Mating engine to transmission: bell housing and drive shaft alignment
 

So, quick question:

I've got the engine in the bay, all lined up to the transmission.

Now, the engine and bell housing are about 0.5" short of touching and I've got a couple of bolts (all around) in their holes.

Should I just slowly tighten them all up or MUST I push the engine fully agains the transmission before putting bolts in?

I think the bolts will all go in without too much effort.

Tell me!

You can tighten the bolts slowly to get them mated as long as they are not cross-threaded and everything is lined up. You are sure the input shaft splines are properly in the clutch disk splines?

Personally I always try to get them together as much as possible then tighten the bolts to make sure I dont mess it up. Often I find that I get about .5" apart and then tighten the bolts just like you are describing.

Ok, so I'm good. Bolts are not X-threaded, they go in by hand for the first major part, so alignment must be okay. I will put shifter in 3rd and see if I can spin the diff.

Cool. The great thing about the traditional manual is that it either goes on or doesnt. No way to get it on incorrectly unless you snap a bolt or something.

I was sort of worried that I may crash the bearing inside the clutch/crank.

Just go evenly. It never goes together particularly nice, but eventually it will go together. Throw it in gear and spin the diff occasionally like you were going to as you tighten everything down.

i had a hell of a time with mine. what i ended up doing was turning the engine over by hand and figured if the driveshaft was turning i was good to go. went around and tightened the bolts a little at a time. been fine for years since.

I've gone through this twice now. One time, the throwout bearing failed to seat properly, causing the clutch pedal to work in reverse of normal operation (explain that). Last weekend, I realized the 1.6 thermostat housing on the back of the head was hitting the firewall.

Other than that, they've mated smoothly many times. I'm in agreeance with everyone else, as long as it's straight and the driveshaft spins with it in gear, you're good to go.

I had this same thing happen to me when replacing a throwout bearing... Just wiggle it around and it should seat properly. Or you can do what we did and pull it back off and try again. On the second attempt, it slide right into place almost instantly. Our guess was that it was in a bind when being placed on the engine. Good luck.

shake it like when your pissed at your wife...it'll mate.

This



I've always had it completely flush before I started tightening. It should sit fine on the dowels if everything's straight.

The only time it gave me a problem I hadn't aligned the clutch properly before tightening down...fought it for an hour. Borrowed a real alignment tool, and it slipped right in.

This is the main reason I wouldn't want to pull the engine with the transmission still in the car, you'd have to fight the thing while laying under it.

^^^ Yes.

Last time I did it, with the motor swap, it took 2min to mate up, as it was hanging from the hoist.

no joke that was the biggest mistake i've ever made, ever.

I'd put it at a close second behind getting married.

Grammar fail. And this, from you?

BTW, shortly after post #8 I went on it. Trans in gear and all was good, tightened all bolts and all is well.

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