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MGW install kicking my @$$

HoosierDaddy

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I'm installing an MGW shifter, but this applies to any shifter that uses the bolt on the top rear of the trans.

I hit a brick wall when it came time to re-install the bolt that goes thru the ears at the top rear of the trans case.

The tunnel is a couple inches closer to those ears than the bolt is long, so you have to drop the trans to where the tunnel is wider to get it out and in.

On jack stands you can't pull down with your whole weight so I ended up using a long pry bar between the top of the tunnel and the trans to drop it enough to get the bolt out. But with the MGW in place, I can't use the pry-bar to get the bolt back in.

George at MGW said normally you can pull it down enough on jack stands by yourself or with a helper. He suggested using a 2x4 to move the trans sideways instead of down if down didn't work.

But the motor mounts and the DS center bearing mounts won't let it move enough sideways. And the mounts don't have much give up and down either. The trans dropped a little more than an inch when the cross-member was unbolted at he start. But pulling down farther until it stops and I start coming off the floor barely moves it any more. Different story if I was standing and could put my full weight into it.

The first pic below is taken from below and behind. The vertical red arrow points towards the front of the car. The horizontal red arrow is perpendicular to that and parallel to the ground. They show how much the trans would need to come down or sideways for the bolt to go in. The tip of the bolt is in the ear and NOT tilted towards the front or back of the car, just the head towards the ground. Hope that makes sense.

The bolt is up against a horizontal surface that ends where the red arrow ends. Past that is an almost vertical surface. The surface of the tunnel in the picture is a thick sheet of sound/heat shielding. If it was gone, the trans might drop enough just by one person pulling on it.

Now I haven't tried having two people pulling down. At my age, I don't happen to have any friends who have any interest in doing this kind of thing anymore. BUT considering that I was being lifted off the ground before it moved even half of what it appears to need, I'm not so sure two could.

I hope someone has some ideas because I am absolutely stuck. I've spent days off and on trying to force the trans down enough to get that bolt in. It's like there's something weird about how my car was put together. I read how GTs are harder because the trans is in a different position relative to the tunnel but this is beyond that.

Someone suggested unbolting the drive shaft center mount, but that means removing the exhaust first to get to those bolts. Without confirmation that would work, I really don't want to find the gotchas of doing that and ending up with a new problem instead of fixing the first one.
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Evo_Rob

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I had the same issue with the Tri-Ax. I did the install by myself, so I ended up pulling on the trans with a lot of bodyweight(215lbs) and pushing into the sound insulation to make room. I had JUST enough space to wiggle it in. And I mean just a hair of space.
 
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HoosierDaddy

HoosierDaddy

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I had the same issue with the Tri-Ax. I did the install by myself, so I ended up pulling on the trans with a lot of bodyweight(215lbs) and pushing into the sound insulation to make room. I had JUST enough space to wiggle it in. And I mean just a hair of space.
I hear ya. I weight that much but laying down you can't pull any harder than what your head, arms and shoulder weigh because more than that and you go up instead of it coming down more. But I'm assuming you were also on jack stands.

Either my car was put together in a way that has the trans closer to the tunnel there than most or I have lost it. I have done many much bigger projects than this over the years. I don't set any speed records, but never been stopped cold like this.

I know the trans will come down far enough because I got the bolt out by forcing the trans down with a big pry-bar.

I basically just need some ideas for applying that much down force now with the MGW blocking where I put the bar before. Pulling down while laying on the ground isn't enough.

Anyone in the Phoenix area want to loan me a few hundred pounds of barbell weights? Maybe I could hang them off the back of the trans with a strap or something.
 

Evo_Rob

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Yep, I refuse to do jackstand installs haha. Body weight is an essential tool in 90% of my installs.

Do you have a wife/gf laying around somewhere that you can put to work? Just hug that bitch, the transmission of course, and have the help wiggle the bolt in.
 

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I had to use two people on this part. Have someone, they don't have to be big or that strong, get inside the car and push down on the shifter/drive shaft from inside the car while you pull down. That gave me the leverage to get it down far enough without trying to go sideways. DM me if you would like and I can give you more specifics. Good luck.
 

