This is an 85 trans am with the auto. I bought it with a bad block and a spare one, I'm finally done swapping the heads and stuff and trying to put the engine and trans back in. I pulled them both because couldnt get at the bolts holding them together.

Now I cant get them back in. I'm just having trouble lining things up. The big problem is I cant get the driveshaft into the back of the trans. The engine's hanging from a crane in the front, and the trans is rolling on a jack in the rear, I'm trying to guide it while my brother pushes the engine towards the back of the car, but it's just not going. Was I really supposed to have disconnected the shaft at the rear first? I had tried but couldn't unbolt the U joint because the guard thing was in the way, and I couldnt remove that because the bolts lift out at the top and hit the floor when I try to remove them.

Any suggestions?

(couldn't decide if this was an engine swap, engine tech, or trans forum topic)

 

You can try spinning the tailshaft on the tranny until you hit the spot where the splines line up. I think it would have been easier to disconnect the driveshaft first. That way you can spin the driveshaft until the splines line up. Another option would be to put the rearend up on jackstands and spin the tire by hand until the splines line up. Hope this helps.

 

Does it only go in one way? Like is there one notch that's wider than the others? Or will it go in at any point in the rotation as long as all the teeth line up?

I guess it's called the torque arm, the thing that blocks half the U joint screws to get the shaft off.

 

Are you serious? Yes, to install an engine and trans in one piece you need to take the tq arm and the driveshaft out. It only takes a few minutes. Did you take the trans crossmember completely out? If not, do so also. It makes things a lot easier to put back together.

 

No need to get touchy... you didn't know what anything was called when you started either. Just help the guy and be pleasant.

 

To do this right...the driveshaft has to come out. If the torque arm is blocking the u-bolts, jack up the rear until you can spin the driveshaft around to get to the other bolts. I dont pull motors in these cars from the top...but if I did, Ide remove the shaft as well as the torque arm. You are creating more headaches and work by trying to save a few minutes of disassembly time.

You might be ok with the torque arm staying in...but I would have the torque arm mount removed from the trans, and the torque arm tied off to the side as far as it will go. Like use a strap or something. Should be ok tho...but the shaft should be out. Basically, when doing a job like this, anything that can get in your way, WILL get in your way. haha. Just the nature of the beast.

The driveshaft will spline onto the trans no matter what position its in...as long as the splines are lined up. Its not keyed like you were asking. But if its not lined up nice, or if the slip yoke is at an angle, it can bind up and cause you problems.

J.

 

I had all kinds of issues swapping a 305 to a 305 and converting one engine from an auto to a 5 speed. (the car was originally a 5 speed and I obviously wasn't going to ditch that thing) Once we got all the right parts and everything bolted up I had the rear of the car on jackstands with the driveshaft and Torque arm connected. So the whole car was in the air about a foot and a half at least. With just a crane and a floor jack I put the drivetrain in the car with the floor jack at the back of the tranny for leverage I played with the angle and rotation of the driveshaft until it slipped in. After I got it to slip in I started jacking up the back of the tranny and lowering the engine so it was level. Eventually I got the mounts lined up and it dropped right in afterwards I bolted everthing up. My recommendation if you do keep the driveshaft bolted to the rear is to immediately bolt up the tranny mount and torque arm to keep the whole thing in place. I also agree with the above comment about taking the torque arm off the tranny. It only prevents you from using all the leverage you can get. And trust me you will need it.

Just thought I did share my experience. I was the only one working on it and it took me three hours of lining stuff up and cursing when it fell out of alignment to eventually get it in. Now if I could only get it to fire.......

 

jack up the rear of the body to remove the 2 bolts holding in the rear of the torque arm.
you can leave the torque arm mount on the tranny on...just leave it loose to slide the torque arm in later...after engine and tranny are in.
take off drive shaft. lift the rear end to rotate drive shaft to remove bolts easily.
worry about lining up the engine mounts first, but keep a person down with the trans.
put in the bolts through the motor mounts and leave a jack on the trans to level it.
hook up whatever you need to...dipstick, detent cable, TCC wires, speedo, tranny cooler lines.
from that point, you can put the driveshaft and torque arm on...then, you can do the exhaust. it's easier to move the tranny/engine up and down without the exhaust hooked up.
then, last is the crossmember (tranny mount).

hope that helps.

 

I'm not getting touchy, and I did offer advice, did you big brother?

 

I did try to pull the bolts for the torque arm, got the nuts off, started pushing the two bolts up and out the top of their holes, and then they hit the underside of the car too far short of leaving their holes. Must only be able to get them out if theres no weight on the suspension.

I did take the trans crossmember off. I'm having no issues getting the engine mounts lined up and the front end of that arm into the rubber slot on the trans, just getting the driveshaft in.

So I'm going to have to remove the rear stabilizer bar to get my jackstands under the axle so I can spin the tires to spin the shaft to unbolt the driveshaft. The back's up on ramps right now. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow.