Is a nailhead hard to remove?

I have some work to do on mine, and I plan on completely repainting and restoring the whole engine and engine compartment, so im thinking do it once and do it right by just pulling the whole engine, without the tranny. Is it a big deal? About how long would it take and are there any special things I should know to remove or tips?
Should I even do it?

 

An engine isn't hard to remove at all if you have the tools and the place to do it.
Since you have never done this before I would advise that you take pictures of how everything goes together before you take it apart and mark the wires as you take them out.
Pretty basic and a good experience for you.
That electra may be an easy one. Not sure about he engine bay in it but I would think it's got lots of room to get to stuff.
As you know, start by getting good penetrating oil and soaking the bolts for several days before you start.

 

I should add that they are not hard to put back in either.
A clean engine is a happy engine, so a chance to clean it up and inspect everything is not a bad thing.
A project like this can be fun also.
I like to pull the tranny at the same time. It's a lot easier to get the engine and tranny bolted together properly outside the engine compartment. Make sure you have a very good engine stand. A cheap doesn't feel good with a 350 on it. That nailhead is heavy.

 

A complete nailhead weighs 640 lb... Like john said , be sure of the equipment that you are handling it with,,, dont take chances with it... and if you pull the trans with it,,, it is really heavy.....take the intake/carb off first to reduce height and wt....and the starter,,,
the exhaust manifolds will be the hardest to get loose,,, just undo them at the two big exhaust pipe joints and remove them after you get the whole thing out of the car....never ever use a 12 point socket on exhaust manifold bolts... only 6 point sockets.... and like John said lots of penetrating oil.... and when you go back on with them , plenty of anti seize....While you have that starter in hand , rebuild it or replace it...Firm rule/never remove a starter for any reason,without making sure that is is in top shape before you put it back....it is expensive, but I use simple green to clean grungy stuff with,,, just submerge the stuff in it and wait over night and when you take it out the grunge will wash off with a brush and water.... on your exhaust manifolds , either sandblast them or wire brush and follow up with ''the right stuff'' rust killer.... then either paint them with stainless steel paint or that stuff you rub on from eastwood....any other kind of paint wont hold up very well....
and break down and clean out the rocker arms/shafts with simple green and a rifle brush and compressed air... you will have to remove the welch plugs in the ends of the shafts to run the brush thru there... but it is worth all the effort ,, you will be amazed at how much sludge and grunge you get out of them.... also the V's in the tops of the heads, they will be full of sludge,,, while you have the rocker arm assemblys off the heads...those 2 places are the main places that nailheads hold sludge....
I need to do all this stuff with my 64 riv,,, but have been putting it off untill I get all the construction projects done....

 

Adrian, it's really a piece of cake. I just removed mine two weeks ago. I had a few reservations and nerves about doing it, since I haden't pulled a motor before, but it was really quite simple.

For what it's worth, since I only had a 1 ton engine hoist, I pulled the motor and trans seperately too.

Let me know if you have any specific questions. I can basically give you a step by step list for stuff if you'd like, since everything is still pretty fresh in my head.

 

MAKE YOUR LIFE EASIER!!! Remove the hood, fenders, inner fender wells, core support, radiator etc....makes removing the engine soooo much easier...Be sure to identify all the fender/hood/core support shims, with pix and/or tape them together and write on them to identify their location!!! It will make the reassembly much nicer NOT having to test and re-fit all the body parts.... PLUS, once all that stuff is removed, you can easily clean and paint the chassis, steering box, firewall, underside of the hood, etc...a nice, clean engine room makes all the difference in the world if its done with care and attention to details. Good luck! Wheelz, Tampa Bay

 

I removed the hood, radiator, and core support. Definitely bag and tag everything that comes off the car.

 

You've been PM'ed Adrian.

 

Adrian... this is obviously NOT a nailhead car, but here are a few quick reference pix of the kind of detailing I'm tawkin bout:

 

A 1 ton engine hoist is plenty strong enough (by a factor of two) to pull a nailhead with the transmission attached. Together, the engine and transmission will be about 900 lbs.

 

Yes and no. To remove the motor and trans together, I would have had to extend the boom, which I couldn't do becuase it wasn't rated for enough weight. Had I had a two ton hoist, I could have removed both together, because I would have been able to extend the boom and still be within the weight limit.

 

sorry for being off topic, but in the burnt orange skylark..are those gnx fender louvers?

 

I am trying to decide whether to try to fix what sounds like a stuck lifter (see my first nailhead question thread) and just clean up the parts that will come off then and get it running, or, pull the whole thing, fix the problem, completely detail it and get the engine bay blasted while I'm at it, which means ill have to wait longer for it to be done, but it'll be completely done.
Any advice?

 

I say pull it. You don't need it for your daily driver so you have time to do it in a relaxed pace.
Any time the repair is critical, you run into more road bumps!
You will find out that pulling, detailing, doing a little work to the motor and putting it back in is fun, and you will learn a lot.
You will look at project cars in a different, educated light after this.
To me, an engine swap is easier and more fun than rebuilding drum brakes.
Like was said, pull the hood and radiator. I have never pulled the core support or the inner fenders, but for sure the more that's out of the way the simpler that it is.
When you pull the hood, make sure and scribe an outline of the hinge to hood fit. Some people drill a couple guide holes but I just scribe the hinge fit on the hood. It will save you a bunch of time getting the hood lined back up when you put it back.
Watch for the nipples that come from your heater core and anything mounted on the firewall. Make sure that tranny cooling lines are out of the way and life easy while looking for anything that is hanging up.
I take bailing twine and tie the exhaust out of the way on the sides.
While the engine is out look the under hood wiring over close. The wires under the hood can get baked hard after all those years in the heat. Replace all the hoses and belts. Clean everything the best you can and paint if you want to.
You will be proud of what you have done after it's all over. The car will be happy also.
While the engine is out make sure and pull the valve covers and pan. Even someone who doesn't know a lot about engines can tell a lot looking at these areas. Clean any thick gunk you may find from the pan and look it over close.
Hope to find black metal with a minimal amount of gunk in there.

 

What David says x2..... all you need to take off is the hood and rad& fan shroud.... But be double sure that you use plenty of good fender covers.... and when you are cleaning up the inner fenders and fire wall... good strong soap and water and a wheel scrubbing brush will go a long way... but a hot water pressure blast is good.... or a steam cleaner ,which is best ... I always take my cars to a steam cleaner first, before I do anything.... but dont do unneccessary work to get it done....if push comes to shove and you want to reduce wt. you can remove the intake, heads and exhaust manifolds & starter, before trying to pull the engine....on a nailhead , be sure to remove the dist. before trying to pull the engine ,,, that way you dont bust the cap or damage anything else.....

 

Hi Andy, You raise a good point. The capacity of an engine crane is a function of the extension of the lift arm. I used a two-ton crane in middle extension which gave it a 1,500 lb capacity. A one-ton crane would only be safe for the engine and transmission at it's shortest extension. Obviously, when you said "one ton", I was thinking that you were speaking of the capacity at the extention you were using. BTW: If you have a THM 400
transmission, you do not have to move the engine very far forward to clear the transmission. I put a sheet of plywood between the engine and radiator as a guard, and left the radiator in place. I am basically lazy - "work" is a four letter word. If you think a bit, sometimes you can avoid some of it! :laugh:

 

Yea, the way I pulled it, it was on the 750lbs setting. Good enough for pulling a fairly complete Nailhead, not good enough for pulling a Nailhead and Dynaflow. I wish I would have bought a 2 ton hoist, but I gotta helluva deal on my 1 ton unit. $80 vs $200.

 

Lesson here. All the over 40 guys who have pulled engines because they had to instead of only ever doing it as a project have learned that you don't need to pull more than the basics before you yank the engine. Radiator and hood.
John is right, you can put a piece of plywood in front of the radiator. I just like to take the couple extra bolts out and be safe.
Doc was right also. I wasn't thinking but the distributor can wack the firewall and mess something up.

 

Yea, I never had to touch my distributor. Plenty of room.

I'd pull the radiator - easy to do and will net you alot of extra room.