Gearbox died ( 4 speed Muncie) and we are about to move house. Got another box so it's now a mad rush to replace the gearbox and get the car back together so I can move it under it's own power instead to having to trailer it, plus, there's more room here than at the new house in the driveway/road to put the other cars while I take over the garage. Used to be able to pull the engine in about 5 hours. I'll never see those days again! Two hours on Thursday , another Two on Friday and probably three or so today just to get the engine out. Then a few more hours at it trying to take everything apart that I need to just the get the ruddy gearbox off. Every time I look there's SOMETHING else I need to remove before I can move forward. Even had to take the exhaust crossover off. Who designed this thing! So now I'm thinking that just taking the whole engine off the cradle might be the easiest option as there's only about two bolts/nuts left actually holding on there. What a job, my knees are killing me and now it's all apart I've GOT to get it done and back together otherwise I'll be moving a kit car!
I'm getting to old for this (But it's still fun isn't it!)
------------------ Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!
Yes I have, well, a 99 Cougar so fairly modern. What a nightmare to pull the engine on that thing. Sold it for next to nothing in the end rather than do that again! Still doesn't make it any easier though. It's not the working on the car, it the getting up and down all the time to get stuff. It takes me five minutes now just to get off the ruddy floor!. I'm more like a turtle on it's back these days LOL!
------------------ Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!
Unfortunately I know exactly what you mean. A couple of weekends ago I replaced the steel brake lines on my daughter's 2002 Grand Am. Took me about four hours over two days. There was about 30 minutes of actual work, the rest was me getting up and down to get tools. It's not fair.
I don't think I would be able to do anything to mine anymore if it was something I needed to drive daily, and not just a project vehicle.
The 15 minute exhaust flange gasket between the manifold pipe and exhaust pipes took me over 3 hours, 6 beers, and those little bolt springs never seemed that stiff before! Must be making them better / stiffer these days compared to 9 years ago?
Totally can relate to the turtle part.... one day last fall, I actually said to heck with getting up and just rolled / crawled on the garage floor over to what I needed. lol
Once down there, and that takes a bit also, I am fine, but sure could use a gopher to "gopher this and gopher that" for me.
Preplanning the work helps. Figure out what tools, etc that you're going to need and take them down with you. I can work for fairly long periods without getting off the creeper.
And the electric chain hoist helps getting up when I need to....😉
Not that this is going to help you now...But I pulled the Trany to replace the clutch without pulling the engine- Used the Fiero store support to hold the engine(Had to buy some chain and connectors to make it work properly)...Actually had to to do it twice because the first replacement pressure plate hit the trany. The engine had to tilt just slightly. And it helped to use the french dictionary........
Did you have to remove the engine and transmission? I thought the back of the cradle could be dropped enough to pull the Transmission out of the wheel well
I feel your pain. I'm well past the age of doing anything at a fast pace. Recently replaced the headliner in my 86 GT. Removed all the moldings, seats, dash and glassed the headliner fiber board. That was a three week exercise.
[This message has been edited by Cajun (edited 03-26-2017).]
I know that you 'can' pull the trans without pulling the engine but it always seems like such a dodgy thing to try having to under there with everything half cocked to get it out. While it is more work to pull it all, it just seems safer to me and in my book, safety beats every other consideration. Plus in my garage, where the car is, I'd be stuck for space on that side. It was all worth it though, it really needed a new clutch plate, old one was getting close to being done and the front trans mount is shot so that needs replacing. With luck (and assuming my knees hold up) I'll be back together in a week once the parts come in.
I know that you 'can' pull the trans without pulling the engine but it always seems like such a dodgy thing to try having to under there with everything half cocked to get it out. While it is more work to pull it all, it just seems safer to me and in my book, safety beats every other consideration. Plus in my garage, where the car is, I'd be stuck for space on that side. It was all worth it though, it really needed a new clutch plate, old one was getting close to being done and the front trans mount is shot so that needs replacing. With luck (and assuming my knees hold up) I'll be back together in a week once the parts come in.
I hear that and you have plenty of room to walk around and work on stuff Better check the spark plugs and exhaust bolts while you have it out
Ex bolts are good (checked) so my ex leak is somewhere else! Think I had a bad weld where the cat joins the pipe, welded that up, hopefully will fix the tractor like sound LOL. I thought about the plugs but that can turn into a can of worms if one breaks and I've only got so much time to get this done before we move house. Since it was running fine, it's a case of "if it ain't broke etc...". Whole engine could do with a refresh so maybe at some point in the future I'll just build a new motor and swap that in depending on how space in the new house works out.
------------------ Anything I might say is probably worth what you paid for it, so treat it accordingly!
Ex bolts are good (checked) so my ex leak is somewhere else! Think I had a bad weld where the cat joins the pipe, welded that up, hopefully will fix the tractor like sound LOL. I thought about the plugs but that can turn into a can of worms if one breaks and I've only got so much time to get this done before we move house. Since it was running fine, it's a case of "if it ain't broke etc...". Whole engine could do with a refresh so maybe at some point in the future I'll just build a new motor and swap that in depending on how space in the new house works out.
