I am going to swap my WC T5 for a TKO 500 or 600 in the next month or two. Amazingly I only have two areas I'm unsure of, can someone give some good advice?

TQ Arm- Most likely I am going to reuse the stock arm and mounts. As far as removing it, I'd like to have the car up on 4 ramps, but I need to remove the arm. I've done this the correct way before, but I was hoping to prop the diff with a jack stand leaving the car loaded on the axle/springs/ramps. Is this a bad idea or is there something I'm missing for this to work?

PB- I have a Chilton manual but nowhere in the entire book does it mention the pilot bushing. Forte says that I'd need to install an adapter bushing but after a search I cannot find any posts detailing how I go about replacing it. The car manual has a diagram showing the parts to my clutch setup, just no mention of the PB. Do I need to remove everything from the bell to the flywheel to get to the PB?

Thank You,
Eric

 

Your torque arm idea should work. Just make sure that the front of the diff can't rotate up.

Your pilot bushing/bearing is in the rear of the crankshaft. You don't need to remove the flywheel to replace it. The easiest way to remove the old one is to find a socket that fits inside the center of the PB as closely as possible. Pack the cavity behind the PB completely with grease, put an extension on the socket and fill the socket completely with grease too. The extension seals the back of the socket. Use a hammer to tap the socket into the center of the PB. The grease doesn't compress and it forces out the PB. I've done it twice and it works like a charm.

 

Thanks 91. Forte mentioned that pilot bushing to me at the last minute and kind of threw me off.

Maybe letting the car sit on ramps while the TQ arm is disconnected doesn't sound so smart. I was also thinking of getting the car a good few more inches higher and setting it on stands and letting the wheels rest on the ramps (in addition to propping the diff). Dunno why, but this way seems less dangerous for my short-cut TQA removal.

Other than finally being able to really get on my car and use the power I've created, I'm most excited about the polished aluminum "Tremec" shifter ball that's going on top!

One more Q, does the shifter that comes with the TKO have the adjustable stops like my Hurst shifter does? Is it really a POS like I've read in a few posts?

 

I had a pro 5.0 shifter on my TKO600 and switched back to the stock tremec shifter. The pro 5.0 is a great shifter and it worked well, but its also noisy. I think the tremec shifter is just as good and it doesn't transfer as much noise and vibration from the trans. It is also more heavily sprung towards the center than the Pro 5.0, making the 2-3 power shift a little easier. Lastly, the tremec shifter is sealed with rubber boots and is OE quality. The Pro 5.0 is all open with no boots. It does not seal out water and attracts dust and dirt which will accelerate wear. TKO500 and TKO600s are equipped with internal stops so you can't over shift them. You really don't need the adjustable stops that the Pro 5.0 offers.