I have almost got the engine completely torn down...

last night I got the radiator out and just have a few more items I want to remove before I get a hoist and pull the engine

1. sump
2. timing cover

 

leave the rest of it together until it comes out,
all you are going to succeed in doing is giving yourself more places for oil and coolant to leak out over when you pull it.

you will want to put some bundgy cords or mechanical wire on those exhaust manifold, you dont want to leave them just sitting on the pipe and donuts.

 

........ why would you tear it down like that if you're going to remove it? Wtf.

 

he had the heads off, before he knew it had to come out

 

ok, good thinking about leaving it all together for now

and for the exhaust manifolds, where should I secure them to?

do they just need to be held up so they are not resting on anything?

 

yes, I was not planning on pulling the whole engine, just the heads at first

at least now I have plenty of room

 

anything to take the weight off of the pipes

 

Remember when you are taking the connecting rod caps off label them as to which rod they go back on and which direction they are facing. the caps have to go back on the same rod and facing the same direction as removed. very, very important. bolt each one back to it's rod as you remove them. get a paint stick or something and mark each rod and cap temporarily before you remove it and then bolt it right back onto that rod same as it was taken off.

You should also keep up with where the main bearing caps go and the direction, just on the slim chance your block checks out. chances are it won't but they need to go back exactly the same as they come off always. Once you get the crank out bolt the caps back in their places.

also label each piston/rod as to which hole it was in so if you happen to get to use your block again. also keep in mind, the motor will be upside down when you are taking these out so easy to get mixed up on that. best to put those in a box and draw a diagram inside the bottom of the box as to where each piston goes. Then when you are cleaning them up you can take them out of the box one at a time to clean and put back in the box in its place.

and careful not to bump or scratch the crank journals even the slightest.

I'm probably pointing out the obvious but, just a reminder.

 

you kind of have two post going on the same thing, one last suggestion. when you remove your timing cover you will find two studs on the bottom, everything else is bolts.

I would remove those studs and replace them with Allen studs or bolts, the reason being in order to remover the timing cover you have to drop the oil pan. just because of those two studs.

SO in the future should you have to go into the timing chain, oil pump, cam or even the timing cover gasket, you would be able to do it without disturbing the oil pan.

 

I also read this in multiple posts on the forum, but it is wrong.
You still need to drop the pan because the oil pump pick up is bolted to the bottom of the cover. I know this because I removed the studs (it was more than 2) when the cover was in place and couldn't get the cover off, until I dropped the pan and unbolted the oil pump pickup.