Guys,

Just wondering how many of you actually removed your tranny and installed another on your own? Was it pretty hard? Any tips? Looking at removing my tranny in a few days? Seems straightforward. But i dont wanna break anything..LOL..

 

Subscribed.. Gonna be pulling mine in 2 weeks for stall, flexplate and rear main replacement.

 

Pretty much a straight forward job. I took mine out for the first time about a year ago. The only thing that took a little bit of patients were the cooler lines and the 12o'clock bell housing bolt. The top bolt can be reached with a 3' extention from right behind the tail shaft. For the cooler lines I used quick fuel line disconnects. Good luck bud.

 

Thanks alot man!! Any more tips as far as installing a converter and things like that?

 

As far as the converter, you just want to make sure it seats all the way down on the input shaft. Don't quote me on this but I am pretty sure it was like three FELT AND HEARD clicks pushing down and rotating on the converter. Also, if you do not have a buddy to help get it out and back in, make sure to get a good jack with a wide top on it. I used a standard floor jack but I tack welded a good sized piece of 3/4'' steel to the top round lifting support. This helped with trying to get the bell housing bolts and round studs all lined up. I also dropped the tranny down a bit before getting the cooler lines off. Helped with getting my hands in there to work.

 

lift up decently but stable/safe, disconnect trans from bellhousing to remove (don't know what a level 6 is .... auto or stick???) use lots of cardboard if you don't wanna scratch the trans up sliding in and out or don't have a fancy lift clean clean clean everything when removing and install is easier

 

Just make sure you get all the bell housing bolts out. This is a common mistake made by rookies. They will think they have all the bolt out then start prying on the bellhousing breaking the trans or the block. On an ls1 there are 6 bolts. Just take your time and be careful not to drop the trans on your head. I can bench press a m6 in no problem, but an auto takes a good floor jack that is stable and has a big pad on it.

 

i have done it a couple of times in my truck...its pretty easy you will need a buddy and floor jack to make it easy for you..it worked out better for me with back end up high as possible. that worked out for me very well

 

I have done about 25 Chevrolet autos over the years and they are all basically the same with a few extra steps as the years progress. I think you are well on your way.

I always supported the engine and the tranny at the same time, so when they were disconnect, the engine did not tilt back on the motor mounts and so when you went to reinstall, everything was already lined up to stab.

Most CARS needs to be a good distance off of the ground, especially if you do not have a tranny jack or attachment.

Do NOT try this by yourself; at least have one person with in yelling distance, especially if you do not have a lift.

Make sure you tighten the flexplate/flywheel bolts correctly or you CAN break it and then have to start all over.......

Take your time and Good Luck!

 

One of the only jobs I truly dread doing on these cars. It's an overall pain in the ***. Buy lots of extensions Good luck.

 

I have spohn solid motor mounts and I had to pry on the firewall to get the bell housing out but after I got it out I beat the hell out of the fire wall so it wont such a pain in the *** to put back in lol

 

definately the hardest part is the very top bolt...i did mine on the ground twice, not fun at all.

 

Make sure you take your Air Lid off. Remove drive line and plug tailhousing. You should be using a Trans jack!!! Remove TC bolts, 3 of them. Remove crossmember bolts. Take the 2 lower Trans bolts out before you put the Jack underneath the Trans, You will need to lower the Trans to get at the upper bolts!!! This will also tilt the motor which is ok. Don't forget this dipstick tube.. Bolts to the back of the Pass. side head. When reinstalling take your time so as to not stack the pump!!! If you don't get it lined up correctly this can happen. Good luck and don't be afraid to ask for help.

