I'm starting my t-5 swap in a few days and 1st I'm going to pull the auto with the car on drive-on ramps. How long does it usually take to pull the auto? Will I be able to get to all the bolts from underneath the car? Can someone list some detailed steps on how to do this?

 

i pulled mine with a floor jack and it wasnt too hard....first of all you may want to go to pepboys or someting and get one of the kits that makes your floor jack a trany jack.....i dropped mine to the floor but it wasnt worth a **** so i didnt care......heres how i dropped mine...
1. i raised the driver side of the car
2.remove the driveshaft (ubnbolt from the rearend first, drop that end, and pull off the trans)
3. removed the plastic bellhousing cover
4. removed the torque converter to flywheel bolts (just rotate it until you can get to each one cuz theres only one point to get to the bolts)
5. secure the tranny to the tranny jack or floor jack or whatever you use to hold it up.....just dont let it hang by the bolts connecting it to the engine....and then remove the crossmember(bar going form one side of frame to the other suporting thr trans)
6. remove 2 of the engine-bellhousing bolts from underneath ( i could only get 2 from underneath but you may be able to get more)
7. make some type of contraption out of socket extensions and joints to get the remaining bolts from inside the engine compartment inbetween the trans tunnel and the trans (its a close call but it is possible)
8. lower your jack and pull the trans out of the underside of the car....you may have to raise the car a little more.....i dropped mine on a creeper and it worked pretty well
NOTES:
***make sure you also disconnect your trans cooler lines when it is lowered but not dropped(using a line wrench) and also the wiring connector
it also may not be a bad idea to pull out the dipstick tube
***its a pretty easy job but be cautious of things connectintg it to the rest of the car such as cooler lines and wiring and dipstick
***if your trans is garbage and you dont plan on selling it or using it then when you lower the jack you can just yank the jack out and let it drop to the floor.....i dont recommend this but its what i did because i didnt care about the old trans(easier than raising the car beyond the comforatable limit)
***good luck

Steve

 

by the way it only took me about 45 minutes

 

Don't bother with the adapter that turns a floor jack into a trans jack, you won't be able to get it under a thirdgen on jack stands anyway...

 

heres the perfect height to do the job

 

Jack the rear of the car 1st, get the drive shaft off the rear, and get a Tylenol bottle to cap the tranny while the rear is up and the fluid is at the front of the tranny - otherwise you'll be taking a fluid bath!

The right size pill bottle will slide into the rear tranny seal, with the hole in the bottle going over the output shaft, thus sealing the fluid in.