I'm about to swap the 200m (3 speed) transmission in my 1982 trans am for a 700r4. This is the first time I've removed a tranny from a car. About all I have to work with is a haynes book and some solid mechanical intuition. Can anyone out there who has swapped a tranny give me some pointers. My main concerns are how to get my car high enough off the ground to be able to get the tranny down and out, how to reach all the tranny bolts and how to lower/raise the tranny out of the car with out dropping it on the floor or worse yet on my head.

Any advice welcome and appreciated!

 

best bet is to get jack stands and put them up as high as they can go. and use a jack to lower/raise the trannys. ive never swapped a trans, so i dont have any pointersm, but it shouldnt be too hard. good luck!

 

what he said. its really quite straightforward changing a tranny. kinda just drop the old one out, lift the new one in, bolt it up, fill with ATF and take it for a spin. im not sure about any little differences between the trannys you are referring to though.

a friend and i took the 700r4 from my IROC and replaced it with a t56, i wouldnt say it was "hard" just somewhat time consuming.

 

step 1: use jack stands set as high as they will go on all four corners

step 2: disconnect all wires,cooling lines,linkages,speedo cables,etc.etc. from tranny

step 3: remove driveshaft from tranny (use a rag and stuff around the rear seal)

step 4: place floor jack under tranny and support it.

step 5: remove bolts from crossmember and move it out of the way.

step 6: lower tail end of tranny to ground (being carefull not to damage the distributor, remove dist. cap if necessary)

step 7: use long extension and 9/16 socket to remove top four bolts from bellhousing.

step 8: jack tranny back up to normal position and reattach crossmember(temporarily)

step 9: get another floor jack and place under oil pan of motor (to support motor when the tranny is removed.

step 10: with motor and tranny supported by jacks remove crossmember

step 11: undo last two bolts holding tranny to motor

step 12: slide tranny back enough to clear dowel pins and torque converter (you will get alot of tranny fluid draining out of torque converter)

step 13: lower tranny with floor jack and pull from under car.

 

Just to edit step #7, you may also need a 9/16" universal attached to the end of your extention.

 

Drain transmission first. Large kitty litter pan works well to prevent massive fluid spill. While pan is off, remove TV cable from TV linkage. This requires unbolting bracket from valve body. Remove TV cable bolt where cable enters tranny. Pull out TV cable and tie it out of the way. Remove dipstick retaining bolt at bellhousing Push out dipstick from inside tranny. Tie up dipstick tube.Put pan back on. Remove converter to flexplate bolts. Push converter back into pump. Finish removing bellhousing bolts leaving bottom two for last. Continue removal as above post.