Have an 89 GTA, with t5.. How hard is it to drop tranny?

thanks

 

Its fairly easy to pull the T-5.You dont have to drop the exhaust to do it.

 

You can probably leave your exhaust in place with a stick. An auto requires you to drop it.

It isn't that difficult. I can pop one out in about an hour working fairly slowly.

 

do you guys drop the tranny without a lift?

 

Yup. Four jackstands and a floor jack always get the job done. A T5 isn't that heavy. I've even done it with just my arms. I always did old Muncies like that, but my T56 is heavy, so I use the jack for it. A lot of tough guys think they can just benchpress them into place and start bolting it up, but let me tell you; I've benched 300 pounds in the gym, but that 130 pound trans held with bent arms for 30 seconds feels like it weighs half a ton! Having a friend to help isn't a bad idea either, because the trans can get squirrely on the jack when you're trying to raise or lower it.

 

thanks.

and yeah.. you don't "need" a jack or lift for tranny.. i did one in a rustang (shiver) with buddy.. 2 of us got it out fine.. slipped back in great too.. it's a bit of a lift squirming around under there.. but very doable .. don't know what it's like with a jack

 

Hehe, that brings back some memories for me TKO. I remember when I was 16 years old and had one of those "universal" clutch alignment tools. I know exactly what an old muncie trans looks like when it's sitting on your chest staring(more like mocking) at you while you're underneath the car! I did my self a favor after that first clutch job and grabbed another 10 spline input shaft from a junk tranny to use as an alignment tool. Using that, it's dead on the money every time. Yeah, the muncies aren't too bad to muscle in without a jack as long as you get the clutch disc lined up good. The T56 is a different story. I helped a buddy drop his out of his 96 T/A, and I do mean "drop" literally! It nearly killed both of us when it finally cleared the end of the bellhousing and came down! I highly recommend a floor or tranny jack when removing those!

 

Yeah, those old 10 spline input shafts are a royal pain to get lined up compared to the 26 splines they use now. Many a night was spent cursing at a Muncie in my garage. I never figured that the 26 spline shaft would be so much simpler to install. It seems to just slide right in every time, whereas the 10 spline required you to lock the trans in gear and spin the output shaft to get it lined up. If I'd have known it was that simple I'd have just swapped my old Muncie over to a 26 spline input shaft from a later trans.