Question? on Engine and Trans Installation in CSX Roller

[ERANJ]

Getting ready to install the engine and transmission into my CSX roller. The roller is an HST car without the removable crossmember. My question is can the 427 SO engine be installed in the car as 1 unit engine + trans? The trans is a Top Loader with a larger stock FE bellhousing.

If not in 1 unit I've heard the trans will need to be installed inside the car removing the seats and trans tunnel? Can the trans be put in place then bolted to the bellhosuing from the bottom of the car?

Any guidance tips and tricks in advnace is appreciated.

Thanks,

[gsharapa]

You can put it in as one unit with some help with a few guys and a cherry picker that has an adjustable tilter on it as you need to have lots of tilt on it. I'd take the seats and tunnel out and set the engine in and then stick the trans from inside the car as much easer to hook everything up and ie cut hole for shifter, driveshaft, speedo cable etc. The other thing I'd recommend is take out the aluminum inner fender walls in the engine compartment. They come out pretty fast and then doing the headers, oil cooler lines etc is much, much easier.

[Bernica]

I'm with Gary on this. I just had my Toploader serviced (seals, etc) and once you have the seats and tunnel out, piece of cake. It's all right there in front of you. PLUS, you will have that experience behind you if/when the need ever arises for trans or clutch work.
My 2 cents....

[Dwight]

when you install the motor do you need to set the header inside the engine compartment or can you install the header after the motor is bolted in place?

A couple of us are going to help a buddy install a 427 into his CSX in the next couple of weeks.
Dwight

[DougD]

It's much easier to mate the engine and tranny outside the vehicle. Then install using a cherry picker from the side, not the front. Most cherry pickers don't have enough reach to install from the front. Take off a front wheel, block the suspension, and install from the side. Be sure to have someone in charge of sticking the driveshaft in the tail snout as it all goes in. Ask me how I know that...

My headers have individual primary pipes and could be installed after the engine is in.

[mickmate]

The aluminum panel above the bell needs to be drilled out and removed if you put the motor and trans in as a unit. That's without giving me any beer and pizza ;-)

[Dwight]

over the years I have modified my engine lift for use with Cobras, Extented the arm and add 130 lbs of lead as counterbalance. We have used this lift to remove and install close to a 100 motor/trannies in Cobras. Maybe 30 times on my Cobra alone. With the extented arm we always install from the front of the Cobra. Lots of blankets to cover the paint. So far we have not chipped any paint.

I did remove a 428 with a C-6 from a stationwagon and a couple of 390 / C-6 from LTDs.

A couple of my buddies have help so much that we don't have to talk a lot when we are installing a motor.

We have tried to install a motor and then the trannie but it's easier to install together.

In the next couple of weeks Mike is bringing his CSX to my shop so we can help him install his 427 and TKO. We have never worked on a CSX car before. Mike wants to install the motor/trannie in one afternoon so he can take it home that day.

Dwight

[bret a ewing]

Make sure you remove the lower aluminum firewall panels.

Installing the transmission after the engine is no big deal. Just put 3" studs in the bellhousing to align the trans.


When installing the engine first. I like to approach from the front. I have two 6 X 6 blocks under the frame so the lift just clears. Radiator is removed.

Keep the bolts loose on the motor mounts, with a low profile jack under the bellhousing. Headers and collector can be installed on passenger side after engine installation. Same on drivers side if steering shaft not yet installed, just a little trickier.
Ford FE style motor mount installed on frame pad on passenger side and on the engine on drivers side. If I install the engine myself, I will remove the starter. Make sure you have the bottom of the bellhousing trimmed off before installation to clear the frame rail. Entire process easier if inner fenders are removed.

FYI: Shelby installed both engine/trans together, raising the back end of the car, or having the car on a ramp facing down.

Hope this helps.

Best, Bret.

[DanEC]

While true that with a tunnel housing removed there is great access for installing the transmission separately from the engine - handling that 100 lb toploader across the door sill and floor into position is a real back breaker and finger crusher unless you're a 280 lb weghtlifter. Plus it is goes up under the dash cowl a ways so simply hanging it from a hoist will not get it forward enough to completely install into position. I had to use some steel as a lifting beam and strap it to the top of the transmission, pick it up with a single chain drop and hold down on the tail to counterbalance it while it was slid up under the dash cowl and into place.

Maybe some others have found easier ways to do this. I would at least get some 4 or 5 inch long dowels to thread into the top bell housing holes to hook the trans on and help guide it into the bellhousing.

