Torque convertor
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,943
Likes: 44
From: Florham Park NJ Port Credit Ontario
I do all my own work on my 74, thus, I did mine by myself. What a PITA. First, I dont have a lift or a tranny jack.
If I were to do this again, I'd have a shop do it. It would be done in a fraction of the time it took me.
If I were to do this again, I'd have a shop do it. It would be done in a fraction of the time it took me.
Melting Slicks
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,508
Likes: 0
From: Wisconsin
Pull the transmission away from the engine far enough to change them. That means everything on the transmission will have to come off. Cooling lines, dipstick, driveshaft, speedo cable, shift linkage might be okay, but might as well remove that. Remove the inspection cover, pull off the old torque converter and slide on a new one making sure it seats full on the transmission. This is something I think could be difficult with the trans under the car on a jack. It takes a little bit of force to install the torque convertor properly and I would worry about the stability when on a jack. Making sure the converter is installed correctly will be the hardest part of the job. It's also a pain to spin the flexplate around to unbolt/bolt up the torque convertor.
Safety Car
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 3,758
Likes: 3
From: Surrey
Piece of cake! I swapped out my th350 for a 200-4r using just a floor jack. All the above mentioned things to come apart are bang on, but it's a lot easier than it sounds. I also took the exhaust off. I'm not sure if you need to, but I was junking it anyway. The most important thing is to get the car off the ground to give enough room to work underneath it (unless you've got a pit or a hoist). I made up wooden platforms out of interlocking bits of 4x4 which I slid under each wheel in turn as I jacked up each corner. Then I jacked up each side of the car slightly & stuck an axle stand under the frame side rails, one each side, in a position where it's not in the way & you're not likely to headbutt it too often! The wheels should still be on their platforms but the stands help keep the car steady while you're pushing & pulling on the trans/engine (if the park brake worked really well then I wouldn't have needed the stands 
). I also got some wide lumps of wood under an axle stand & positioned it under the rear of the oil pan so that it took the weight of the engine & stopped it tipping back once the trans x-member was unbolted (as long as you don't let the engine tip back too far you won't have to remove/refit the dist). I needed the wood packing as the axle stand was only a little stumpy thing. A longer one would make things easier.
Then I used some more blocks of wood & a piece of 3/4" (18mm) melamine chipboard to make a "table" under the trans. After unbolting the trans it can be dropped onto this "table" & then slid back out of the way, with no risk of it falling over.
To remove the trans the most difficult part was getting to the 2 bolts right at the top of the bellhousing. What I did was to lower the rear of the trans down, using a jack under the rear of it, (after everything had been disconnected from it & the exhaust from the manifolds) as far as possible. Get somebody you can trust to watch the dist & yell when it comes close to touching the fire wall (they can also check that the engine fan, etc don't touch anything as the front of the engine lifts up & back). Then position the axle stand under the rear of the oil pan as a safeguard to stop it dropping (and wrecking the dist) & also support the rear of the trans (more blocks of wood or a trustworthy jack). Then use 2 10" extension bars & a 1/2" drive socket to get to the bolts by going at them over the top of the trans from the rear. It's a lot easier than trying to get your hand up the trans tunnel. Once those bolts are out, jack the rear of the trans back up to it's normalish position, set up your "table" below it & far enough back that you'll be able to get a converter in & out, remove the remaining bolts (4??), pull the trans back, drop it onto the "table" & then slide it out of the way.
Using all this old wood made life a lot easier, even if it does sound a bit Bubba
I guess hiring a trans jack would be a lot simpler, but a melamine faced sheet of chipboard, especially covered in trans fluid, made it really easy to slide the trans anywhere I wanted.
I'd never touched an auto box in my life prior to this, but I found swapping one out a lot easier than pulling the headlights apart!
). I also got some wide lumps of wood under an axle stand & positioned it under the rear of the oil pan so that it took the weight of the engine & stopped it tipping back once the trans x-member was unbolted (as long as you don't let the engine tip back too far you won't have to remove/refit the dist). I needed the wood packing as the axle stand was only a little stumpy thing. A longer one would make things easier.Then I used some more blocks of wood & a piece of 3/4" (18mm) melamine chipboard to make a "table" under the trans. After unbolting the trans it can be dropped onto this "table" & then slid back out of the way, with no risk of it falling over.
To remove the trans the most difficult part was getting to the 2 bolts right at the top of the bellhousing. What I did was to lower the rear of the trans down, using a jack under the rear of it, (after everything had been disconnected from it & the exhaust from the manifolds) as far as possible. Get somebody you can trust to watch the dist & yell when it comes close to touching the fire wall (they can also check that the engine fan, etc don't touch anything as the front of the engine lifts up & back). Then position the axle stand under the rear of the oil pan as a safeguard to stop it dropping (and wrecking the dist) & also support the rear of the trans (more blocks of wood or a trustworthy jack). Then use 2 10" extension bars & a 1/2" drive socket to get to the bolts by going at them over the top of the trans from the rear. It's a lot easier than trying to get your hand up the trans tunnel. Once those bolts are out, jack the rear of the trans back up to it's normalish position, set up your "table" below it & far enough back that you'll be able to get a converter in & out, remove the remaining bolts (4??), pull the trans back, drop it onto the "table" & then slide it out of the way.
Using all this old wood made life a lot easier, even if it does sound a bit Bubba
I guess hiring a trans jack would be a lot simpler, but a melamine faced sheet of chipboard, especially covered in trans fluid, made it really easy to slide the trans anywhere I wanted.I'd never touched an auto box in my life prior to this, but I found swapping one out a lot easier than pulling the headlights apart!
