Transmission Change

(Disclaimer: I'm not responsible for not knowing everything about cars since I was born.)

I'm in the midst of starting the steps to dropping the 700R4. I'm a bit confused by some of the steps in the Hayne's Manual. It says:

1. Remove the Air Cleaner, labeling all hoses as they are disconnected to simplify installation.
2. Disconnect the TV cable at the carburetor
/TBI unit.

I have the TPI, where's the air cleaner or the carb?? Do I still remove the FI unit to do this?

The Haynes Manuals are really not that good , especially if you are a novice trying to do service work for your self and using the book as a step by step instruction.
Those books are very vague in the steps and are most certainly not year and model specific.

You are just going to, more or less, have to read between the lines and figure out a lot of it for yourself and only use the book as general reference and accept that you may or may not have the same year model as referenced in the book or may have different engine options than the examples in the book.

Good Luck

Thanks..uhh should I buy a different book then? Might be worth it

man...you're really goin all out with that car. i dont have any advice, but good luck.

Chiltons may be more in depth,(not sure) however i think there are 2 versions of it . (do-it-yourself & professional) If i were to buy one i would try to find the large blue hard back one that the professional mechanics utilize.

I have one of those haynes books myself and if it weren't for the fact that i also have the GM Parts Books for all year models and options of 3rd gen camaro with the exploded views , I would have gotten myself into one heck of a mess using haynes manuals on a couple of jobs i did. They give you just enough information to hang yourself sometimes

I found 2 like you said RS92. One Chiltons is an old white book and then there's a newer green book. They're both paperback.

To remove the transmission:
Disconnect the battery.
Remove the distributor cap.
Put the car up on jack stands (4 of em)
Put a transmission jack under the trans to support it.
Disconnect the torque arm (careful it is loaded)
Disconnect the shifter cable, any and all electrical connectors.
Follow the transmission lines forward along the oil pan. There is a bracket that goes from the pan and holds the lines, Take the bracket off of the oil pan.
Remove the torque converter to flex plate bolts
Remove the driveshaft.
Drain the transmission.
Remove the trans mount and cross brace it sits on.
Slowly lower the transmission until you can see all of the bolts that hold it to the engine (6)
Disconnect the transmission lines (use a fluid fitting wrench from a parts store)
Remove the one bolt holding the TV cable to the trans and remove the cable from the trans.
Using a 3 foot extension, 9/16" socket and 1/2" breaker bar, break all 6 bolts loose.
Remove the bolts (top most 2 first)

Slowly slide the trans aft until it is clear of the engine and wrestle it out from under the car.

wow, sounds like you've done that before. The stuff that the books dont help me with are usally like pointing the part that they want you to remove instead of just naming it and the differnt ways to get something out(like a bolt on the top of a transmission). Hope the swap goes smooth though.

Morley, thanks a lot. I'm trying to get the chilton's also. to be safe. Especially when you were talking about ANY electrical lines and the fluid lines. I gotta know where those are. It's also helping me to look at the new transmission to see where everything is, bolts, fluid lines, etc.

There's a lone, cut off tube on top, looks like a cable. I was gonna freak till I was told it's a vent.

What precautions should I take for removing the torque arm? I probably won't do it today but I want to know ahead.

http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/503/3586817-23.JPG
If you look closely, you'll notice I have both jack stands in front behind the ramps, which are a safety precaution.

I'm still thinking about which jack I should use for the transmission. I don't really want to buy another.

Is the transmission painted blue? What the heck.. :lol2:

You definately have enough room under there, just be careful when rocking things around as its pretty easy to tip over jack stands, especially when you are trying to take out heavy objects like a transmission. If you have access to a compressor and air tools, it will make your life much easier, and like morley said, take out the 2 top bolts first, you don't want the trans to pinch them in and its easy to get hurt. One thing I did the last time I changed an auto trans was to unbolt the torque converter from the drive plate, only had to move the trans back 1/2 inch or so and it dropped right out, just make sure the jack is under it and not your head.

