Shift Fork + Throwout Mating
 

If all goes well, I should be mating my engine back to the tranny tonight. All of the instructions & threads I have found say I need to be sure that the shift fork & throwout bearing mate properly, & suggest checking by feel to make sure this is done correctly before reconnecting fuel/oil/etc.

I haven't been able to find anything detailing exactly how they should line up, or how/what it should feel like when I check it. Can any of you provide a few more details?

Thanks--

The shift fork should be angled out toward the engine..maybe 30 degrees or so, such that when the tranny is moved toward the engine, the fork goes over the TOB and the TOB captures it. You can inspect it by looking in the 1/2 moon cut out on the bell housing.

If you are moving the tranny onto the engein little by little, you can turn the shift fork shaft from the splined end..you'll feel it. Again, if the tranny and engine are out of the car,you can see this happening or view it at the top or bottom of the bell housing.

Is the tranny in the car or both out of car. If out of car it is just a matter of looking into the space between the bellhousing and the back of the engine. Slowly slide tranny forward until you see the shift fork start to slide onto the throwout bearing. If the tranny is in the car I found a flashlight and climbing over the top of the engine and looking down to work the best. When the shift fork is engaged properly the fork lever will only move 1/8" or so back and forth.

Excellent. Thanks guys... that sounds like exactly the info I needed.

The transmission is still in. I will end up hanging over the engine with a flashlight to look in that moon-haped cutout. No big deal... my jackstands weren't tall enough to get the motor out from under the car so I changed the oil switch & thermostat with the engine still under the car. Its fair to say I'm used to stretching to reach & see back there now...

OK... so I just worked on this for an hour or so... and I can officially say that getting the engine back on the transmission is a PITA. I have all the bolts lined up & starting to get into their places, but no matter how I adjusted (both the engine & transmission are on their own jack to raise & lower) I can't get it adjusted to make more progress.

I'm retreating for a beer, & will try again tomorrow.

You may have to rotate the engine a bit so the trans input shaft splines go into the clutch housing just right... That helps get you the last 3/4" mate.

Hmm... would I do this by turning the fan?

You can as long as you put some pressure on the belt to give some traction for the engine pulley.... otherwise you can just use a wrnech on the crank pulley bolt..