77 monte engine drop-in

i just took the 305 out of my 77 monte to rebuild it. im ready to put it back in, ive heard that it is easier to drop the tranny out , put them together, then drop them in together.

wat is easier to do, put the engine in by itself or drop the tranny out and put them in together?

FWIW I always removed the transmission and engine as a complete unit from a vehicle, same as installation. I had a special tri-pod set up which made it easier.

wat does it to drop the tranny out and how hard is it?

unboltin the engine from the tranny was pretty hard

From what I remember on these cars it's unbolting the bellhousing from the engine, removing the bolts from the flywheel,making sure any cables or linkages are disconnected, including tranny lines and driveshaft, and removing the bolt on the transmission mount on the crossmember.

If an automatic (I believe all '77 Montes ARE), it's MUCH easier to leave the trans in the car. Be certain the torque converter is properly seated in the pump (2 "clunks", you can't fit a finger between the converter and the trans case). Raise the front of the trans with a floor jack under the pan (put a piece of wood between the jack and the pan as to not bend it). Align the dowels and stick it! An "engine leveler" is handy here. Install at least two bellhousing bolts (tight) and lower it into postion. Install the remaining bellhousing bolts. Go under and install the bolts that hold the converter to the flexplate. Then hook up all the rest of the stuff.

Jim

how is it hard?

all it is the cross member bolt and the shifting cord/shaft thing