Slick 60's

i'll be getting my 1969 351 windsor in june . so i thought i would pull out the 302 around the middle of may, my plan is to pull the motor and transmission at the same time. that way i can change the front and rear seals in the transmission while i have it out, clean it up and paint it. then when i get the 351 i can bolt the transmission to it and put them in at the same time. i think that way would be easier then trying to get the motor lined up with the transmission if i just pull the motor. you guys are the experts, so correct me if i am wrong. i would like to hear how you guys would do it. thanx. plus that should give me plenty of time to clean and paint my engine compartment. i decided to do this myself with a little help from my brothers, hopefully. just so i could clean and paint everything the way i want it. plus save sum cash. even tho i will have to rent a cherry picker to do the job, i'm lookin forward to it, great summer project. i also found a steering gear box at autozone for 300.00, i'll put it in while i have the motor out , lots of room to work.

you are correct, pull the engine and trans at the same time. It is a whole lot easier

I would also suggest you remove the front clip before removing the motor. If your truck has seen a lot of rot (except the core support, they rust out quickly with just plain water) then it may not be a good idea, but it will make things a lot simpler, and will give you the opportunity to easily replace all the stuck bolts that hold it together. Even if you don;t paint it, now will be a good time to get it ready to paint by freshening up the bolts and j-nuts.
The down side of this is that be removing the front clip, you may end up having to do more such as replace the core support now instead of being able to wait.

I must agree with this, I would also suggest pulling the front sheetmetal as an assembly as this makes it real easy and it is not that hard to pull the clip. I would also suggest replacing all your hoses and having the radiator flushed and rodded to ensure free flow for your new motor. Not to make mor work for you but while you have all this weight out of the front end, I would check and replace the front end bushings. Just my Thinking

not to hijack this but can all the pieces be pulled together or do you need to take off each valance, grill, headlight bucket, inner fender and so on.

The front clip is easy to remove as a complete unit.
First, remove the battery, radiator and anything heavy fasted to the inner fenders.
On each side remove:
1 core support bolt
2 inner fender rubber retainer bolts
1 upper outer fender bolt from inside the cab (this J-nut often jams), to access it remove the plate just inside the door jamb, by the upper hinge
1 lower outer fender nut under the fender by the door
4 bolts holding the fenders to the firewall
You may need to remove the hinges as well.
Easy to do. You will need 2 people to lift the hood and lift the front clip.
If you remove the entire clip, you can EASILY get to all the nuts and bolts that give everyone so much frustration when they try to change the core support out on the vehicle.

Like so:

thanx for all the tips and info . you guys make my life easier. i always wondered how you took the whole front clip off. now i know. i got a notebook and i'm filling it full of tips and info from you guys, never know when i might need it, thanx again.

Another little tid bit of info.....
after you pull the motor and trans check your cross member and see it it has the factory rivets in it. It it does now would be a good time to grind the heads off and knock them out and replace with grade 8 bolts.
If you ever have to pull the trans there is a good chance that cross member will be in the way....it was on my '72 and I learned the hard way.

Jerry is right about the riveted crossmember.
Looks like he and I learned the hard way together.
This is the second crossmember, counting from the front. It has a specific purpose to keep the frame from over-flexing (and cracking) at the I-beam mount points, due to the high stress generated by the I-beam suspension.
Grind off the rivets (2 to a side) that hold the crossmember to the I-beam mount members.
Don't grind off the rivets holding the I-beams onto the frame, just the ones between the mount points (which are cast iron - can't miss 'em) and the secondary crossmember.

Kid wrote:you are correct, pull the engine and trans at the same time. It is a whole lot easier

AMEN!!!!

Trying to stab my trans now......trust me, do it together.

I know removing the front clip has been discussed several times (in addition to the one in this post). Anyone have some links that they can share for a lazy Slickster, so I can read a few different views on how to do this.