Bout to start the tear down to get the transmission out of the car... any last minute tips? Far as I can see, the rear end needs to come out. What about the torque tube / bellhousing?

Thanks in advance.

 

Everything behind the bellhousing needs to come out. Disconnect rear upper a-arms and top of shocks. Unbolt rear cradle and lower everything. you should be able to get at the bolts holding the tranny to the torque tube so maybe you can leave the torque tube in if you're only rebuilding/swapping trannys but I would consider a clutch job depending on mods and miles on the car since you are doing 75% of the work required for that job already.

 

you're going to drop the tranny and you don't have a set of helms manuals? they have about three pages of cautions on dropping the tranny, be careful with the tq tube! maybe some one with nothing to do will type out the procedure for you.

 

Haha, nope, no manuals. I'm kind of a play-it-by-ear kind of guy, I guess.

Thanks though, guys. 5 Liter Eater, from the research I've done, your synopsis seems pretty much on-target. I only had the chance to work on the car about a few hours today, and much of it was spent looking/pondering. The wiring has been fully disconnected from the rear ABS, Magnetic ride, and random tranny sensors, and zip tied back up by the bell housing. Exhaust is also out, and all the bolts for the trann, and diff have been loosened up and are ready to come out once we get the cradle unbolted.

We are going to try a different method than any of those I've seen online so far regarding the tranny removal. We are going to pull the half-shafts from the diff, unbolt the diff from the cradle, and attempt to pull the diff out from the rear. There seems to be enough clearance between the rear floorpan and suspension cradle to do this. What this should allow us to do is simply slide the tranny backwards into that recess far enough to disengage the tranny's input shaft from the torque tube, and then pull the transmission out from the front.

If this ends up not working, or we run into clearance issues, etc, then we'll just backtrack a bit and do it the traditional way, i.e. dropping the cradle and all.

As far as a clutch, I'd happily take this opportunity to do so, but the tranny has already been out once before for installation of a Spec 3+ and aluminum fly. If I werent already covered there, I certainly would pony up to do so at this juncture. I'm actually beginning to believe I've got a slave cylinder going bad (keep getting air in the system, pedal isn't coming all the way off floor), so I'll be looking to replace that as well perhaps. It is at least in need of being bled.

 

Tranny and diff are out. Pretty straightforward, actually. Pics taken, will post later w/ a good step by step.

 

Well aware of the "method", and the corresponding sticker on the torque tube that illustrates exactly how much of an angle the drivetrain can safely be lowered to.

The torque tube is still attached to the car, and supported with a jack stand. I have to pick up a Compact Flash card reader in order to pull the pictures off my Canon before I can post the progress pics. They'll get posted though, and I'll detail my own little write-up on the procedure. It wasn't difficult at all, just a little time consuming making sure nothing got botched in the process.

 

Very good, looking forward to pictures, its just a matter of time before I have to pull mine out i'm sure

 

When RPM did my Level 5 trans that's how they removed it too. It literally took them more time to push the car into the shop and get it onto the lift than it did to remove the trans.

 

I'd love to have seen that in person. I'm not doubting that claim whatsoever, as I'm sure RPM can execute that procedure in their sleep by now. It would just be fascinating to watch it all unravel so efficiently. I'm sure it will still take me a good while, even with a second set of competent hands, on the second or third time around.

 

Looking forward to seeing pics.

 

Me too!

 

I have a lift and a good tall Trans jack so dropping the cradle along with torque tube only takes me about 20 minutes now, putting it back in though is about an hour. Practice makes perfect and drag racing one of these C6's gives you plenty of that...

3 Rears
1 Transmission linkage roll pin
1 Left Axle
1 3rd gear synchro
1 new Tranny
1 left wheel bearing
2 Clutch's
2 Clutch Slave cylinders
2 Starters
3 Alternators

I guess I'm pretty hard on things, but hey, I'm getting good at fixing this thing...

If GM hired me to find the weak links before putting these cars into production, we wouldn't have anything to talk about on this forum...

 

Damn, Isaiah. That's about what the KO count looks like for my rock rig. Lol.

I found my card reader today, but for some reason it's only getting through about half of the pics I took, and refusing to upload the other half. Something it up with it.

In the mean time, anybody have any suggestions on what to take care of while the car is apart like this? I know now is a great time for clutch work. I have a good clutch in the car already, but I could stand to bleed it. An MGW might be worth looking into right now while the interior is apart.

Any other things I'm forgetting that could be easily taken care of while it's all dismantled?

 

I did the right and left axle's in my 07 diff while the trans was being installed. The parts are relatively cheap and it definately is good insurance especially while the car is apart.

 

^Definitely true, but upgrading the axles on my '05 diff would be pointless, as the diff itself is grenade-prone. I should just bite the bullet and convert to an '06+ diff now and save myself this hassle again later when it does decide to crap itself.

 

Do the side gears and axles have more teeth on the 06-up? Is the ring and pinion bigger? I have read the 05's are weaker but what exactly is the difference?

 

For most part, it's the caes and the way they mount to the center section thats the weak link in the 05' rears. People that dont get any wheel hop, generally don't break them. Once I worked through my wheelhop issues, at least for the most part, I didn't break another one. I only upgraded to the newer style when I did the rest of the drivetrain...

 

I see, so it's like the 03-04 Cobra's, the housing, actually rear diff cover (on a Mustang) is the week link, not the Carrier, Side Gears or ring and pinon, well that's good to know.

So when you upgrade do you only change the rear diferential housing or do you also have to change the transmission and axles?

 

Nice job. I like the DIY!

Lets see them pics...

-Adam

Corvette of Dallas

 

I never once had wheel hop, but a fair amount of HP finally did mine in. RPM installed a Z06 stage III diff and built the trans. They are artists in motion at RPM!