I had to wait for the outside temp to warm up enough to continue on this but I finished it this weekend and just wanted to give a quick rundown on how I did it. It is a 4x4 model but I was able to do it without pulling the trans or front axle. To remove the engine, I took off the grill and headlights but left the bumper attached. I pulled the radiator/condenser support and worked my way back to the engine. After removing the intake manifold, I was able to remove all of bell housing bolts connecting the trans to the engine and the torque converter bolts. I then disconnected the exhaust manifolds from the rest of the exhaust pipes, loosened the manifold to head bolts, and disconnected the wire harness from the engine and unbolted the motor mounts from the frame rails. After that, I connected the chain and hoist a little toward the back so that engine would rock forward and I slowly lifted it up and forward and l jacked up the front of the trans slowly with it. The engine came right out with the loose manifolds attached. Installing the engine was even easier but I started without the exhaust manifolds attached. I kept the front of the trans high until the engine meet up with it and lowered both together enough to get the bell housing bolds started. While the engine was still up, I installed the exhaust manifolds from underneath (had to jack up each side a little for this), and bolted them to the heads. After that, I lowered it the rest of the way. Everything sat right into place. I then tightened up the bell housing bolds, torque converter bolts and put it all back together. Once it was all done and fresh antifreeze, oil, and PS fluid added, it fired right up and ran great. That’s when I discovered the radiator has one hell of a leak. The new one will be here Tuesday and I’ll install it next weekend.
