Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
#3173823
09/08/23 04:45 PM
09/08/23 04:45 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 817 Eugene, Oregon
Secret Chimp
OP
super stock
|
OP
super stock
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 817
Eugene, Oregon
|
This feels like a silly question but I am only a dumb hobbyist and don't have much practical shop experience.
I need to get the transmission out of my 67 Coronet for a rebuild. I have only ever swapped the engine, the trans has never been out.
Last time I did a trans job on another car, I bought super-tall jackstands to get the thing out from the bottom. Felt very iffy, but most of my difficulty was reaching a ton of weird bellhousing bolts because it was on a 90s BMW and not a 60s American car.
I am wondering if it would save me overall time and effort to just yank the thing out with the engine as a single unit?
I have the mid-sized Harbor Freight shop crane and a load leveler. I've pulled the engine out of the thing before with the same setup. Would you judge it more effort to remove the hood, remove the gas lines/coolant lines/headers/etc and pull the whole shebang, or do it from underneath?
I don't have any kind of a lift, I only have a floor jack. I do have a big truck-sized transmission jack. I'm wondering if I am making too much out of worming around on the floor again, or if it is not that big of a deal to do. What would you say?
1967 Dodge Coronet Deluxe station wagon
1.03" T-bars, QA1 arms/rods, Cordoba/GM Metric/Volare brake & knuckle, XHDs, Hellwig rear sway, 318 Magnum w/ air gap, 727, 3.23s
|
|
|
Re: Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
[Re: Secret Chimp]
#3173827
09/08/23 05:16 PM
09/08/23 05:16 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,157 Bend,OR USA
Cab_Burge
I Win
|
I Win
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 43,157
Bend,OR USA
|
Last edited by Cab_Burge; 09/08/23 05:16 PM.
Mr.Cab Racing and winning with Mopars since 1964. (Old F--t, Huh)
|
|
|
Re: Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
[Re: Secret Chimp]
#3173833
09/08/23 05:57 PM
09/08/23 05:57 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,485 Candler,NC / Myrtle Beach, SC
JDMopar
master
|
master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 8,485
Candler,NC / Myrtle Beach, SC
|
Take it out the bottom! Way less work. Jack it up as high as your jack stands will go. Take the starter and dust cover off first and then take the flex plate to torque converter bolts out. Take the driveshaft out and use a spare slip yoke to keep it from leaking if you have one. Take the shift linkage and speedometer cable loose next, and then take the cooler lines loose from the transmission end. Support the engine so it doesn't droop down when you take the transmission out, and then take all the bellhousing bolts out except the bottom one on each side. Put the floor jack under the pan with a piece of plywood or something on it to protect the pan, then take the trans mount loose and then take the trans crossmember out. Take the other 2 bellhousing bolts loose and slide the trans back a little. Ease it to the floor and roll it out from under the car. If it won't clear, slide it off the jack and drag it out. In my experience, cardboard is much easier to work off of than a creeper. Reverse the procedure to put it back. Good luck to you!
|
|
|
Re: Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
[Re: JDMopar]
#3173844
09/08/23 06:35 PM
09/08/23 06:35 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,419 Kalispell Mt.
HotRodDave
I Live Here
|
I Live Here
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 12,419
Kalispell Mt.
|
Take it out the bottom! Way less work. Jack it up as high as your jack stands will go. Take the starter and dust cover off first and then take the flex plate to torque converter bolts out. Take the driveshaft out and use a spare slip yoke to keep it from leaking if you have one. Take the shift linkage and speedometer cable loose next, and then take the cooler lines loose from the transmission end. Support the engine so it doesn't droop down when you take the transmission out, and then take all the bellhousing bolts out except the bottom one on each side. Put the floor jack under the pan with a piece of plywood or something on it to protect the pan, then take the trans mount loose and then take the trans crossmember out. Take the other 2 bellhousing bolts loose and slide the trans back a little. Ease it to the floor and roll it out from under the car. If it won't clear, slide it off the jack and drag it out. In my experience, cardboard is much easier to work off of than a creeper. Reverse the procedure to put it back. Good luck to you! I totally agree, I don't know why on earth someone would want to drain coolant and do all that other work to get a lousy trans out. I have a lift now but used to pull em out in an hour on the ground as long as the exhaust wasn't in the way.
