Im going to buy a 90 firebird and the person that im buying it from said that i have to replace it. and i want to replace it in his driveway. so could someone tell me how to do this thanks, oh and its a t5 tranny

 

Drop the trans, remove the clutch pressure plate and disc. The pilot bushing/bearing is pressed into the center of the crank hub.

AutoZone rents pullers to make removing it a breeze.

 

how long do you think it would tak to do all that?

 

Another method is to use an old input shaft or tight fitting dowel pin, some newspaper, and some water. Rip the paper into strips about 1" wide and soak it in water. Pack the inside of the pilot bearing with the paper. Stuff as much as you can in there. Then drive the old input or dowel into the hole. Keep doing that and eventually the bearing or bushing will pop right out. Water isn't compressible. You are creating a small hydraulic press behind the bushing. It sounds rediculous, but trust me it works.

Time? Depends on how many times you've done it before, the tools/shop you have to work with. A good mechanic with a well set up shop could probably do it in 2-3 hours. A newbie in the driveway is probably looking at a full Saturday.

 

Depends on skill level. I can have my T56 off the car in 45mins flat without hurrying, but I've done it a few times.

I'd focus on finding out why the guy thinks the pilot is bad...hard to shift, noisy, etc? These have more than one potential cause.

 

hes says he can speed shift after 5miles but if he went from a stop at a stop light he said it wouldent go into gear.

 

Wouldn't go into which gear? Any of them? The reason I ask is that if it won't go into 4th gear the pilot may be your problem, but if it won't go into any gear I'd say you've got clutch or linkage issues.

The input shaft, which also contains 4th gear, rides directly on the countershaft inside the transmission. The input shaft is in line with the mainshaft, but the two are only ever physically coupled together in 4th gear (direct drive, so called because the engine power runs directly through the transmission to the driveshaft, meaning that the driveshaft is spining at engine RPM in 4th gear).

Consequently, the input shaft is always spinning (provided that there is no problem with the clutch and it can apply), and the countershaft is always spinning. Gear selection is accomplished by coupling and uncoupling different gears through the use of synchronizers on the mainshaft. In 1st gear the mainshaft spins at the first gear ratio, and the other gears simply freewheel on the shaft. When you shift into second first gear is released and second gear is locked to the shaft, and you are now spinning the mainshaft at the 2nd gear ratio. 3rd is the same, then 4th is as noted above.

I give you this information so you can start to question what the problem is. With some more specific information we can better help you diagnose what's wrong.