precautions in replacing 5sfe manual trans., manual transmission swap Options

[reliqhunter]

Hey guys I'm a new member on here but not new to the site, I bought a crappy 95 GT to
Learn how to drive a standard in everyday traffic. I wound up falling in love with it and now
I'm trying to fix it up, hopefully into a GT4 swap later on when I get more experience and money...
My transmission went out on it after almost 20,000 miles after I bought it, and I bought another transmission that only had 110k on it and I'm going to start the swap after I buy a new clutch and seals for it. Is there any tricky parts I need to watch out for before I jump into it? Any feedback or tips would be greatly appriciated!

[Smaay]

nothing tricky, but are you sure its the trans? good job on getting a new clutch, change the throw out bearing too.

[reliqhunter]

nothing tricky, but are you sure its the trans? good job on getting a new clutch, change the throw out bearing too.

Yeah its the trans, it was going out when I bought the car and it had 240k on it, it locked up on me driving home from work one night, not a big deal only cost me $300 for a new one.

[Smaay]

not too bad

[czwalga]

Getting the drivers side axle out can be a pain in the ass.

[reliqhunter]

Anything that will help it come out easier? I want to try to keep the process as fast and efficient as I possibly can you guys are a big help

[SwissFerdi]

Preemptively speaking before I do this myself, I believe the issue is in separating the ball joint so that the hub comes free, apparently that's a tricky process.

[travisxcore]

I'm almost done with my swap. All I gotta do is put in the passenger axel, the plastic skid covers, and put the interior back together and I'm good to go.

Getting the hub and all that off and out of the way was easy...well actually that's a lie. The bolt holding the hub onto the axel on the passenger side was torqued at like 300lbs. 2 people and a 3ft pole and we barely got it.

Back to the drive axel though, its a tough one. You need a long enough pry bar and you have to take off the dust flap (not the dust boot on the axel). Then stick the pry bar down into the bay and put it in the convenient slot on the drive axel. Then take another smaller pry bar and put it on slot on the bottom and go to town with both of them.

Pro tip: When you have the motor floating, DO NOT move it no matter how much more convenient it makes it to get the trans out. It will get in a bind. Mine was in so bad of a bind it broke the EGR vacuum valve and my serpentine belt got shredded when I was trying to get the motor to line back up.

[Special_Edy]

I'm almost done with my swap. All I gotta do is put in the passenger axel, the plastic skid covers, and put the interior back together and I'm good to go.

Getting the hub and all that off and out of the way was easy...well actually that's a lie. The bolt holding the hub onto the axel on the passenger side was torqued at like 300lbs. 2 people and a 3ft pole and we barely got it.

Back to the drive axel though, its a tough one. You need a long enough pry bar and you have to take off the dust flap (not the dust boot on the axel). Then stick the pry bar down into the bay and put it in the convenient slot on the drive axel. Then take another smaller pry bar and put it on slot on the bottom and go to town with both of them.

Pro tip: When you have the motor floating, DO NOT move it no matter how much more convenient it makes it to get the trans out. It will get in a bind. Mine was in so bad of a bind it broke the EGR vacuum valve and my serpentine belt got shredded when I was trying to get the motor to line back up.

Next time, jack the motor/trans upwards, then place a 2x4 or suitable object over the engine. Now tie a rope or use a ratcheting strap around the engine and the 2x4. Lower the engine slowly and the 2x4 and strap/rope will support the weight of the engine.
Be sure the 2x4 is on the strut towers or some other structurally sound place.

[reliqhunter]

i have an engine hoist if that makes things better?

[Special_Edy]

i have an engine hoist if that makes things better?

Well, heres how I did it with my hoist-

Place a jack under the engine, attach the hoist to the tranny(hoist on the driverside reaching over the fender) using either a ratcheting strap and a rope or two ratcheting straps. The objective is to loop the rope/strap under the transmission on the opposite ends, and then use the ratcheting mechanism to control the angle of the transmission.
Now lift the transmission(still connected to the engine) and make sure the strap/rope combo is adjusted and all 4 corners are slack free.
Next jack the engine until the weight of the transmission is apx half way off the straps.

Now you can try to wiggle the transmission off the motor. If the motor and trans are actually level and not pitched you can simply roll the hoist straight back away from the driverside fender and the transmission will come cleanly off
Finally, lower the trans out of the bottom of the car(hope your ropes/chain are long enough!)



And the best trick in the world to reattach a transmission to the engine is to use 2 long bolts(on many cars the starter bolts work) as dowels. Hoist the transmission close to position, then stick the long bolts through any of the bellhousing bolt holes, and thread them into the engine block. You can now slide the transmission straight onto the motor without any fuss.

[reliqhunter]

it didnt look like it would be too hard, but this is the exact reason i figured i would ask, what would be the best clutch i should use?