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here is another simple trick i forgot about....


simply wrap the driveshaft with a ratchet cloth strap and then take a 2x4 long enough to span the frame rails.

run the strap around the board and over the driveshaft and you should be able to ratchet the driveshaft down.

also...try loosening the pillar support on the driveshaft between the flange and the rear diff to give more wiggle room.


george
 
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HoosierDaddy

HoosierDaddy

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here is another simple trick i forgot about....


simply wrap the driveshaft with a ratchet cloth strap and then take a 2x4 long enough to span the frame rails.

run the strap around the board and over the driveshaft and you should be able to ratchet the driveshaft down.
That sounds like it could work. I just checked and the exhaust is an inch or more below the frame rails, so I'll need to put a sizable piece of wood between the 2x4 and the frame rails since the cross piece will probably bend a lot when its got 200+ lbs of up force on the unsupported middle.

But where is the best place to put the strap? I don't know enough if its safe to pull down with hundreds of lbs on the DS between the resonator (last place with a shot to the DS) and trans. Or is it safer to wrap it around the back of the trans case? I'm not real clear on the effect of the center bearing but if its a non-issue, pulling on the drive shaft would give more leverage being farther from the motor mounts which I assume are all that's holding up the trans from that end. If I don't hear otherwise, I guess I'll try on the trans first and if the 2x4 snaps there (unlikely), I use another farther back and strap it to the DS.

Thanks, George.

also...try loosening the pillar support on the driveshaft between the flange and the rear diff to give more wiggle room.
I don't know what pillar support means, but don't understand how anything behind the 2 piece DS center bearing can have any effect on the DS (or trans) on the front side of the center bearing. ?!? But wouldn't be the 1st time I didn't understand something.
 
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HoosierDaddy

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Easy fix. Unbolt the driveshaft. It will allow the trans to hang a lot lower. You'll be done in no time.
Gonna try the 2x4 cross beam first. It actually seems better anyway since there is no doubt it can lower it enough while leaving both hands free to get the bolt in while lining the shifter part up, etc.. If I unbolt the DS and the trans still needs to come down even a tiny bit more, I'll have one hand less to do the other things while the trans is down.

Plus, I'd prefer to not have tool marks on any bolts related to the DS what with the common problems of driveshaft vibrations in the S550s. With my luck, I'll get the vibe and the dealer will try to blame it on whoever else had been working on the DS.

After reading about the Camaro owner who couldn't get an engine replacement under warranty because the dealer blamed the oil starvation on his oil catch can, I'd rather not press my luck if I don't need to. LoL
 
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HoosierDaddy

HoosierDaddy

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Yep, I refuse to do jackstand installs haha. Body weight is an essential tool in 90% of my installs.

Do you have a wife/gf laying around somewhere that you can put to work? Just hug that bitch, the transmission of course, and have the help wiggle the bolt in.
That's a problem. I asked my GF to help me but then my wife came home, and now neither one will help. ;)
 

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How about a jack on the front of the motor?

That may be a really dumb idea, I haven't installed one before.
 

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I am about 175lbs and hung from the tailshaft of the tranny which wasn't quite enough so I held on with my left arm and reached up with my right and pushed on the bolt as I bounced a bit which gave a moment of "lowerness" and on the 2nd or 3rd bounce it slid in.
 

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I had to use two people on this part. Have someone, they don't have to be big or that strong, get inside the car and push down on the shifter/drive shaft from inside the car while you pull down. That gave me the leverage to get it down far enough without trying to go sideways. DM me if you would like and I can give you more specifics. Good luck.
This is exactly what I did. After wrestling with it for about an hour I called in the wife and I had it in within 5 minutes. Amazing what just an extra little bit of force was able to do.
 

NvrFinished

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That's a problem. I asked my GF to help me but then my wife came home, and now neither one will help. ;)
:lol: At least you have a great sense of humor about it. I guess it wouldn't help to tell you it was a breeze to do this since I had my drive shaft and exhaust removed when I did mine last week. :D
 
 




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