[DaveInCanada]

Hi All,

I have a 1957 Super Chief with a 347. I need to pull the motor to rebuild it. I had it hooked up to a hoist today and unbolted the transmission from the motor at the bell housing. The two separate and with a little prying I got about 1.5 inch space between the motor and trans. Then is stopped. I tried for hours to separate the two but it seems the shaft won't break free. I tried leveling the two to eliminate the shaft binding but still won't budge - even with a crow bar.

What the f**k am I doing wrong? Is there a trick to separating the motor from the trans? Maybe a special tool or angle or something? PLEASE HELP!!

[Bill Hanlon]

Page 6-24 of the '57 shop manual covers engine removal. Thanks again to Safari Larry for making these manuals available.

https://www.pontiacsafari.com/57/Sho...Mechanical.pdf

[Safari Larry]

Does your Pontiac have the standard transmission? You are describing removal of standard transmission, not Hydra-Matic.

Thank you Bill. Bill Hanlon has been a big help with the pontiacsafari.com web site. He has articles on the site and helped me with getting the Master Parts Catalog debugged before putting online.

[DaveInCanada]

It's an automatic transmission.

[Safari Larry]

There are two ways to remove the engine (1) with the transmission attached or (2) remove the transmission first. You have chosen to remove the transmission first. There is no shaft connecting the engine to transmission. You must remove the 6 torus cover to flex plate attachment nuts, they hold the transmission to the engine flex plate. For transmission manual, see:

https://www.pontiacsafari.com/Hydramatic/1957/index.htm

Section 6 tells how to remove the transmission. Section 12 tells how to install the transmission.

[DaveInCanada]

I managed to get the motor out and leave the transmission in. It actually wasn't that hard to do. Thanks for the advice.