Get yourself some swivels to unbolt the tranny. You will NEED those for sure. Other than that, pretty basic from my memory....
FIRST thing you do...disconnect the battery. You don't want to be arc-welding your tools when you take the alternator or the starter off, for example.
3/8 drive impact swivel sockets--I think you'll need two for the bellhousing bolts. At least on my TBI 5.7L, there's one for the nut, and one (deeper) for the actual bolt. I'm thinking the nut takes a 1/2" socket, while the bolt takes 9/16 socket. The fastener is double-sided. There's the main bolt that goes thru the bellhousing into the engine. That bolt has a smaller stud that gets a nut; the nut tightens down on various brackets--dipstick tube, a bracket that holds the fuel hoses, etc. I think five of the six bolts have a nut and some sort of bracket. Vortec might be different.
I also use a LONG 1/2" impact extension/adapter. Connects to a 1/2" impact wrench at the female end, but adapts down to a 3/8 male square drive that powers the 3/8 impact swivel sockets mentioned above.
SK makes a couple of nice ones. Beefy, Made In USA. I use this one more than the shorter one.
https://www.harryepstein.com/sockets-1-2-accessories-27792.html
Get some zip-lock bags and a magic marker. Any fasteners or small brackets that come off, go into a bag that GETS LABELED as to where they came from.
Use some GOOD QUALITY masking tape, (
NOT the cheap crap) and tag any hoses or electrical connectors you take apart. Sometimes it's as easy as tagging
both sides of the electrical harness with masking tape, and labelling both sides with "1", or "2" or whatever. Time comes to put it back together, you connect 1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc.
When it comes time to actually lift the thing out, I bolt a chain from the front of one head to the rear of the other head--diagonal across the engine. Leave enough slack in the chain so that you can run a long bolt, washers, and nut through the links--bolt the chain around the lifting hook. That way, the lifting hook can't slide forward or backward on the chain, causing uncontrollable tilt of the engine. MARK THE LINKS so you can reinstall the chain the same way when you put the engine back in--that way the tilt is correct and everything should line up nicely.
Poor photo, but same concept--the chain is bolted around the lifting hook so the hook can't slide down the chain.
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