I just can't figure this out. All of the write-ups just glance over the removal of the two top bolts on the bellhousing. They say things like "just remove the bolts.."

But how do I do that? I've got plenty of extensions, I bought a wobble, but nothing seems to make these things budge. I'm getting ready to just give up on this project- I spent 4 hours on the darn thing tonight, and I only got 2 bolts off the bellhousing. And they were the easy ones.

Should I cut a hole in my trans tunnel and go at them from the passenger cabin?

 

pull the dist cap ,pull the crossmember and torque arm off the diff . lower the trans to get some more room. Long extensions will work otherwise lay on the motor with a wrench . If a gorilla tightened the bolts sometimes it's ugly but the bolts will come out .

 

Thanks for the tips. So far, I've pulled the dist. cap, the torque arm, and the crossmember. The tranny lowered a few inches, enough for me to get to the bolts, but not enough for me to be able to turn the wrench.

I think I'm a bit confused- I'm going at the bolts from underneath the tranny, wedging the socket wrench w/ extensions between the tunnel and the tranny while laying on the ground. Are you recommending that I go in through the engine bay from above?

 

do it from underneath. pull the drive shaft too. plug the tranny with something or drain all the fluid. put a jackwith a piece of wood under the oil pan and keep droping the motor and tranny. keep an eye on stuff as its droping the motor will get close to the firewall. you should have no problems just get it low enough and have a friend help those trannys are not light while your lying on your back...

 

Those 2 top bolts are EXTREMELY EASY to get to from above, with a short 9/16" box wrench that has the box end bent BUT NOT OFFSET. Yerbasic Craftsman wrench is the right style.

I've never figured out why people fiddle around with a bunch of long extensions and all that on those top bolts. That's WAY too much like work, for me.

 

Thanks guys. I'll definitely try going in from the top. I forgot to mention that I also removed the driveshaft- so I've already taken everything off that I can and lowered the tranny as far as it will go. I've pretty much given up on trying to get these from underneath.

It didn't even cross my mind to try going in from the engine bay. I just figured that it was too far back to be able to reach anything. Do I still want the tranny/engine to be lowered if I'm going in from above? Or should I raise it back up to get more clearance?

 

I got a third gen 700R4 out in an hour from a completely assembled car to being on the ground. Do the top bolts from above. There is very little that you have to unbolt to get it out. Don't forget the 3 converter bolts to the flexplate.

 

Man, I wish you lived nearby... lol.

I'll go back at it tomorrow night. My car has been off the road for over 3 weeks now- I can't wait to get this finished!

 

Since you have everything else out jack up the tail of the trans it will give you a couple more inches to get the bolts from the top.

 

If you cant get to the top bolts, from the top, I know I cant because I have really big/fatty hands, put a jack undernieth the trans tail housing, take off the x member, and lower it. youll need some extensions. Ull get used to it though. I had mine out 1 1/2 hours with removeing my ypipe.

 

If you have access to a lift/air tools then it makes sense to do the top bolts from the bottom, i have never tried from the top so i won't comment on that but to get them from the bottom you really have to jam your arm in there. Just take comfort in the thought that the more you do it the easier it gets. and it will probably take longer to put it back in than it did to take it out.

 

Phew, I finally got it. I did end up having to go from underneath. For me, the key was where I placed the wobble joint in the line of extensions.

The first day, I had the socket attached directly to the wobble, then the 2 feet of extensions after that. Last night, I put the wobble after a short extension, and that did it. So it went socket, little extension, wobble, the rest of the extensions.

Thanks so much for the tips guys! I definitely agree with blue- you just have to forget about comfort.

I have an unrelated question now, but I'd appreciate your help again- when I removed the driveshaft, I broke the retaining clip on my u-joint. Are they easy to replace, or should I just replace the whole u-joint? It looks like the clip spans across both ends of the joint, and one side broke off, or at least has some sheared metal on it.