I am swapping engines in my 70 with AC. I need to remove the radiator to take engine and trans out as a unit. The AC stuff is in the way. What is the easiest way to get the AC hoses out of the way, and where is the best place to disconnect the line from the condensor to the dryer(?) that runs through the radiator.

TIA, Kevin

ttt

Are you going to keep the ac unit?

Originally posted by kmchugh:
I am swapping engines in my 70 with AC. I need to remove the radiator to take engine and trans out as a unit. The AC stuff is in the way. What is the easiest way to get the AC hoses out of the way, and where is the best place to disconnect the line from the condensor to the dryer(?) that runs through the radiator.

TIA, Kevin

Yes, I want to keep the AC. I just need to know the best way to get the engine and tranny out, without disconnecting the entire AC system.

The high/low pressure hoses run right across the engine.

Kevin

remove the AC compressor from the engine with the hoses connected, move compressor to top of the radiator support, it will be out of the way. Also, put a piece of plywood on the back side of the condensor once the radiator is removed in case the engine swings too far forward and might hit the condensor.

Get your self some "mechanics wire" from your local auto parts store so you can tie the a/c compressor safely to where ever you are keeping it while you remove the engine. It really sucks during your engine removal if the a/c compressor come tumbling down.

That said,one piece of advice from an old man. If you take the engine and transmission out as a unit you need a substantial amount of room to perform the whole operation. Same for the reinstall. If you take the engine out first and the transmission later all you have to do is remove the fan shroud , fan and the water pump and disconnect the torque converter from the flex plate. You only have to move the engine 4 or 5 inches forward to clear pretty much everything. That way you don't have to take the radiator and anything in front of the radiator out at all.

You're going to have to go under the car anyway so that is a great time to do the three TQ conv nuts that hold the converter to the flexplate. Use a "ViseGrip's" to turn the flex plate to gain access to each nut. If you have a remote starter button then use that to "bump" the engine to turn it. Thats what I do.

One of the major down sides to taking the engine out with the transmission attached was that the transmission fluid wants to come out of the tailshaft as the transmission is tipped during removal. When I was in business I could never afford all of the various slip yokes for all of the different cars I worked on so I got in the habit of seperating the two. Particularly if all I wanted was the engine in the first place.

Just remember to use jack stands while under the car. And if you are "bumping" the engine to get at those converter nuts be sure to disable the ignition so the engine doesn't start. Removing the spark plugs works fine for that :D

Final piece of advice: because we are human and we make mistakes, I always had a small 1/4' piece of plywood handy to put behind the radiator just in case the engine swung too vigorously such that if it bumped the radiator it wouldn't damage it. Call it cheap insurance.

I read Big Gearhead's post yesterday about his thumbnail. I agree with all of the subsequent posts.

Be Safe!