transmission removal

[hooligan996]

Help! I have an 87 325ic manual tranny, replacing all componants in drivetrain, getting held up by the final bolt on the very top of bellhousing to remove tranny, tryed box end wrench, socket with ujoint to get at the bolt, any suggestions to getting at this thing, dont want to remove engine, which was how i replaced clutch lasttime because i was doing engine work at the time. Thanks Preston.

[91HO305TPI]

how did you separate ther trans from the engine when you had it out last time?
i use about a 3ft long extension and a swivel on the end with and e-torx (internal star) and send it up from the back of the trans.

[hooligan996]

I had the valve cover, and head off and was able to get a torx box end wrench on it from above.

[hooligan996]

guess thats my best option, was wondering if you let the engin/tran combo rest on the cross member or kept it bolted up until you got the hard to reach bolts out.

[supervisor1886]

just drop the whole thing with the crossmember down. Also you can loose the motor mounts and tilt the engine a bit so can reach it with something. It will also make the instal easier

[hooligan996]

thanks for your time and advice... wish the bently manual gave a little more real world insight to these things.