 

It's not that hard, did my engine out the top and the tranny out the bottom, lesson learned;

1.Get one of those $40 dollar scissor trans jacks from Harbor freight-makes the job much easyer.
2.You will need about 5ft of exstensions, and a swivel tipped socket for the trans bolts helps.
3.Make a set of dowels from slightly (1/4 in) longer trans to enging bolts, this is an old school trick. Get 2 bolts the same size but slightly longer than your stock trans bolts, cut the heads off and round the tips, before you stab the tranny back in run these dowls in the bottom 2 holes just by hand and then back them off 1 turn-these are much easyer to aim for than the factory dowls, once you have the 10 and 2 0'clock bolts in you can remove the dowls and replace them with the bolts.
4.Grease or antiseize the factory dowls, and tranny bolts.
5.IMPORTANT-CHECK YOUR FLEXPLATE FOR CRACKS! If you are going to be racing now might be a good time to replace it with a SFI certified one, you will also have great access to the oil pressure sender once the tranny is out.
6.IMPORTANT-WHEN LOOSTENING THE 3 TORQUE CONVERTER BOLTS, TREAT THEM LIKE IT'S A ONE TIME SHOT AT LOOSTENING THEM!!!(be square on the bolt and have the crank securely stopped) DO NOT USE A TORX BIT WITH A HOLE IN THE CENTER, THIS IS A SECURTY TORX BIT, NOT FIT FOR HIGH TORQUE.
7.Get the car up 7in. higer than you think is high enough. I put mine up on jack stands with flat lawn bricks ($1 from lowes ea.) under the jack stands.
8.Loosten the lugs on the front wheels before you put the car in the air, with a wheel off the trans just slides from under the car. uless you got air and a good impact breaking loose lugs on a airborne car is a pain.
You will prob dent your pan, so nows a good time for a new one with a drain, I bought a new one off EBay with a drain for cheap, put the factory one on for removal.

GO SLOW.

Good luck

 

Awesome guys!! Thanks alot for all the responses. I will definitely have 2 buddies helping out. Thanks again!

 

GREAT WRITEUP THAT HELPED ME TREMENDOUSLY

that writeup does a great job, got me through my t56 swap. As stated, its harder if you have poly or solid motor mounts, but i did mine with poly and it wasn't impossible by any stretch of the imagination.

buy a bunch of extensions, and a 13MM swivel socket if you don't have one already. For me the 12 o'clock bolt want that bad, i got it right away. all the rest were easily in reach, besides one at about the 10-11 o'clock position. The way the tunnel is shaped, you just about can't get a socket on it, that why you HAVE to have that 13mm swivel socket, i got mine at sears.

Another toughie was the dipstick. i was lucky because i didn't have to keep mine so i didn't worry about it. I made sure nothing was in the way of it then dropped the trans and let it snap. but its angled so that it is VERY hard to get out from either the top of the bottom.

 

Like I said man, piece of cake. We will get you taken care if. Who else is helping?

 

To help me and my buddy lower the trans because we were using regular floor jacks, we ran two trailer tie downs underneath the trans and hooked them on either side of the underbody of the car. Ran one tie down strap underneath the bellhousing of the trans and the other underneath the tailshaft. We tightened them up before we took the trans out and after the trans was disconnected from the engine we gradually loosened them to let the trans down easy. It worked really well. We didn't use ratchet straps though, just the cheaper clamp ones because they are easier to let the tension out of.

Also, to keep the engine from tilting back up in the engine bay after the trans was disconnected, we used tie downs again and ran them from both exhaust manifolds to the A-arms on both sides and ratcheted them down. This kept the engine tilted down on the motor mounts while the trans was out and made it easier to put back in.

I like tie downs

On the last picture if you look closely you cans see the red tie downs wrapped around both exhaust manifold flanges.

 

Hey guys... there's lots of great info here from folks who've been down this road before. But, if you get into a bind and need advice feel free to pick up the phone and ask me anything about the process, I don't mind helping out.

And, just as an fyi... If you get into it and decide it's a bit much for you... I on;y charge $300.00 to take a tranny out and reinstall it. That includes anything I need to do while it's out. Converter, Flexplate, Rear Main Oil Seal...etc....

Good Luck either way!

g

 

Hey thanks alot Gil..