I'm taking a couple weeks off work soon to swap the 727 transmission for an 833 4-speed/quicktime bellhousing in my '69 charger. I have a 472 hemi with 2-1/8" TTI headers and their 3" exhaust with x-pipe. I had some leaks when I first installed the exhaust system and the muffler shop that repaired it welded all the joints but the header collectors.

Do I need to remove the exhaust to get the transmission out? I'm replacing the 8-3/4 with an original dana 60 at the same time. I was thinking I could pull the axle, take the exhaust out whole, then do the transmission. But it would also be nice to split this into two smaller jobs and do just the rear axle swap over a weekend and the tranny job later.

How high do I need to jack the car to get the tranny out? Do I need special jack stands? I've installed a transmission 3 times in that car before, but I've always pulled the engine and transmission together. The hemi is too big so I had to use a 440 as a lifting device for the transmission, left it in there, and installed the hemi. It was a real nightmare to install so I'd rather not pull the engine again. I'm using a hydraulic clutch so I don't need the z-bar bracket.

The car needs to be high enough to slide the transmission out, so the height of the bellhousing plus an inch or two of wiggle room. The front part of the exhaust likely needs to come out. Headers might need to come loose. You might consider building some 2x4 wheel cribbing. Jack the front up, put the cribbing under the wheels. While you could do this for the front, same wheel cribbing height could be done for the back and make things a bit easier.

A couple links about wheel cribs:
https://youtu.be/wmdwo3UPQtY?si=jQd-UFzeaQuO3-qQ
Building Wheel Cribs


https://youtu.be/gJ7t_WxgMK8?si=BowieBdX0wKCFTrw
Lifting the car onto the wheel cribs

Is your car a original 4 speed car or automatic car?
If 4 speed your good, if not have you bought the tranny tunnel hump for the 4 speed yet? If not you need to
Good luck, have fun

The transmission once on the ground can be slid out till the BH hits the exh / frame. Secure to torque converter with a small metal strap so it doesn't fall out during the next step Pick up the tailshaft to lower the top of the BH and slide it out.

On a few cars, turning the wheels tot heir stops will allow added clearance as the frame rail starts the upward slant.

I would advise not getting the car so high that it's uncomfortable to reach up unless you have LONG arms.

DO NOT FORGET TO DIAL IN THE NEW BELL HOUSING. The ONLY correctly sized offset pins I am aware of are made by Brewers.
Based on experience .007 is usually good with a Quicktime housing, but I would advise getting .014's as well. Murphy's law applies here. If you get them, you won't need them. If you don't, You will

Or RobbMc Performance

https://www.robbmcperformance.com/products/dowels.html

Thanks guys! Great tips! I like the idea of the wheel cribs. I have all parts including the tunnel hump. I will order a couple of set of offset dowel pins to be safe. What's the best way to remove the old dowel pins in the car? It's a mopar performance/cummins block from ~2006 with less than a 1,000 miles on it. The bell housing is new too, so I'm hoping its not too far off.

I do a lot of work with the car up on a set of boxes that I built. The boxes have handles on them so I can easily grab them and move them around. I also built hub jacks so I can pull the front tires and bolt the jacks to hub. That makes a really secure way to set the car down but provides extra room to work around in the wheel wells or under the car.

Those look slick. Thanks Andy.

My Cuda has 2 1/4" TTIs on the Hemi and the tranny (727) is not coming out with the headers in place. And getting to the bolts to loosen the headers is a real challenge. Especially that passenger side. Now your smaller tubes may be different. I certainly hope so.

Good luck!

I have really good luck with stainless band exhaust clamps. Take a fully welded exhaust system, make a few cuts with the sawzall, and you've got a drop-out section that you can put back the doesn't leak a bit...

Yep, I like the band clamps. But the problem in my car is the header collectors not the exhaust. Again, the OP's smaller tubes may make his job easier. But with my 2 1/4" tubes, there is no way the tranny is coming out past them. And getting them loose at the head (at least on the passenger side) would be very difficult and may not give enough room even then.

Yeah, it wasn't fun to get the headers and bolts in. The headers have been installed for 15 years without leaks so I suppose its time to pull them and replace the gaskets. I personally did not have as good luck with the stainless steel clamps. They still leaked a little even with a new exhaust. The muffler guy welded them solid to the rest of the exhaust. It fixed the leaks, but I lost the serviceability I was going for.

Should've had him flange the joints If anyone does flange their pipes, Please DO NOT use to the one size fits all slotted bolt hole type.

If I need to make any repairs to my exhaust (and it looks like I will) I am going to use the ball and socket rather than flange.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7NKfwakH94

Some Porsches use ball and socket exhaust joints. They are tricky to get started and align but don't leak.