Pulling motor and tranny

[ONEBAD78TA]

So how would you guys pull a Pontiac motor out of a 78 trans am ? Engine and tranny together,,or just the engine,,and how many hours should a shop take to do it? I would pull them both at the same time,,the guy who is working on my car pulled the distributor ,oil filter mount and all of the pulleys brackets alternator power steering pump of an engine he new I was selling,,and the motor ran like a Swiss watch,,so I'm pretty pissed ,,and want to get an idea on how much a GOOD REPUTABLE SHOP WOULD CHARGE,,,he even dropped a zipp tie in the distributor whole as an added bonus so I ended having to pull it all apart and now have a garage ornament that I will rebuild later ,

[ONEBAD78TA]

Here is the motor,,so it doesn't get any easier than this huh.

[jarhead]

never done it on a GM so take it with a grain of salt.

I would remove anything that will be in the way like the radiator...

You may need one of those adapters on your engine hoist that allows you to move the engine front to back because you will need to tilt it when you get to a certain point. Drain your trans or all the fluid will go everywhere (if that wasn't already apparent).

I have always just unbolted the trans because it was easier for me. But with a Ford top loader it isn't a problem, or a C4. Don't know what trans you have on that GM.

EDIT: you may be able to get that zip tie out with one of this claw things
http://www.amazon.com/Flexible-Claw-Pick-Automotive-Mechanic/dp/B000RB7AGY

[ONEBAD78TA]

yea,,, I agree,,I would remove only what had to be removed,I could have done it better than him when I was in 8th grade auto shop,,,let alone now,,I guess that will teach me to pay someone to do something just because Im being lazy.I tried one of those and I stiil couldnt get it out,,it got wedged in between the crank and the block,oh well now I have a back up motor.Im just hopeing he doesnt try to charge me more than 6 hours for the work.:bigun2:

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Automatics are easy to disconnect and just pull the engine separate.

[ONEBAD78TA]

yes ,but if your supposed to pull them both out why not yank em both at the same time.

[TheJDMan]

I don't understand the point of this thread.

[ONEBAD78TA]

I hired a guy to build my car and he was to pull the motor and tranny because I'm putting new running gear in it ,,,he pulled the engine out by its self wich is wasting time in my opinion,,,but he also took off all the brackets, pulleys,alternator,power steering pump,distributor,oil filter mount, when he knew I was going to sell the engine and tranny complete,,then he is trying to charge me a rediculous amount of labor,,,so I was trying to get a general idea of what you guys thought was fair for labor ,,,BUT now he won't even give me a break down of his hours,,so I think he realizes he overdid screwing me and he will soon see my lawyer is also aware of his BS. When you are pulling an engine that is to be sold as ready to run engine you shouldn't pull out the distributor..anyways these shops that supplement there income by screwing people should be careful because you never know who your screwing over and the money they can and will spend just to proov a point...now this isn't the only messed up thing this guy did he managed to put 3 different dents / scratches in the car and when confronted about it he acted like it was no big deal and damage is to be expected,,,well maybe on some peoples cars but I don't think it's cool at all.I just don't get what he is thinking when a guy comes in willing to dump 60k into a car that is already really nice,,and then tries to ripp him off ,,it's not going to be good for his reputation and probably his business bond.OOOPS SORRY WAS I RANTING ON..Hope that helps to understand

[GregWeld]

It's kind of a pointless question because it all depends.... depends on what you asked him to do... For me - I'd remove the entire front end and do the job right - but not if I was only going to want the motor out and the tranny was staying with the car...

Frankly -- on these cars -- it's damn near as easy to drop the subframe out and roll the motor and trans and sub all out in one friggin' piece... But then that would depend on what you were doing with the interior and subframe etc.

What I'm saying is -- we didn't hear the original conversation/discussion... so it's pretty hard to assume what you wanted done from our side of things.

If the car was at my house (shed) I'd have the motor out of there in half a day - so figure 4 or 5 hours... but again. It depends on what the eventual project was going to entail.... as that would determine what came out and what stayed and how nice the paint is - and whether or not I knew you were going in for a full body off - and the paint didn't matter....

On my buddies '56 that is spectacular paint - we spent a day just preparing the car to pull the front sheet metal off. And that's two guys 6 or so hours each... or 12 billable hours. But he also has about a 40K paint job (in black) so we didn't care about time - we cared about being careful.

