Engine and Transmission mating point

[1BadMoJoe]

Well pretty much a noob question and I need to ask...
The plan was to drop the K member for an engine swap...But the rear 12 point diff flange bolts need Impact to get off and the infinite wisdom of design lacks "C" caps on ujoint front or rear, or A wider flange so 12 point bolts are not in-line with drive shaft to accommodate sockets and I do not have a four foot thick and beefy 12 mil closed ended breaker bar wrench

Well anyway plan "B" pull from top looks like motor from top out... the question is how does the engine and trans interface and how do I disconnect the two? My best guess is the flywheel is connected to the motor small ring of 6 bolts inside of flywheel and torque converter outer ring of bolts on flywheel accessed from inspection plate bottom of trans near converter drain plug

When I put a wrench on these converter bolts motor spins...I need to remove these bolts and how do I keep the motor from cranking to loosen the converter bolts???

 

[94m5]

As far as the d/s bolts. Cheater wrench.



And you're correct on the bolts you described. To hold the crank, have a buddy up front hold the front crank hub while.you break the bolts loose. Hell, he can even spin the crank for ya to get to each bolt.

 

[DLF]

I use a 12 point closed end wrench and a large dead blow hammer to loosen the driveshaft flange bolts. Soak them in PB Blaster.

 

[94m5]

Dead blow hammer works too.......


Mike

 

[1BadMoJoe]

oh great, forgot to mention timing cover is off and front crank pulley is off to get timing cover off. Any other way to keep engine from spinning while turning torque converter bolts?

To bad that flange or "C" cups wasn't also designed up front would make removal of drive shaft without dropping gas tank. The infinite wisdom of this car engineering knows no bounds like the direction of the bolts on the starter...if these were designed to come from trans into starter, the hidden upper third bolt would not be a pita. or the bolts for the A/C were not hidden under the pulley. or the massiveness of the K-member, could have been welded round tubing cage than the stamped steel. The list goes on n on

Thank you for the heads up and advice I'm no expert mechanic, I do have a mechanically inclined mind and to few tools to work with.

 

[keVIIIn]

Get yourself a flywheel wrench with the small teeth that lock into the teeth on the flywheel/flexplate to hold it in place..harbor freight sells these things for cheap.

 

[NoLimit95]

I didn't have any problem with the engine turning when removing the TC bolts but... My pulleys were on and belt was also on. If you're getting spin when trying to loosen the bolts, you're just gonna have to find someone to hold a breaker bar and socket on the crank while you loosen them up, or you hold it while they loosen them. Which ever works best for you. For the DS bolts, I used an impact with a 12 point socket but the 12 point closed end wrench and hammer does the trick too. If rusty, do like suggested above and make sure they get soaked with some PB blaster or the like.

If you're having a hard time with the two upper bolts where the trans meets the engine, loosen the motor mounts and remove the bolts at the trans brace and raise the trans up at that point and you can access the two upper bolts from the top, under the hood. It's a lot easier than using 4ft. of extensions and swivels to get them out from the underside.

I have pulled the engine from the 93 out of the top with the trans still mounted lol but that car was wrecked and everything was cut. Hoses, wires and anything that had the engine held in and I used the blow torch (I had before the fire ruined it) and cut off the drivers side cat. After that, I used the engine hoist and raised it right up out the top, trans and all but in your case, I wouldn't use that approach.

Having a compressor, impact, air ratchet, grinder, etc.. does make life easier when doing things like this. All I have left after the fire was my compressor and two impacts and air ratchets, plus all the other tools. I gave everything else away. I was just glad the compressor survived it all. That thing is a life saver sometimes.

Looks bad here but it cleaned up nice and had to buy a new moisture collector and oil thing. Rewired it and replaced the melted parts. Removed melted belt cover cause I have no worries of anyone sticking their hands in there while it's running.

Can't really tell it here but this was after cleaning it up good but if you have a garage and plan on working on a car, a compressor is a good investment and a good impact.

Now if I could be like DLF and 94m5 and have a lift out there, that would be wonderful. When I swapped transmissions out in the 94 over to a 98 trans, I had to go about it this way. Plenty of room to do what I was doing.

Two 2 ton jack stands in the rear, two 4 ton stands up front and all 4 tires were up on cinder blocks. I fear freak accidents and hate being under a car and I won't get under one, unless I am the one that has gotten it up there and made sure it's stabilized.

 

[racecougar]

... the question is how does the engine and trans interface and how do I disconnect the two? My best guess is the flywheel is connected to the motor small ring of 6 bolts inside of flywheel and torque converter outer ring of bolts on flywheel accessed from inspection plate bottom of trans near converter drain plug

When I put a wrench on these converter bolts motor spins...I need to remove these bolts and how do I keep the motor from cranking to loosen the converter bolts???

You're putting a wrench on the torque converter nuts at the inspection plate opening at the bottom of the transmission, aren't you? Try going through the inspection hole on the driverside of the block (remove the rubber plug) with a ratchet/extension/6-point socket. With the socket seated on the nut and up against the side of the inspection hole, the crankshaft won't be able to rotate while you break the nuts loose. Use the crank bolt to rotate each nut into the inspection hole opening.

 

[Sapperfire]

Just reinstall the crank pulley...doesn't have to have the timing cover on it.
You can then use a closed end 12pnt 12mm and then a 16/17mm closed end wrench as a cheater bar, like this....

 

[1BadMoJoe]

How do I put it back together

You're putting a wrench on the torque converter nuts at the inspection plate opening at the bottom of the transmission, aren't you? Try going through the inspection hole on the driverside of the block (remove the rubber plug) with a ratchet/extension/6-point socket. With the socket seated on the nut and up against the side of the inspection hole, the crankshaft won't be able to rotate while you break the nuts loose. Use the crank bolt to rotate each nut into the inspection hole opening.

Was wondering what that rubber plug was for...anyway the nuts on the torque converter needed a big impact to come off. Went as far as adding a new tool, two eighteen inch one inch pipes as a cheater wrenches to slip over the handle of ratchets and wrenches. Didn't work, knew to stop the second time the cheater wrench slipped off the first converter nut. Taken off oil pan and put on my trusty big impact, worked like magic without spinning motor.

Here is my question, I swapped the motor, now I'm putting my transmission back on the motor. I can't figure out how to line up the torque converter bolts through the flywheel to get the nuts back on?
So I currently have my old flywheel off dead motor onto new motor and swung new motor into place near trans. Leveled my motor on wooden blocks and jack stands, manipulated, adjusted and lined up trans to motor...I have a great revelation how the :q:q:q:q do I line up the torque converter bolts to the flywheel holes as I mate the trans to the motor.

Seams like I gotta do what I was trying to avoid, spill a whole Lotta blood/fluid and take the converter out of trans and place the converter onto flywheel to bolt it on? Just call me Mr. Magoo cause I don't have a clue.

 

[DLF]

You're making this way too hard. Make sure that the TC is properly installed and seated on the transmission and then simply turn the TC until the flexplate holes line up as you mate the transmission to the engine. Easiest if a flexplate hole is at roughly 6 o'clock so you can see it.

 

[racecougar]

Agreed. With the TC fully seated in the transmission, you will be able to mate the engine to the transmission, then rotate the TC to line up with the flexplate.