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We did the crossmember mod on Friday. Putting in a new clutch and flywheel, fourth time and swore, I'd never do it with the welded crossmember again. Got a nice kit, just for this mod, that came with two sets of parallel brackets, that included Grade 8 hardware. My bud, Jesse is a talented guy and he volunteered to take it on. You will need both a disc grinder and a sawsall, with at least four discs and blades each. You're going to be cutting a lot of steel! Hint: Cut the exhaust! It's far easier than cutting the top of that big piece of hanging piece of steel to drop it. We dropped the emergency brake wheel off've it and then dropped the headers and pushed the beam forward into the trans tunnel. This got you more room as you move forward. Working an angle grinder at that crazy angle is not the way to go. Just cut the exhaust, for God's Sake!
Why? Because the four speed transmission plopped right in, in less than two minutes. The previous time was twenty minutes of WWF Wrestle Mania between the two grown men, on either side. Secondly, assembling the Hurst Shifter up in the trans tunnel is a total PITA. Doing it on the workbench and then mounting it on the trans, before it even goes up in the tunnel, priceless!
Jesse had never done this and I'm mechanically good, but he's a guy who uses power tools for a living, I don't mind conceding that one. Let an expert Iand a good bud) do it. It had to be a perfectly straight cut, it had to match, flange to flange and it had to fit tightly, with the bolts easily lining up. Then the welding (not me!) and final fit. Jesse nailed it. It's just a little over a press fit. A couple of soft hits and it's in, totally tight Big job and thanks, Jesse!
Before: The top bolt of a Hurst Shifter is too long and has to be inserted loose up in the top of the trans tunnel. Your hands barely fit here. No socket or ratcheting wrench goes here, just an open end, a 1/4 turn at a time.
Jesse cutting the driver's side, after finishing the passenger side.
Cross member cut out, but still hanging up on the exhaust pipes.
Crossmember out.
A lot of grinding (careful grinding).
Easier to do here!
Two minutes to finish stabbing it in, with the shifter attached. Straight up and in.
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I started at 9:30, off the flatbed, on the lift. Then the trans came out, clutch, old flywheel, next: crossmember mod (4-6 hours for an experienced worker), new flywheel, reinstall pressure plate/clutch, bell housing, plug trans in, finished at 8 PM. 10 hours under the lift. I was sore! Oh, wear heavy leather gloves. Almost lost my little finger tip on Friday, when it got pinched hard between the crossmember and frame. It was almost a good chunk!
I was going to do this last winter but passed because i didnt want to damage the floor. Maybe I'll try again next winter
You won't damage the floor if you're careful. The floor got a couple of minor scratches and that's it. I highly recommend getting someone who's really good at cutting because you're not only having to cut it straight horizontally, but vertically too and it's got to be dead on (and that's a big hunk of metal!). If you've got those skills, you're good to go. That's not my area of expertise and I would've likely had some kind of off-tolerance cut. There's no room for error at all, because you're refitting the original back in and it's got to fit as tight as possible (1/16 or less) to get the brackets to mate up solidly. The very, very slight gaps (fingernail width) between the top of the brackets closed right up as I was tightening the bolts, that's how close it was!
Not an easy job, but it sure will make yanking the tranny out of this C3 a whole lot easier!
Where did you buy the flanges? I recently did the same thing, and cutting the flanges(specifically the holes to fit over the crossmember pieces) was the huge time killer for me.
It always perplexed/annoyed me why Chevrolet didn't make the removable crossmember universal on Corvettes.
I believe they actually started doing that on the 1980-1982 C3's. The rest of us? We have to suffer, until we fix it. I think that's one of the toughest jobs on these cars, is pulling the transmission! At least, mine is far easier now! I planned for it and did the mod, because I swore after the third time, that I'd never suffer that again!
From: I tend to be leery of any guy who doesn't own a chainsaw or a handgun.
Originally Posted by F22
I believe they actually started doing that on the 1980-1982 C3's. The rest of us? We have to suffer, until we fix it. I think that's one of the toughest jobs on these cars, is pulling the transmission! At least, mine is far easier now! I planned for it and did the mod, because I swore after the third time, that I'd never suffer that again!
I agree with that sentiment. My crossmember is now a bolt-in item.
'74 Crossmember Mod.
My crossmember is now a bolt-in item.