[ogasman]

Is this an aluminum CSX? If so it should be similar to the install on a Kirkham. Search the site for the Kirkham assembly manual. On my car I took off the hood, the seats, the trans tunnel ( and drilled out the rivets and took out the panels above the tunnel). Remember to take out the oil seperator tank if you have one. Put the headers in through the side pipe cutouts before engine install. It can be done after on the Kirkham, but it is a PIA. I put the engine in with the trans as one piece without any problems. Radiator was in place. I actually used my 2 post car lift to raise the engine for the install, my cherry picker did not have enough reach. I just took off the pads on the front 2 arms and used a piece of square tubing to connect the arms. An engine leveler is helpful. I had 2 good friends help me with the install, and it took about 10 minutes to slide it in. One friend in the front watching the clearance on the nose, and one in the car guiding in the trans. It went in pretty easily.

Paul

[dcdoug]

We recently removed the full drivetrain out of my CSX and found it easier to remove the engine with just the bell attached (that much easier if you have the smaller Quicktime bell instead of lakewood). Easier to remove the tranny (TKO in my case) from inside the car after removing the tunnel. It's not such a big deal to bolt up the tranny after the engine is in the car. Left the headers in the car.

I've got to believe that the reverse of this is the easiest way to install with just the engine and bell going in on the hoist. I'd pre-position the headers in the car and mate them up with the engine in the car.

Anyway, that's my $.02.

[D111]

you have a pm

[GT350Mike]

I'm a week or two from dropping my engine in my car with the help of Dwight and the rest of the Alabama Gang so here is my $.02:
-I installed a surrogate motor with the assistance of my loving wife so I could mock-up/test fit my exhaust.....bad idea and highly not recommended. If your wife is about 100lbs heavier, then you might get by with her help.
- Everyone has there preference, but I recommend installing the engine w/out the trans. I took both seats out and installed the trans from the top. It's somewhat cumbersome, but not terribly difficult. Since I burned all of my "favors" with my wife, I ended up installing/removing the trans without her help.....definitely an ibuprofen moment.
- Remove the driver side inner panel so the installation of your engine and exhaust will be sooooo much easier.
- Speaking of exhaust, have you already bought yours? I can't speak for the other CSXs, but there are minor deviations from car to car so tweaks to the header/side pipes should be expected. I had to install/remove my exhaust a few times while the engine was in the car so the thought of pre-positioning the exhaust wasn't something I considered. When we install my engine, I'll give Doug's recommendation a try.

There's definitely no shortage of great advice on this thread so it boils down to your comfort level/experience. Just remember one piece of advice that was given to me from several people; this is a labor of love so don't get in a rush!

Tell us more about your car and the engine.

[Dwight]

Mike arrived at my shop with his son, CSX Cobra on the trailer and 427 s.o. motor / TKO 600 trannie in the back of the truck. And other parts.
The motor has two four barrels installed so we used an engine leveler with a chain hooked to the drive side front of the head and the passenger side rear of the head.

We were missing the pressure plate bolts so we installed the motor with flywheel only. When we finish I think the fact that we did not have the bell housing on may have made it easier.

Short story

What worked;

install the passenger side motor mount by bolting it to the block loose and to the frame loose. Lower motor into engine compartment. Set the passenger side mount onto the frame and install the nut / lock washer loose.
raise the front of the motor and push it back onto the driver side mount. Then using the engine leveler we dropped the front driver side of the motor so we could get the bolts into the mount. The oil pan has to clear the frame cross member and it does this by 3/8" "after" the motor sits into it's final resting place. By raising the front of the motor and then pushing it back, that helps the oil pan to clear the cross member. For an hour we thought we had the wrong mounts or we were going to have to cut the cross member out.
What did not work was the passenger side mount in place and trying to twist the motor so we could bolt up the driver side mount. We could not do that because the oil pan was hitting the cross member on the passenger side. Thus we had to raise the front of the motor and drop it back into place.
Once the motor is close, you place the driver side mount so you can get the "bottom" bolt in first. Then the top bolt and then the nut/lock washer onto the stud that bolts it to the frame.

Then you can lower (the last 1/4" to 3/8") the motor onto the mounts. We placed a 3/4" thick piece of wood between the cross member and oil pan for the ride back to Huntsville. Tighten all the bolts and nuts.
The motor is about 1/2' off the passenger side footbox. You should pad this area if do not want cut or scrapes.
Mike will install the pressure plate, bell housing and trannie at his place. I don't think the pressure plate/clutch we be hard to install nor the bell housing, but the trannie may cause a problem.
We need to get his report after he installs the trannie.

I hope this helps. I'm not good at communicating with the written language.
Dwight

What took hours today we could do again it 20 to 30 minutes.
All most forgot; three man job. One on the lift, one on each side of the motor to watch so you don't tear up anything. CLOSE fit!