Quote Originally Posted by McFly1999 View Post
Thanks for the reply. Anyone else?

As for pulling the motor. I pulled the motor out the top on my 99 Grandprix 3.8L GT (bill boost style as it's called), and wasn't that hard... but, if you mean to forget about trying to pull the 5.3L since it's so tightly in there... then, I understand. That's something I was considering. 3.8L, no problem. 5.3L??? If it is so much harder, than the 3.8L, then agreed.

How many hours did it take you to drop the subframe and transmission, and then reinstall? Would you say 8hrs for the removal, and 8hrs for the install? More? Less?
Right on the money! Not sure if it can be done out the top, but can't see it being worth it. I used a harbor freight engine support bar to keep the engine in, disconnected the power steering rack, cooler lines, torque converter bolts, opted to remove the control arms to replace bushings but you can leave these on the subframe and disconnect ball joint, engine and trans mount, then drop. Only took maybe two hours for that step since that's pretty similar to 3800 stuff. Then we supported trans with a trans jack with support strap for safety, worst part was the reverse bolt on the bellhousing that we forgot to get before, but still reachable, unhook electronics and shifter, starter removal (you might be able to just remove the cables) , transmission to engine mount, our control arms were off, we opted to remove the axle nuts, and remove the axles fully, then drop.

Your estimate is about right for removal since we hadn't done a 5.3 and made a lot of stupid mistakes. Going back in definitely didn't take 8 hours, but always good to leave extra room for things you'll forget!