 40
remove (4) 10mm bolts holding the 4 lifter trays in. remove trays and lifters

Step 41
Put #1 cylinder (front right piston when standing in front of the engine) at TDC, so that the arrow on the cam gear points straight down at the same time. use a marker to draw an exact reference line on the oil pump. I also drew one in relation to the keyway on the crank.
Loosen the (4) 13mm bolts of the oil pump. Only loosen as you cant remove it anyway (without dropping the oil pan)
Now, as your looking at your cam gear, use a screwdriver to pry the tensioner on the left all the way over. There is a small hole in the top you can use to "pin" the tensioner out of the way. now carefully pull the cam gear forward and down and slightly to the right. begin working the chain around on the right side until its off. I used a small srewdriver seated between the teeth to very gently pry the chain. This helped alot. Remove cam gear

Step 42
Remove (4)T40 bolts holding the plate around the cam. gently remove the cam. make sure all bearings look good inside. Apply assembly lube to the new cam and carefully slide it in. Apply thread locker to the T40 bolts and re-install the plate.

Step 43
Install cam phaser limiter (refer to instructions included with it. Be very careful and FOLLOW the directions to the letter). The kit i bought from Pray had one block inside the comp cams kit. You wont be using that one. The bigger one that is in a plastic bag by itself is the one you want to install(the 0* block). Install cam gear. making sure to get your scribe/timing marks lined up again.

Step 44
Apply assembly lube to new lifters, install them into the new trays. Carefully wiggle the new trays/lifters into their new home. Pop the lash cap on top of the fuel lifter. Apply assembly lube to fuel pump lifter and re install that and the tray. Re install the valley cover, and HPFP.

Step 45
Clean your gasket surfaces on the timing cover and the small portion of oil pan, then remove the front crank seal and install the new one. apply your gm rtv to the timing cover and install. This stuff has no directions on it other than you have 20 minutes to do whatever your doing. Room temperature must be above 65*. mine came with a handy little metal roller. (full cure time is 24 hrs)

Step 46
begin working backwords to put your motor back together. torque specs are available as a pdf on post 4! ***DONT FORGET TO PUT THAT DAMN DIPSTICK GUIDE BACK IN BEFORE TIGHTENING THE PASSENGER SIDE HEADER DOWN!!!!!

This is where I'm going to skip around a bit.

Crank pulley:
The crank pulley bolt torques to 243ft lbs if re-using the crank bolt. If using a new one it has a goofy sequence (according to my service manual). 111ft-lbs, loosen 360 degrees, 59ft lbs (yes 59), tighten 125 degrees. (This sucker is on there!) This will require a way to hold the crank stationary and a long breaker bar.

I made a tool out of flat stock, and welded some bar stock to it. I placed my flywheel on it and traced out 4 holes, drilled them and bolted it where the flywheel goes. If your engine stand allows you to keep your flywheel on, a flywheel stop tool will work. I hooked the engine hoist to the front of my motor while I did this so I wasn't prying hard on the rotating part of the engine stand.

Flywheel
When you install your flywheel it's nice to have a second pair of hands. I didn't. If you don't, grab your flywheel and have at least two new bolts within arms reach. Line your flywheel up exactly how it was when it came off. Hold with one hand and start a bolt. Just get it started a few threads, then start a second. Be very careful, this sucker is heavy and awkward to hold with one hand. (I didn't check but there may be a fancy tool to hold it up for you. Maybe it's just called a friend ).

Use the pictures in post 4(under the link for the torque specs) for the tightening sequence. This is important since you're pressing the flywheel on to the crank. I used a sharpie and numbered the holes in case the crank/flywheel rotated on me.

These torque in 3 passes. 11 ft-lbs, then 26, then 57.

Pressure plate/clutch.
Place your clutch then pressure plate. start 6 new
bolts. Grab your clutch alignment tool, insert it and begin torquing your bolts The pressure plate goes in 3 sequences as well. 11ft lbs -26 -52. (pic also in post 4).

Transmission/engine coupling
For this we tipped the engine and trans the same way as when we took it out. We got the input shaft centered and started in as far as we could. Then I used the 3"bolts (that bolted my engine on to the engine stand) to align and start to draw the two together.

I stacked enough washers that I could get about 1/4" of the threads into the motor. We put a total of (4) of the longer bolts in, every other hole. Then I tightened them a little at a time all the way around until they bottomed out. At this point we backed one off a little bit, stuck the open end of a wrench between two of the washers and tightened it down again. (the extra wrench served as another spacer without taking the bolt all the way out).

At this point I could start an actual bell housing bolt in. I repeated the open end wrench trick on the opposite corner and at that point, I could start 3 other bell housing bolts. Tighten them a little, and switch out the (4)longer bolts with bell housing bolts. I'll post a pic later, showing where the bolts with "wire hanger studs" go.

Coolant Fill/bleeding
I ordered this kit
OEMTOOLS 24444 Cooling System Refiller Kit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BW39HJS..._jJ0GAbVF6PTEB.

Take a clean 5 gallon bucket, and pour about 4 gallons in it. (it holds 3.69G but this ensures suction of fluid until full.
The 40mm adapter seems to fit, but it wouldn't seal on mine, so I used the cone adapter and it worked perfectly.

