The short answer is that you can raise the car, support the engine from above, let the cradle swing down, and unbolt and remove the trans and drop it out the bottom. It's almost as much trouble as a cradle drop, but it can be done. Assembly, as they say, is the reverse of disassembly.
There is not, to my knowledge, enough room to get the trans out from above.
The first time I dropped the cradle I was a little bit afraid of it After the first time no hesitation after that only way to work on the transmission in my opinion
Ok. I did a search for a thread on dropping the cradle and didn't find a good one. One for an 88 2.5 would be best but beggars can't be choosers? One thing I did see is that everyone says it isn't as bad as you think.
The real PITA, is finding a way to get the car high enough to roll the cradle out from underneath. You can use jacks, and jack stands, or even a cherry picker.
It's basically... Remove the decklid. Two 13mm bolts hold the hinge to each side of the decklid. Scribe or mark the hinges before removing. Do NOT remove the hinges from the hinge boxes on the firewall. There is also an electrical connector near the right hinge box. Unplug it. Unplug the connectors from the ECM (behind the console) and push them through the firewall to the outside. Zip tie them to the top of the engine. Drain the coolant. Easiest way is the two hex plugs in the coolant lines behind/under the doors. Disconnect the fuel lines (2) and the coolant hoses (one right and one left.) Disconnect the shifter cables and zip tie out of the way. Remove the slave cylinder from the trans, and zip tie it out of the way. Leave the clutch hydraulic line connected.
You need to decide what you want to do with the suspension pieces. You can leave them attached to the cradle, but it makes it a lot harder to get the cradle out from under the car. (They snag on the body, and they make the cradle assembly very tall. Requires raising the car a bit higher.) I usually do this... Remove the parking brake cables from the calipers. You will need to loosen/disconnect them under the front rail of the cradle. Pull the main cable out of the right side of the cradle. Remove the calipers and zip tie or bungee them out of the way. Leave the brake lines connected to them. Remove the axle nuts, the long bolts, and the rear most trailing link bolts. Remove the three nuts from the tops of the struts, at the top of the shock towers. You might have to whack the ends of the axles to unseat them. Then the strut/spring/knuckle will come out as an assembly.
With everything disconnected, I lower the rear of the car onto a furniture dolly that is centered under the cradle. Remove the four cradle bolts. The two in the back are threaded into "captive" nuts in the rear frame rail. The two in the front go sideways through brackets and through the cradle. They are held with nuts. I use floor jack under the front corners of the cradle to "unbind" the bolts so that they will slide out easily.
Once everything is disconnected and unbolted, you will need to raise the rear of the car off of the cradle. You can use floor jacks and a 4x4 under the rear of the floor, or use a cherry picker. (I loop a chain through the front rail of the trunk compartment, as a lifting point. Do NOT use the trunk latch hook. It looks convenient, but it's not strong enough.) Some people remove the rear bumper cover and energy absorber, and loop a chain around the bumper bar. That works nicely.
I had an A-frame built. I bought a chain fall from Harbor Freight, and hung it from the A-frame. That's what I use to lift mine.
Once the car is high enough, you can roll the engine out from under. It's easier to roll it out the side, if you have room. Note: I find it easier to park the front of the car on ramps before I do this. If you use ramps, be sure to block the front wheels so they can't roll off the ramps.
Deck lid removal isn't needed, haven't taken one off in years.....
In most cases it's not, but I find that it helps a bit. Especially if you have to maneuver a hoist into place above the engine. If nothing else, it's one less thing to smack your head on. I'm skilled, that way.
YMMV.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-25-2016).]
Bite the bullet and figure a way of dropping the cradle that works for you. It really is the only way!
Raydar gave a good summary.
I built a wood frame to lift the rear of my Fiero. First, I remove the struts, and then I lift the car by the strut towers (safest lifting point IMO). Two 1/2"-13 threaded rods hold up the lifting beam.
As usual, I built a dolly to roll the cradle out once the car was lifted.
...figure a way of dropping the cradle that works for you. It really is the only way!
Oh, I dunno about that.
I've tilted the cradle (down in the back) a couple times to change the clutch on my '84 duke and '88 Formula. Sure, dropping the cradle completely might make it easier to work on the engine/tranny once it's clear of the car... but if space to put the cradle (within a small/crowded garage for example) is a problem, just tilting the cradle to pull the tranny works fine. Heck, you don't even need to drain the coolant.
[This message has been edited by Patrick (edited 09-25-2016).]
... it's nice to not have to have anti-freeze leaking all over everything. (Especially important since I have dogs who are most curious.)
As much as the raccoons and skunks and squirrels and neighborhood cats all checking out my backyard are a nuisance... yeah, I prefer not to poison them either.
My preference is to drop the cradle to change transmissions. Access to all the bolts and axles seems easier but there are those that feel more comfortable doing the job by supporting the engine, swinging the cradle down, removing wheelhouse, the strut and the axle. You may end up needing an alignment either way.
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Just how high do you raise the care to clear the cradle?
Dropped many a Fiero cradle. The car needs to be jacked up about 4' measured from the bottom of the cradle to the floor. We use a 2 post automotive lift , disconnect everything, lower the cradle down on a motorcycle lift ( that has wheels on it) and just pull everything out from under. Many guys have done the job without a lift. It seems very risky this way but it can be done on a concrete floor..
------------------ " THE BLACK PARALYZER" -87GT 3800SC Series III engine, custom ZZP /Frozen Boost Intercooler setup, 3.4" Pulley, Northstar TB, LS1 MAF, 3" Spintech/Hedman Exhaust, Autolite 104's, MSD wires, Custom CAI, 4T65eHD w. custom axles, HP Tuners VCM Suite. "THE COLUSSUS" 87GT - ALL OUT 3.4L Turbocharged engine, Garrett Hybrid Turbo, MSD ign., modified TH125H " ON THE LOOSE WITHOUT THE JUICE "
Depending on the height of your dolly under the cradle, 38" from floor to bottom of lower frame rail is high enough if you come on of the driver side wheel well. I sit the cradle on my cherry picker legs, pick up the back of the car with the crane, support car on jack stands and a 4x4, and then roll the cradle out the side. My picker has swivel casters on all corners.
Seeing Raydar's image above reminded me of pictures I had from seven years ago when I swapped an Isuzu into my '84 Fiero. This shows the "tilted cradle" method...
Seeing Raydar's image above reminded me of pictures I had from seven years ago when I swapped an Isuzu into my '84 Fiero. This shows the "tilted cradle" method...
I did essentially the same thing, the last time I changed a clutch. The car was on jackstands, with ramps under the front. I used the A-frame to support the hoist (for the engine), and a come-along (to drop the trans out), but the idea was about the same. I used a length of 2x10 as a ramp, to help the trans to slide out behind the car.
Edit - I also removed my struts and knuckles, in one piece. I have found that the alignment stays the same if you don't separate the struts from the knuckles.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 09-30-2016).]