Oldssupreme

Ok, so a possibly dumb question but here it goes...
I have my engine installed with no transmision, its currently supported in the rear by some 4x4's. I wanted to install the engine first to mke sure all is good and then install the trans. However, i am wondering if it is easier to take the engine back out, mate the trans to it, and install as one unit, or jack the car up and install the trans from underneath? The engine installed so easily by itself. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Chris

coppercutlass

I usually do it as a 2 piece operation. Slightly more work but im usually a one man operation so its easier to do it that way by my self. Trans jacks also make this job much faster.

Oldssupreme

Copper cutlass, do you do the engine or trans first? If you do the trans last, Do you jack it up and how high? And what to do about the filler tube on the trans sticking up so high?
Thanks,
Chris

MDchanic

Without a proper transmission jack, a transmission sure is heavy.

Back when I was a kid I did this job with TH350s and Muncies several times, and it's never fun to bench press that **** in, while trying to exert the fine motor control required to mate up the splines and the pins.

As with many things, the answer depends on what equipment you have, or can beg, borrow, or steal.

- Eric

MDchanic

About this high:



- Eric

Professur

How high can you lift the car? I couldn't get mine higher than jackstands. Pulled a front wheel off. Tipped the trans bellhousing down to get it under through the open space of the tire well. Got it into the tunnel space and put the TC on ... then raised it up using a 2x10 with stacked 4x4 blocks on either side of the car. Didn't have room for a trans-jack. Trans was plenty stable and the support was wide enough to wiggle it forward and onto the alignment dowels. Get one bolt started and your worries are over. Having it tail down makes it easy to keep the TC from walking forwards.

don71

Install the trans tube after the unit is installed. Hopefully you haven't filled the tranny yet, if so just be prepared for a mess. Hey, its only clean up.

You've asked an age old question. It really depends on how comfortable or by what means you have to do this.

If the front clip or core support is off the car, do it all as one piece. If not, engine first, then trans, using proper support where necesarry. As mentioned, a trans jack is really nice to have, but many a car guy has used help/muscle and a floor jack..carefully.

coppercutlass

I get the car as high as i can just enough for the trans to clear under the car with it on top of the jack. I install the trans dipstick last Thats no biggie to get in from the engine bay. The only other jack i would suggest would be an atv jack or motorcycle jack. Just use some wood shims to get the proper tilt. I have done it with regular jacks and i dropped the trans twice lol. not fun at all. having the right gear helps.

coppercutlass

Eric thats the best picture ever. Im pretty sure it should be a sticky lol.

65Delta

I put the TH350 on my trans jack, measured the height of the whole thing with the bell housing tilted down a bit, and used my Harbor Freight 6 ton jack stands to get the '69 up high enough to clear it. Auto Body Toolmart has saddle jack extenders for your floor jack so you can get the car up in the air.
http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/cham...s-p-11539.aspx

Oldssupreme

Ok, thanks guys. It seems that, at this point with the core support off the car, it might just be safer and much easier to remove the engine again, mate the trans and put them into the car as one unit. I was planning on attempting to start the engine first, but the more i think of it, i replaced the timing set and a lot of externals and seals and such so there is probably no real reason to be afraid to start the engine with the trans on.
Chris

MDchanic

Hey, it was the best I could do at the time.

$75 junkyard transmission slid into free '70 Cutlass convertible like it was made for it (which it was).

Used small jack to get trans. close, but had to use my muscles to get it all hooked up.
Drove it for over a year, till I blew the motor.

This was back in 1987 or so.

Thanks!

- Eric

MDchanic

Wait a minute.

The core support is off the car?

Why are you even asking this?

Pull engine. Attach transmission. Reassemble.

That's not even a no-brainer. You couldn't screw it up if you tried.

- Eric

classicmuscle442

X2. We set the rear tires up on some 2 x 8 and leave front tires on ground with tire pressure dropped and the engine/trans will slip right end. Good luck and be safe.

Oldssupreme

Ha ha! Ok, Eric, ill do that! I guess when you put it like that it does seem silly to do it otherwise! Thanks guys, you are great!
Chris

Professur

Why do people say things like that? Murphy is listening.

Oldssupreme

Professur, lol I don't think It counts against me if Eric is the one who said it
Thanks guys!
Chris

cjsdad

RedneckCarRepair.jpg

Like Joe often says, Murphy was an optimist!

Oldssupreme

Hi guys! Thanks so far for all the advice. So I successfully pulled the engine out again and mated it to the trans which was sitting on two pallets with no issues. My question is when I am pumping the engine hoist up to get the trans off of the pallets and in position to install over the frame, the trans seems to want to dip at a pretty steep angle down, of course because the chain is attached to the engine and not the trans. Is this dangerous? Any issues? It looks like is have to pump the engine way up to get the trans tail to clear the engine frame crossmember. Any thoughts? Thanks!
Chris

MDchanic

Do you have the engine attached to one of those levelling gizmos?

- Eric

Oldssupreme

Eric no I don't. Is it too late to? Are you referring to those bars that spread the chains?

MDchanic

Things like this:



http://www.harborfreight.com/3-4-qua...ler-67441.html


and this:



http://www.autozone.com/engine-and-v...?checkfit=true


- Eric

Oldssupreme

Thank you Eric!
Chris

Oldssupreme

Do you think a 6x6 Wedged between the chains and adjusted up or down along the chain would work as a poor mans leveler? Thanks!
Chris

MDchanic

You could try it, but I don't have a good feeling about it.

I think you'll be much happier with the right part, which you can adjust on the fly as you maneuver the engine...

... And walk away from it with all of your fingers.

- Eric

joe_padavano

Pulling the engine just to attach the trans is really a waste of time. Nearly every trans I've ever installed was done with the engine in the car. You can rent a trans jack, though I bought one for $149 from Harbor Freight that has been a great tool for over ten years now.

MDchanic

Joe, I think it was just sitting in there finger tight, and he's got the whole nose off, so it's probably easier to just slide the engine and transmission straight in than to jack up the car and wrestle with the transmission, especially since he doesn't have a transmission jack.

I can definitely see your point if the engine had been fully installed, but he's taken it in and out a couple of times in the past week or so.

- Eric

Oldssupreme

Hey guys! Finally got it in! The trans mount wouldn't allow the trans to drop down enough to clear the tunnel with the cross member on. And the nuts on the crossmember were super tight and I didn't want to risk them breaking. (When i sandblasted and painted the frame i left
The crossmember on...) So after about 3 hours (!) I finally decided to remove the trans mount and it went in in about 20 minutes! I then jacked up the trans and slipped the mount in, bolted it loosely to the frame and attempted to bolt the mount to the trans which was pretty tricky because of the limited working space to get my hand in. I decided to leave that to another day. Thanks for helping with this one!

MDchanic

Great!

I'm amazed you tried to do it with the crossmember in - that's something that's known not to work.

- Eric