I have a junked cavalier that been in my backyard for 2 years now (insurance totaled) That I have probably strip everything down to just needing to remove the tranny and engine. I have a feeling my 02 cavalier tranny's failing. What would be the best way to remove it? Dropping the sub frame with the engine and tranny or removing it out the top? I might buy a blown engine cav to put it in. I have never removed a tranny or engine. I plan on getting a haynes manual. Any help would be great. I have all the tools I need.
I plan on taking the engine and tranny from the car.
I have personally pulled the whole sub-frame on my 02 Cav to pull the blown engine and replace with a running engine. I wish I hadn't. Pulling the axles and dropping just the engine and trans as a whole out the bottom of the car would have been much easier or in your case the transmission only and support the motor. It's not going to be easy (FWD is a PITA) but its fairly straight forward. You may want to buy the all-data or Mitchell on demand for your vehicle (Can't remember which program offers single vehicle licenses) Also grab a friend or two, or more. Good luck.
Also be cautious of vehicles that have sat for long periods of time. Rubber tends to dry out on gaskets and rust can form inside the engine. Even transmissions can have dried out clutches and solenoid seals from sitting to long. If you pull the trans yourself a transmission shop will usually rebuild it for a lot cheaper than if they did all that labor.