Supercharged111

Maybe I'm just being a vagina here, but for the life of me I can't seem to get at all the bellhousing bolts. Doesn't matter if the motor is tilted forward or backward, especially that middle right one with the damn harness holder bracket. Completely blocks my socket out. It doesn't help that I don't want to be in my freezing *** garage during the now perpetual night of winter. I'm using a swivel socket, so have the most flexibility possible. I'm also unable to remove the spring from the slave so I can go about measuring for a shim. The bell is coming loose so I can replace the rear main seal plate gasket.

NITRO UK

Hi , your no v its a pita.

Think I used a small open ended wrench then used a ring wrench to hook onto the small wrench kinda allowed a bit of space .

I was taking motor out so I dropped the cradle which did help .

Maybe just crack the four cradle to frame nuts ,spin them down to last thread might just be the difference.

I assume you have to remove tq tube ,in which case can you start at the rear then angle the motor down at the rear bell housing .

Or do we have to take the whole back end diff , tranny out to do a rear seal .

Hope you get it sorted bud , don't get mad , get even.

Supercharged111

Trans, diff, and TT are out. I'm going to re-engage shortly but I'm still short on patience and motivation so I'm not expecting much. I get like this about once a year since it seems like I never stop wrenching on stuff I usually don't want to be wrenching on in the first place.

redcycle13

Are you changing bell housings? you can change the clutch without removing the bell housing, just the lower cover.

NITRO UK

Hi , think he wants to replace the rear seal ,cover so the b/housing has to come off .

Supercharged111 ,that's a lot of work bud might be worth undoing those cradle nuts just to drop the motor as much as possible .

I had my bumper off and rad /frame / fans removed so I could stand in there , so can imagine why its a pita .

let us know how you get on bud.

redcycle13

I changed my rear seal with the bell housing still in the car. Did something happen to the rear cover? I cant imagine why the rear cover would need to be replaced.

NITRO UK

Hi , can you take the rear cover off with b/housing still in place or did you just pull the seal and replace .

I would like to replace the gasket on the cover if I was in that deep .

Think your right probably more than enough room with the clutch and flywheel removed.

For the sake of the bell housing bolts I would want to remove that , so I could get to the rest of the stuff a lot easier .

That said this whole thread is really about those hard to get at bolts

redcycle13

I did not pull the cover to replace the seal. I just replaced the seal with the cover in place. I didn't pull my rear cover until I had my engine removed from the car. The rear cover gaskets are very durable, and I would be shocked to see one leak. The rear cover is supposed to be aligned with the oil pan, and some sealant is used on the bottom corners to ensure a leak free seal. Getting the cover back on and sealed to the pan properly would concern me more than the actual rear cover gasket to the block.

Sorry none of this actual helps with the bell housing bolts, but maybe you won't need to remove the housing with some of the info.

NITRO UK

I can see where your coming from , and that you are trying to save the op a load of grief , Yeah leaving the cover on and just pulling the seal could be good , alignment should be unchanged .

I did read someone used threaded bar to pull the bell housing back together when reinstalling rather than trying to do that with the short stock bolts , might make it easier .