HoosierDaddy
Well-Known Member
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- #1
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.
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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