Posted by BradInTexas on January 03, 2009 at 07:08:47 from 12.74.199.66
Engine and trans from '81 donor car is in. Not too bad, but here are some things I found (others may already know these):
1) Pulling the engine and trans together is not a big deal if you have a good hoist, but I cringed every time the chain would slip a link as the tail of the motor/trans came up and out. By the time I had it out of there it was almost vertical. I put it back the same way, but used a bolt to keep the chain from slipping and keep the engine/trans away from the vertical. Not recommended. I would put the trans and motor in separately if I did it again. The biggest problem was the engine would roll over too far to the passenger side (which is common), and with the extra weight of the trans I had difficulty squaring it up to drop on the motor mounts. On the receiving car I pulled the engine and then dropped the auto trans out the bottom. I was able to do all of this myself, also not recommended as I had to crawl out from under the car about 100 times during the process.
2) Swapping the pedal mount was time consuming but not as difficult as it first appeared. I pictured separating the entire steering column at the steering box, but this was not necessary. Haynes manual was helpful here although they don't tell you which three bolts to remove (I removed some extras) to pull the column out.
3) There is a little "C"-shaped tongue that holds the aft portion of the shifter mount. I did not find mention of it in any 5-speed conversion posts. I measured its location, ground off the welds and transferred it to the auto car. Not sure if this was warranted or not.
4) The driveshaft on the receiving car (originally auto) appears to be too short, but I haven't returned to the job to verify and see what the issues are.
5) It helps if you get really lucky with the weather! It's been almost 80 every day here in the DFW area.
6) I have the utmost respect for anyone who has done this without a donor car to pull all the bits from!