Dropping the transmission only (without the engine)...worth it?

[aldente295]

Hi,

I'm currently chasing a problem in my transmission, which saw me drop the engine and tranny 2 weekends ago, and put it all back together last weekend. The problem remains, which means dropping it all over again.

Which got me thinking that there's really not very much connecting the transmission to the engine/car, and how hard can it be to just drop the transmission only, leaving the engine in place? I'm thinking the steps would be:

- Remove the clutch cable and arm assembly
- Disconnect and remove the accelerator linkage at the throttle
- Remove the reverse sensor cable
- Remove the speedo cable
- Disconnect the shift coupler
- Support the transmission
- Remove the sway bar
- Remove the transmission mounts
- Remove the 3x nuts and 1x bolt mating the trans to the engine
- Slide the transmission forward off of the bolts and lower to the ground

You're saving a bunch of steps, including the painful detach/reattach of the axles, dumping the oil, etc etc....

I'm sure others have done this before...
Would you recommend it?
Is there enough space in the tunnel to slide the tranny far enough forward?
Do you need to do a partial engine drop to give you enough clearance?
How hard is it to re-mate the engine and tranny together during reassembly?
Any other hints?

Or, should I just suck it up and do a second full drop in the same calendar month? (sigh)...

thanks
Al

[Packet82]

From what I remember, you have to move the transmission back a bit to clear the tunnel. If the engine is in place, that would be problematic.

Installing the transmission is a lot easier if you drop the engine too. Dropping the engine really just adds a case of oil and an hour or two to the process. Most of the time you'll save not having to deal with mating the engine & tranny in the car during install.

[pete3799]

I'd drop them both.
Have to remove the CV's to drop the trans. anyway.

[aldente295]

Yeah, I was wondering about that. I'm thinking that potentially you jack the car up fairly high, then shift the transmission all the way forward to clear the mounting bolts, then drop the back of the transmission all the way below the bottom of the engine before moving it backward. Easy as pie. Except for the fact that you're trying to balance a few hundred pounds of transmission on... something... while lying underneath the car...

[AlfonsoR]

So what's the problem with the tranny? You got the repair figured out now?

Edit: Never mind, I just saw the link to your other thread. Sorry.

[FPB111]

Don't forget to support the rear of the engine. Not sure where you are going to get the clearance to slide the trans around. I'm sure it can be done. I always just dropped engine & trans as unit.

[john walker's workshop]

not worth the trouble. be normal.

[rickybbear]

keep it simple, drop them together!

[aldente295]

I'm convinced!

[aldente295]

Done. 2 hours, 24 minutes from whoa to go. I'm getting quicker.

[Tippy]

The first time I ever pulled the eng/trans, I was able to put it back in and have it running in 2.5 hours without air tools.