Actually, there isn't enough room under there yet unless the jack was very low profile. I put the front jack stands under the lower control arms and the back jackstands on the subframe, so the back can be lifted higher. The front jackstands are already at the highest setting.

Why am I taking off the distributor cap again? I can't just take the wires off?

You need to pull the cap and probably the rotor off because when you tip the motor down it will hit the firewall and quite possibly wreck the distributor, leaving you with a nasty little mess.

What precautions should I take for removing the torque arm? I probably won't do it today but I want to know ahead.

Take an 18" long 2X4 and wedge it between the torque arm and floor pan. This will keep it from moving when you remove the bolts. Only remove the bolts holding it to the trans tail housing.

For a cheap transmission jack you could take a 12" X 12" piece of plywood 3/4" thick. Remove the saddle from the floor jack, drill a hole in the center of the plywood and put in a bolt to hold it where the saddle was. Use a strap to go around the trans and your plywood to hold it steady as you remove it.
You could also see about renting a transmission jack from an auto parts store or rental center. Also, Harbor Freight sells a nice little trans jack for $50.

Fluid lines are on the passenger side along with the TV cable. On the driver side are the shifter cable, speedo cable/VSS sender connector and the torque converter lock up connector.
And don't forgetthe dipstick tube. Remove the dipstick and the tube is held in place by one of the trans mount bolts.

Renting might be a good idea but it depends how long I take to drop the first transmission and get the second one in.

Alright, so the TV cable has that one bolt to take it out right? That's funny, I don't see any sort of cable on the other side, do you think the guy left it on the car? He cut the TV cable. So far everything's going smoothly.

I cut the 18" board and I'm about to try what Morley suggested. This should work. I won't do a lot today because it's so damn hot outside, I just can't help it and I didn't rent a tranny jack. I want to take the driveshaft off today atleast.

Okay I wedged the 2x4 in there. How and where do I remove the torque arm from? I looked at the other tranny and there's 2 confusions about it. One, on a firebird the catalytic coverter is one the other side and the part that holds the torque arm looks very incomplete so I can't use that as a reference.

WAIT I'm wrong, exhaust is on the same side. I see how the torque arm is placed inside of there, it's like a snap on piece with a bolt. I'll start by loosening the top torque arm bracket bolt first.

Alright I took off a nut that was on a double sided bolt, I used a 15m wrench on the nut and a vice grip on the other side bolt (not enough room for a socket wrench). Now I'm lost, is there another bolt that needs to be loosened? How do I get that thin piece of metal through the slot?

Alright I took off a nut that was on a double sided bolt, I used a 15m wrench on the nut and a vice grip on the other side bolt (not enough room for a socket wrench). Now I'm lost, is there another bolt that needs to be loosened? How do I get that thin piece of metal through the slot?
The outer piece of metal opens and the tab/slot arrangement acts like a hinge for it to pivot on.

The outer piece of metal opens and the tab/slot arrangement acts like a hinge for it to pivot on.

There's also a small nut and bolt between the torque arm and the driveshaft, and it's a PITA to get to, so I moved the wood back a bit to reach in. The only thing I could find to fit it was about a 15m and it's so tough it's stripping. I sprayed it with WD40 for now.

I was also told that if it doesn't hit the floor, the differential may turn the bar DOWN so you shouldn't be directly under the torque arm, when you're unhinging it. I still think the 2x4 will work anyway.

Alright I figured out the problem, that nut was welded on (I knew by looking at the other tranny). What you want is the bolt on the other side of it, which comes off easily with a 1/2 drive 1/2 socket and then you can remove it by hand.

I must have been very lucky, because after I took off the torque arm bracket, neither the torque arm nor the car moved at all. The wood wasn't even pushed in. I'll take off the driveshaft soon.

Driveshaft is off, this is going smoothly. What's the first thing I should disconnect from the transmission? I really need a book now.

EDIT-
Drain all transmissions first because you'll want to remove old lines and the TV cable from both trannies. I found out the hard way what happens when you pull the tv cable before draining. So right now, I'm draining the new transmission and I could start taking lines off the old one.