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I am just about bolted up with the MSM transmission where a damn automatic used to be. The point where I am at now is a little sticky to me; so I thougt I would ask before breaking something.
How far away is the bellhousing going to be from the transmission plate / block before I can start cranking the bolts? My issue is that I have what looks like the entire trans aligned but there is still a significant gap between the bellhousing and the block? What's the rule of thumb and is this an indication that my shaft is not all the way in the cluch or pilot bearing maybe?
It's like a quarter inch. It can be a serious bitch to get in there; put a SMALL amount of motor oil or some other lube on the tranny input shaft to help you out. The other trick is to put the tranny in gear, install the driveshaft, and spin the tranny a little bit to try to get the splines to line up.
I know I've run into trouble with the bracket for the EGR pipe getting in the way. Not sure you guys even have that over there but if you do it's worth a look to see if it's interfering.
If everything is going in square and it's close enough that I can get all the bolts started I go ahead and start cranking them down. Not saying that you want to go crazy trying to beat the thing into place or anything, but it definitely takes a little force to get it in there. In the 4-5 times I've put the tranny/motor together it's never just fallen together.
After a bit of manipulation the whole thing went right on... I was just nervous about that last little bit but once the bolts were threading evenly the whole damn thing went on like it grew there..
So now I have the trans bolted up and whatnot, the plumbing all needs to go into place for the clutch line and then of cours the pedals need to be installed....
Then I need to find out how to get the neutral safety switch to work and the speedo... and the reverse lights.... and the this and the that... OMG this is still a ways away
FWIW, I just installed mine today (out of the car). I have the engine on a hoist with a load leveler and I put the transmission on a mechanic's creeper. Lowered the engine and leveled it to be even, rolled the trans forward to it, and everything engaged smoothly. Then put the bolts on. It was nice to have it work out so well.
That is why I almost prefer to pull the engine to do tranny/clutch work. It is *SO* much easier to get the two mated outside of the car, and pulling the motor really isn't a lot of work.
Tell you what... that damn automatic was much more of a pain to get out than it was to install the manual. The auto box is just larger, heavier, and had so much more going on... what a royal pain in the ***! Glad that the SOB is out of my car and now I can have a little more fun!
I also think that a contributing factor was also that I was installing a tranny from a much newer car onto an older car... sure they are supposed to fit perfectly but in actuality there was one damn bell housing bolt that refused to go in easily. The threads were perfect... it was just a slight interference fit with the shoulder of the bolt.
Anyhow... it was not the type of project that I would do for fun! It was not too bad while doing the work; but hell... I am sore as **** now.
Trying to finish my tranny swap today and have a question! Please Help!!
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