GT350 tech/base to track pack transmission swap

So - I started posting some info about the transmission swap in the cooler thread, but even after well over a year of knowing about that issue it is still raw for many of us. I do not blame anyone at all for being upset. It still bothers me as well.

I feel that my few posts in that thread with info on the transmission swap are completely buried in a mountain of other posts, and they won't really help anyone. I doubt many people will read through that entire thread to find tips or info on the transmission swap. I would like to help people here with any advice I can based on my experience, so I'm making this thread just for that purpose. I would also ask any other tech/base owners who do the swap to post anything here that they think might help others.

I ask all of you - PLEASE if you want to discuss other topics do it in another thread!!

The connectors on the exhaust switches have red tabs on the top. Those tabs need to be pushed toward the back of the car in order to disconnect the fasteners. I had a mirror but still couldn't see the tabs well enough to tell what needed to be done. Here are some photos. First one is the red tab in locked position.



This one shows the tab unlocked.


Just a photo of the box.


My other bit of advice is to heat the nuts on the catalytic converter pipe. Mine weren't going to come off, but after breaking out the MAP gas they loosened up very easily (other than the one mentioned below).

Hope it's helpful.

I wanted to post some more updates and tips from a non-pro wrench turner doing the change over from tech pack to track pack transmission in order to add the coolers. I have the transmission to the point of being ready to come out.

I removed the splitter and front belly pan before removing the starter. I think it helped being able to see a little better. If I had it to do again I'd remove the passenger side wheel and wheel liner early as well.

I also removed the driver's side catalytic converter even though the instructions don't say to do it. There are two bolts at the top of the transmission holding the transmission to the engine. I really couldn't see or access the driver's side bolt without removing the catalytic converter on that side. I used a long extension and a ratchet to do the top two bolts, and the driver's side has the vent tube clipped to it. So you have to get the vent tube unclipped before you will be able to remove that bolt.

Oh, this is probably obvious to most people, but when you remove the clutch hydraulic line it will drip. Good to have a pan to catch it. I used a 90 degree pick tool to get the little spring clip off the hydraulic line. That worked pretty well.

Now that I'm deep into this - I would say this isn't a super easy job. It's been a while since I worked on cars very much, but I've done many and varied car repairs and modifications in my life. I would definitely discourage a novice from doing it.

Here's another post about the catalytic converter nuts and making sure you soak them in a penetrant such as PB Blaster and definitely heat them. I wasn't going to mention this, but I rounded off one of them - the one you have to loosen from the engine compartment with a long extension. I ended up cutting a slot into a deep well socket and welding one of the nuts into it. The nut did come off easily after that, but I decided I should warn people because that could have been a major problem with getting the cat off the car.

Here's a photo.

Next problem: there are two hollow dowels that align the transmission to the engine block. In my car the passenger side dowel was frozen in the transmission. In fact, it was frozen so much so that the dowel stayed with the transmission. The dowels are designed to press fit into the engine and slip fit in the transmission. I had to use some gentle heat on the side of the bellhousing to get it to let go of the dowel. A punch with a sharp edge wasn't doing it alone. Once I got the bellhousing hot the dowel came out fairly easily.

Here's an image and you can see that the dowel and the aluminum bellhousing had a pretty significant galvanic reaction.


After cleaning the dowel with a pipe cleaner brush and a wire wheel:


We used a piece of romex in the mount location to pull on the transmission. I think this was a good solution rather than trying to pry it loose. It wasn't going to slide out without serious persuasion!


The engine has threaded holes in the locations where the dowels go, so I used a transmission bolt with a stack of washers to urge the dowel back into the engine block.

Just a photo of track/tech transmissions. I took some closer photos comparing the locations where the cooler lines go as well let me know if you'd like me to post them.

Thx for taking the time to do this [MENTION=12069]Hack[/MENTION].

Hack thanks for posting this , quick question I really can't see it clearly from the picture but does the bolting from the bellhousing bolt from inside the transmision to bellhousing ? Also if you don't mind me asking I see that your old tranny was sold how much did you get for it ?

Just re read my post wanted to ask if bolts go from inside of bellhousing to the transmission

Bravo!

Glad to see you are making progress!

Secondtime said:

Just re read my post wanted to ask if bolts go from inside of bellhousing to the transmission

Click to expand...

Yeah unfortunately the bellhousing bolts to the transmission are inside the bellhousing. I think it partially is designed this way due to the hydraulic clutch and the plumbing for that.

Here's a photo. Sorry it's not the greatest, but you can easily see the bellhousing to transmission bolts.

One other thing I wanted to mention is that we used two floor jacks to lift the track pack transmission into place. This allowed us to very easily control the angle of the transmission as it goes in. Both jacks were aligned with the transmission, one coming in from the front of the car with the jack handle near the splitter and the second jack coming in from the rear of the car with the jack handle near the rear differential. This way both jacks could roll easily as we pushed the transmission into the clutch. The car's body is designed to fit very tightly around the transmission, so you can't just lift the transmission straight up and then push it forward against the engine.

We rolled the transmission a little back and forth to get the bulge where the starter fits past the sheet metal. We also had the best luck with tipping the transmission so that the output area was lower than the front of the transmission that was going against the engine.

Another tip is I found I could grab onto the end of the exhaust manifold and tip the engine back. I didn't loosen the engine mounts at all to do this. The mounts allow a fair amount of engine movement in the car - at least tipping fore and aft. Tipping the engine back gets the clutch a little lower so that it's easier to start the transmission input shaft into the clutch opening.

This is a really basic thing for anyone who has installed a transmission, but you can also grab the output of the transmission and use it to turn the input. This will help to find that point where the splines in the transmission input shaft match up with the clutch splines. Just push the transmission toward the engine while slowly turning the output. You may have to pull the transmission back and try a few times before it mates up.

I should have mentioned this about the electrical connectors on the exhaust. Since I couldn't figure out how the connectors right on the actuators worked, I just took the next set of electrical connectors apart. It's probably obvious from the photos I posted. It might be easier to just not follow the instructions from Ford in this case.

Hats off to [MENTION=12069]Hack[/MENTION], you made the headlines.

Cooler line locations

Hack, yes please post pics of the cooler line locations. I am considering just adding the cooler and an external pump, but know the cooler kit is really made for the internal pump transmission, just want to see how it would fit regarding input/output locations on transmissions. I could easily handle that on my own, but I'm not competent to change the transmission on my own. I don't plan to track it, so will change the transmission when I cook this one, lol.