Hook your shop air (mine was 120psi) to it and open valve 1 and 2 in order. Let it vacuum to at least 24in hg, close valves 1 and 2. Wait at least 20 seconds to make sure the needle doesn't move. If it does you have a leak and it needs to be fixed. If it doesn't, open valve 3 and let it suck coolant.

Clutch Bleeding
I ordered this kit and a new cap for the brake/clutch resevoir. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B073LMMJ4P..._UT0GAb0TTFMAX
I'll post more once it do it, but it looks like you stick a fitting attetched to a little vacuum pump in the orifice in the brake/clutch fluid reservoir and out a draw on it. It sucks out the air then

[Dubchitts]

Tools
*22mm socket
*Center punch preferably one with a larger or mushroomed hammer contact surface
*Drill press/hydraulic press
*Hammer



Step 1.
Take a rocker and place it on a 22mm socket with the notched side down, and the round side up.

Step 2
Center a punch on it, and give it a few good smacks until the bottom bearing comes out

Step 3
Flip the rocker, so the "notched" side is up, and use the mushroomed side of the punch and center it on the inside of the remaining bearing.
Repeat 15 more times

Step 4
Place the rocker on your press so that the notches are on bottom again.(I used a drill press) Place a bearing on the rocker as flat as you can. THE WRITING MUST ALWAYS BE FACING OUT. Press it in

Step 5
Flip the rocker, and slide a new trunion in. Place one of the supplied thick black washers under it. Place another bearing on top as flat as possible with the writing facing out! i pressed mine in a little so it was seated flush on the new trunion, THEN i put the other thick black washer on top of it. IMO this made centering the top washer much easier so i wouldnt risk burring the new trunion.

Step 6
test that it now rotates smoothly. Put a snap ring on each side, and repeat 15 times

[Dubchitts]

Here are torque specs for this project
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets...pub?output=pdf

And some torque patters

Flywheel


Pressure plate


Head Bolts


Header bolts

[nasbagoat]

Can you not do a cam job in the car? Forgive my ignorance if not, the last car I did that kind of work on was a GTO and it was very doable in the car.

[Dubchitts]

Originally Posted by nasbagoat

Can you not do a cam job in the car? Forgive my ignorance if not, the last car I did that kind of work on was a GTO and it was very doable in the car.

It is possible but you have less room to work. The oil pump is in front of the crank gear, so it's not even visible. Fighting the chain off is a little tricky

[MP3BOOSTED]

I wish I saw this thread while I was doing my cam install, that damn crank bolt would NOT come out.

[Dubchitts]

Originally Posted by MP3BOOSTED

I wish I saw this thread while I was doing my cam install, that damn crank bolt would NOT come out.

I borrowed a 1/2 drive impact with 650ft lbs breaking torque that wouldn't do it lol. A little heat and it came easy

[oldman]

Thanks for the write-up. so you did NOT drop the pan at all, even with the engine out?.


My thinking is to scribe new cam marks for tdc on top of the cam gear and block. With the engine on TDC I don't have to worry about putting the cam back in correctly. I'm thinking of yanking the radiator, a/c condenser and front fascia.

[Dubchitts]

Originally Posted by oldman

Thanks for the write-up. so you did NOT drop the pan at all, even with the engine out?.


My thinking is to scribe new cam marks for tdc on top of the cam gear and block. With the engine on TDC I don't have to worry about putting the cam back in correctly. I'm thinking of yanking the radiator, a/c condenser and front fascia.

I did not drop the oil pan. it can be done in car, but know that the oil pump is in front of the crank gear. The timing chain removal is a bit tricky, and if it comes off of the crank gear it's a pita to get back on.

I'm going to try and figure out the pics again later, if they don't work I may make it a downloadable pdf

[oldman]

I assume by looking at all this, there is no way to change the lifters out without taking off the head, please confirm. Meaning only AFM compatible cams can be done with no head removal.

[Dubchitts]

Originally Posted by oldman

I assume by looking at all this, there is no way to change the lifters out without taking off the head, please confirm. Meaning only AFM compatible cams can be done with no head removal.

Correct.

[oldman]

I'm slowly doing my own cam and heads, I was just going with cam, but heck I'd be limited to AFM compatible unless I swapped the lifters and to do that I have to pull the head.
So plan of attack is to take off the heads on the car. Have a look see, then either I pull the front clip and change the cam from the front
OR
take the M6 out of the car at which point it will be candy to pull the engine
OR
drop the front K member two to three inches, lower the trans then pull the entire motor and trans out
OR
drop the cross member, support the engine with beam across the strut tower, drop the pan.

[Dubchitts]

Originally Posted by oldman

OR
take the M6 out of the car at which point it will be candy to pull the motor

This is pretty much what I did. You have to have it on one hell of an angle to get the trans to clear the firewall enough to separate.

[QUOTE=oldman;10041738]

drop the front K member two to three inches, lower the trans then pull the entire motor and trans out
/QUOTE]
This is an interesting idea and may give enough clearance to get enough separation without the oil pan hitting on the k member.