I'll be dropping the tranny this weekend...with help of this and a friend.

Any tips, tricks, advice or how to's you guys have to offer me? Anything just to make it as painless as possible

 

Pull the intake manifold and your plastic inner fenders - you should be able to get to all the bellhousing bolts fairly easily without having to use 2-foot long extensions.

 

same thing i was guna say. pulling the manifold worked best for me. the tranny cooler lines are E clips. i kept prying on the wrong side wandering wtf was wrong lol. thats what i get for trying to do it on the ground at night lol.

 

it may be easier to remove the intake manifold than id is to try and get them from the bottom.

the order I usually go in is:

up top:
-battery (this is important if you dont want the starter grounding out on the block/frame while you drop it.)
-dipstick/tube
-vac modulator hookup (for my vac mod trans)

down below:

-driveshafts
-starter
-converter
-all electrical plugs
-shift cable
-neutral safety switch
-cooler lines
-bell housing
-cross member

the trans will stay put on the dowells in the block until you remove the x-member. you may have to wiggle it side to side to get it to break loose from the dowells. be caureful doing this though... dont get too rowdy with it or it will fall!!! make sure it is supported by a trans jack of some sort while doing this. Installation is just the opposite of these steps.

 

i think pulling the intake is really uncalled for.
all you have to do is let the tranny hang down and use some long extensions along with a universal joint and the right size socket.

 

i didnt have the right tools for the job and was doing it on the ground with a 3/5 drop...i was up for anything to get it done without laying in a pool of tranny fluie lol. 12 small bolts and a few plugs and the intake is history...it also makes it easier to get to the 2 bolts up behind the headers.


heres another tip i learned....you can do it if you want...i grided that bracket off of the tranny dipstick tube. now you can actually get it down into the transmission and you dont have to wory about that impossible bolt that holds it down. the dipstick tube sits there just fine without being bolted down. i also chopped off most of the bellhousing bolts to where its like a normal bolt so you dont have to use a deep socket in those tight spaces.

 

An open end wrench works well too so you don't have to chop down the bolts. Factory torque specs are only 35 ft-lb so it's not hard to tighten/loosen.

 

meh haha, theres no point to that crap on the back of most of those bolts anyways just one of my tips/tricks

 

But I like my bolt stubs! They are cute!

 

JFWY