[GregWeld]

BTW -- A guy should ALWAYS stuff a clean rag in any holes created when disassembling a motor. Or clean the area so it's grease free and tape it up.

To remove the zip tie -- you should have only needed to remove the intake or the pan....

[Vince@Meanstreets]

yes ,but if your supposed to pull them both out why not yank em both at the same time.

because all I read was "So how would you guys pull a Pontiac motor out of a 78 trans am ?"

Ok, if it was me, I'd put the car up on the rack, dump the exhaust, remove the drive shaft and pull the trans. Then pull the engine out the top. Its cat skinning and every job is different. If I was doing the subframe or it its a painted car where the hood has to be removed I would have dumped it as an assembly like Greg said.

You can pull the engine and trans as an assembly but by the time you wipe up all the trans fluid that dumped out of the tail shaft I'd be done with the whole job and half way home.

[DBasher]

Scary to think you're just getting started with the shop and a 60k build....He's already scratched it and played it off like it's no big deal? Now you guys are disputing hours over a motor/tranny pull out?

One of you guys need to run away, just not sure who:bang:

If it was me, I wouldn't want someone telling me how to do my job. Whatever I pulled off the motor would go right back on once it was sitting on the floor and I wouldn't have left the zip tie in the motor.

Good luck.

[Vince@Meanstreets]

Scary to think you're just getting started with the shop and a 60k build....He's already scratched it and played it off like it's no big deal? Now you guys are disputing hours over a motor/tranny pull out?

One of you guys need to run away, just not sure who:bang:

If it was me, I wouldn't want someone telling me how to do my job. Whatever I pulled off the motor would go right back on once it was sitting on the floor and I wouldn't have left the zip tie in the motor.

Good luck. yep, amazing what people get away with now days.

[ONEBAD78TA]

thanks guys,,,yea I figured about 6 hours too,,,and as far as the zip tie removal I guess I just was pissed that he didnt cover the holes cause thats exactly what I would do too,,but after I had the intake,valley pan,oil pan off,,I was like screw it Im gonna go through it..And yes Im in the process of taking the car out of the shop,,but Im going to run into some problems because he also cut out my 8 point cage ( without talking to me ) and put in a full nascar type cage,,and im sure hes going to want a pretty penny for that.:bang:

[TheJDMan]

he also cut out my 8 point cage ( without talking to me ) and put in a full nascar type cage

I have a hard time believing that. I can't imagine any shop doing that much work without it being agreed to first.

[ONEBAD78TA]

Ok,,, Well Then Would You Believe That I Paid Him For An Art Morrison Tringulated 4-link Kit $4200 bucks,,,and On His Last Invoice To Me He Charged Me For The Lower Housing Mount,and The Lower Coilover Housing Mount,And he is building a rear end for the car when the 4-link kit comes with a rear end..I am sure he is racking up the hours on something that he shouldnt even be doing. Can you say SCAMMER.

[ONEBAD78TA]

AND 1 MORE THING I DONT BS.:snapout:

[DBasher]

Years ago when I went through my apprenticeship, I had to take classes for communication and public speaking. I suggest you check with the local junior college or votech and do the same....It's clear you and the shop are not on the same page with what needs to be done. This all could have been avoided with better communication.

Again, :bang:

[ONEBAD78TA]

Yea I understand why people would have some disbelief with this and trust me I have tried to deal with this guy and I am amazed that someone could so blatently try to extort Cash out of someone,but me and my lawyer have ( 0 ) doubt he is up to no good and trying to take me for all the cash he can ,,,its sad but true,,we are currently just trying to get my car out of his shop,,and transport the car to a more reputable shop. THIS IS SUPPOSED TO BE FUN:bang:

[GregWeld]

That would be my suggestion -- chalk it up to picking a bum shop.... get the car and get the heck out of there. You may be in for a protracted fight. You're probably not the first guy he's had a run in with.

[ONEBAD78TA]

My lawyer seems to think he won't put up much of a fight when he realizes he has been busted red handed for burning me,,I agree first thing is to get the car out of there,,,,well at least I got some good news today Butler Pontiac is done machining my motor and it's going into assembly and will be done in a couple weeks,,they are going to be doing pics and videos of everything and a video of the dyno runs,,,it seems like mine will be one of they firsts pulls in there new dyno room.:whenitsdone: