so i killed the a833 in my duster, and am swapping in a tremec. also changing the leaking oil pan gasket at the same time.



seems to me the easiest way to get all my parts out, while doing the least amount of work, would be to pull the whole drivetrain as a unit out of the bottom.



this would be relatively simple if i had a two post lift. i dont. i have a 4 post, drive on.



so it looks like ill be doing it on the ground, with a cherry picker.



would y'all agree that this would be the way to do it easiest and quickest?

is there any how to-s for this? any tips? ive never pulled one out the bottom before. always pulled them out the top. but now with the AC, PS, PB,TTI headers, lakewood bell, etc, it seems like id be doing much more work, and possibly more paint damage, getting it out the way i kinow.



so, tips on coming out the bottom? links to how to's or very informative posts?





also, i need to dial in my bellhousing for the tremec so the runout is correct. ive never done this, and the last time i tried, i gave up. i do have a dial indicator with a plunger, and a harbor freight magnetic base, but never figured out how to do it. again, and good mopar small block specific how to's for impatient morons?



thanks, guys. and im sorry im asking you to spoon feed me, but ive searched and searchedm and only gotten myself more convused.





michael

I did mine out the bottom with the cherry picker. Lift the car up, back out the torsion bar adjusting bolts. Remove torsion bar c-clips and remove torsion bars. Then I put the car back on its tires and remove the k-frame bolts and trans mount. This way the k-frame is not danging in the air by the motor mounts. Then I put the cherry picker on the front of the car and lift the car as high as I can and put jackstands under the car. Then I could roll the cherry picker out of the way and roll the engine/trans/k-frame out the front, get it out of the way and use the cherry picker to get the car back off the jack stands. I had to set my jack stands up on some concrete blocks to get enough height but it worked.

Granted, Dayclona's done more of these Tremec swaps than probably anyone on here, so he should know.

As one who has R and R'd only one out the top and one out the bottom (B-body), I'd go the bottom out route again in a heartbeat. The last one was in from the bottom with a Tremec on it (Keisler). A ton easier to get the bell alignment dialed in while it's out of the car. And, if your cherry picker is decent, not too difficult to raise and lower the car a few times to figure out the trans fitting in the tunnel.
Like another poster said, having the car up high enough (in the rear) helps with getting the engine/trans (and yourself, for checking fit) underneath.
I used quite a few 68 lb. landscaping blocks in the trunk to make the lifting easier. Had the jack stands under the front hangar bulkheads for the rear springs for better car balance/lifting.