I am in the process of removing the motor from my 69 firebird and would like to remove the nose and detail the engine compartment when it's out. It would make it easier to remove motor too. Is this a good idea? how many bolts are there and where? I have heard it comes off in one piece. Pete
You've got the front end sheet metal, the rad support, the two front fenders and the valance panel below. Oh yeah the hood, and the wiring harness for the lights in the front. Some pretty heavy pieces. You're gonna need some help. Taking it apart is easy, finding all the bolts when you want to put it back is the hard part. Good luck.
its a lot of work to remove the front clip. you can detail the engine compartment fairly easy once the motor is out, with out the hassle of removing all the sheetmetal and then having to realine it all, unless you are planning to paint the car then yes take it apart.
As firebird69racer says , its easy to remove the hood , just take it off from the hinges ( and when its off , DO NOT stand on its rear corners , lay it on its side!), then remove engine w hoist....you can easily detail engine room w motor out....unless you need to redo part of the front clip, why remove it...or if you take fenders off to paint , again themn its still easy to get to detail the space... Bjorn 69 vert.
Thanks for the advice. I'll leave the front clip on. I am sure everyone can agree once you start taking it apart you want to fix everthing, but summer is allmost here (ragtop) and it would be a shame to have it all apart in the garage in July. One other thing, do I need to remove water pump and pully on crank to get motor out it looks tight with radiator support there? Pete
There should be plenty of room to get it out with the radiator support in place. I recently pulled a Chevy engine with tranny still attached out of my 69 and dropped in a complete 455 TH400 combo with the front clip still on the car and the radiator support in place. No problem, just take it slow.
Hey Bill, I will give you a call. I have been busy busy busy working on car, working at work to pay for car and want to be out cruising in early June. Pete
Pete, One little tip on pulling your engine - you may want to remove the starter beforehand. They have a tendency to get hung up on the motor mounts when the engine is coming out. Just a thought....
Well everyone, I dropped the 4-spd trans. and pulled the motor tonight. I have many things to do before the new motor goes in. Watch for new postings from me! Pete