I am not causing global warming, I am just trying to hold off a impending Ice Age!
|
|
|
Re: Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
[Re: topside]
#3173865
09/08/23 08:02 PM
09/08/23 08:02 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,406 Michigan
MarkZ
Worthy
|
Worthy
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4,406
Michigan
|
Make up a set of blocks like this for under the tires. Not having jack stands under there makes it a ton easier to maneuver. You can reach the bellhousing bolts by dropping the tailshaft down and using a long extension and swivel socket. Muscle the trans off of the jack onto a large piece of cardboard to pull it out on.
Before pulling it apart mark the flywheel and torque converter with a paint marker. Will make it easier putting it back together.
1987 Fifth Avenue - 512/518/D60
|
|
|
Re: Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
[Re: TJP]
#3173909
09/08/23 11:32 PM
09/08/23 11:32 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 817 Eugene, Oregon
Secret Chimp
OP
super stock
|
OP
super stock
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 817
Eugene, Oregon
|
Thanks a lot guys, I kind of wondered if through the top was more work than the "convenience" of not having to lift the car... I was just feeling really discouraged from putting this heavy + floppy of a car as high in the air as I last needed to with a much newer & stiffer unibody car which already felt kind of creepy. I had not considered simply blocking up the wheels higher up with some simple DIY stands like you've shown. That would be a lot more secure (and less stressful on the body) than jackstands I used on my newer car. I don't have the giant 12 ton jackstands I used for my big-BMW-wagon job anymore either way because Harbor Freight recalled them and I spent the money on other crap I'm sure I can get some adequate lumber for way less than buying them again. I do have a huge truck-sized transmission jack with a tilt head, though last time I used it I had to drag the transmission off of it onto the ground to get it the rest of the way off of the car (and then onto it the opposite way) despite the clearance I got with big stands. I am a skinny wimp but still managed to pull it off. I am motivated to get going on it now!
Last edited by Secret Chimp; 09/08/23 11:32 PM.
1967 Dodge Coronet Deluxe station wagon
1.03" T-bars, QA1 arms/rods, Cordoba/GM Metric/Volare brake & knuckle, XHDs, Hellwig rear sway, 318 Magnum w/ air gap, 727, 3.23s
|
|
|
Re: Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
[Re: Secret Chimp]
#3173918
09/09/23 12:56 AM
09/09/23 12:56 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,536 Eagle, Idaho
Neil
The Doctor is in.
|
The Doctor is in.
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 20,536
Eagle, Idaho
|
I've used bare steel wheels laid flat under the wheels instead of jack stands. Just make sure the vehicle wheels are blocked so it can't roll off of the steel wheels if you try this. A working parking brake is nice as well. Also need to make sure the vehicle is up at least high enough that the trans bellhousing clears the frame rails beforehand so it can be slid out the side.
I don't have a trans jack. To get the trans in and out of vehicles by myself I have stacked blocks of 2x under it and then slid them out like Jenga to lower it down to the ground. Installation was the reverse. Just move the trans up one end at a time and slide the wood strips back under it and work your way back up. I went slow so as to make sure it's stable and steady both coming out and going back up. Connecting it to the engine you will have to grab it and push it into place the last bit, but it's not too bad if the trans is relatively close to the final position resting on the stacked wood pile. Sounds kinda redneck, but it did work for me anyways.
Last edited by Neil; 09/09/23 12:57 AM.
|
|
|
Re: Trans - out the top, or from the bottom?
[Re: Neil]
#3174101
09/09/23 10:14 PM
09/09/23 10:14 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 31,021 Oregon
AndyF
I Win
|
I Win
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 31,021
Oregon
|
Amazing work space, and super clean too! We should all be so lucky!
That was a great shop. Had it for 20 years, sold it earlier this year and now I don't have a shop of my own. Time to downsize. I'll put the Coronet up for sale in the future too since I don't have a place to work on it anymore.
Last edited by AndyF; 09/09/23 10:16 PM.
|
|
|
|
|