pulling a motor from a snub nose van

k folks.. getting ready to pull the 261 in my van to replace with a 350 / 305 / 250.. depends on which one I come home with. anywho.. I have to pull the 261 from it.. anyone pull a motor from a snub nose van where the motor has to come out forward or down? any tips, advice? do's don'ts. I have to do this outdoors so its gonna **** regardless, so some help would be great.

 

what kind of van ? .... I have pulled a lot of engines.

 

He said it's a 261 so I would ***ume it's an old step van, not the more modern one.

 

a van with absolutly no hood... its a 55... here it is

 

I don't know if it will help with this, but when a friend swapped the engine in my 69 GMC van, he just removed the seats, drilled out the spot welds on the engine enclosure, stuck the engine hoist through the door, and pulled it out that way. Then bolted the enclosure back in around the new engine (used bolts in case it ever needed to be done again).

 

Are you planning on taking it out the front or out the side? If the six is dead you may want to pull the head and manifold to get it's profile lower and then you could make a plate like one of the plates that bolts to the carb bolts on a V8 intake that would bolt to about 4 head bolt holes and have a tab that hooked to the cherry picker in place of the chain. I've done vans and motorhome engine swaps by hooking the engine plate directly to the bolt that the chain normally hooks on on the cherry picker. It doesn't give you any wiggle room like the chain does but gets the profile down to where you can clear things going in or out.
The other way is to take it out the side door with the cherry picker if you have room.

 

First step would be to look it over real good. The grille and stuff might come out and if the top of the engine is lower than the top of the hole it left, you should be able to pull it out the front like Mr48chev said. Hopefully you won't have to pull the head, but if there's a removeable cover inside the van that would make it easier to do.

 

That's an aluminum body. I'd be real tempted to lift it off the frame. 6 guys and 12 beers should do it.

 

I was at the local chevy dealership sometime in the late 70's or early 80's, they were pulling the motor/trans from a new van. Had the front of that ****er about 5 feet in the air and the power pack/front suspension was comming out from the bottom.

 

hmm that plate idea sounds like a winner. can take the oil pan off too... that should give me the wiggle room I need. and hopefully I come home with a v8 of lower profile so i wont have to dis***emble it to get it in. anyone have any other suggestions to make this job **** less?

 

Well as I mentioned before I have pulled a 454 out of a Southwind motorhome and a 360 out my Dodge van that way. Tight fit but it can be done.

 

thought about that too... except I would use hi-lift jacks and drop the motor into a little red wagon lol that's last case scenario though....

 

oh yeah and the plan is to take the motor out from the front....

 

If you'd take some nice pics of the van, inside and out, looking at it from the perspective of the hoist, it would sure help us figure it out. It's not like I've seen the inside of one of those things less than 28 years ago.

 

I pulled a 454 out of a Gruman step van and it is hard to do, on the ground with minimal tools. I ended up cutting the radiator support and anything else out of the way. I wasn't going to use the van, so no biggy. I could never figure out how he got that engine in there with out having the body off.

 

oh cmon jim.. I thought you were able to pull just about any automotive fact off the top of your head... I thought you were the automotive encyclopedia. hehe If I get to taking pictures before hand I will post em.. This shouldn't be too hard compared to say pulling a v10 from a ford... (can ya believe ya have to lift the cab off those ****ers to get the motor out! lol)

 

65 Chevy Van-- raise the van up on stands and lower the engine down on a floorjack.

 

Flat front Dodge van,318 V8,auto,lift up truck,drop engine out the bottom,did it all by myself.Not like Overhaulin with 12 monkeys trying to do it through the door!!!! ROY.

 

This is a step van, not a snub nose van...it has a full frame.

 

It might come out the front if you remove manifolds and head first. Stuffing that V8 might require the same treatment.
You know, going thru this hell, I sure hope it's a new engine going in. New mounts, etc as well.

 

I don't know how similar yours is to the Econolines and A-100s, but those you can either drop the engine out through the bottom, or take it out through the barn doors. I opted for dropping mine out through the bottom. You don't need to lift the truck that high, either. You just need to start tilting the engine to the side as it goes down, until it's laying on its side, the roll it out on a dolly. It only took a couple of minutes.

 

His step van has two crossmembers under the engine, they're riveted to the frame.

 

oh yeah.. there is a cross member below the engine.. I forgot about that... so its either out from the front.. or through the sliding door... I am gonna go look at that...

 

If the "doghouse" comes off, then out the door would probably be easiest.

 

With the right tools, ANYTHING can come off.

 

Dude, that door is HUGE, clearly the fastest/easiest way (like some others have said) would be through the doorway.

 

that may be possible.. might have to move all the motor home stuff thats in it at the moment and remove some of the floor... we shall see..

 

I'm interested in how it's put together, if you do get a chance to clean out the front and take some pics let me know

 

deal jim,
you have helped me out with a ton of info already.. I'd be glad to help ya out...

 

I have taken a couple of engines out of vans and I go through the body same as Hellfish shows in #21 ...