Thursday, July 24, 2008
Transmission Crossmember
I was able to get the crossmember installed last night. Also did the reverse switch (which had gotten caught up in the engine bay on some other wires) and a couple of the engine mount bolts.
The crossmember was a bit of a pain and required some 'staging'. Once I figured out how it all went together with the engine restraint rod, I collected the appropriate wrenches, sockets and bolts and rolled under the car. I had to remove the driver's side rubber mount to get everything to align properly. Then I realize that the transmission, which was resting on the rear crossmember, was too low to start the crossmember bolts. So I rolled out from under the car to jack up the transmission. The only place I could really jack it up was where the trans joined the engine (otherwise I'd have no room to work), but once I started jacking there, the engine started to shift upwards, not the rear of the transmission! So, I put nuts on a couple of the engine mount bolts. Then I was able to jack up the transmission only. Rolled back under the car, not I had the transmission too far up - couldn't get the mounts up high enough! Roll out, lower the trans a bit, roll undr, still too high, roll out, lower trans, roll under - okay, perfect!
At that point, it's a balancing act, holding the heavy crossmember with one hand while aligning the engine mounts in their slots and the bracket in the bottom of the crossmember while with the fifth hand starting a bolt in the hole to fasten the crossmember to the undercarriage... Once one bolt was started, I could relax. Only to discover that the transmission needed to be lowered a bit more that start a bolt on the OTHER side. Roll out, etc.
Once the crossmember was attached with a couple of bolts, I could reattach the driver's side engine mount to the transmission, put the other crossmember bolts in and then - using the 'crossmember mod' - put the nuts on the engine mounts holding them to the crossmember. All done!
This took me a lot longer than I thought it would. No work tonight, as we have a dedication for one of our Scout's Eagle Project at the Municipal Building at 6:45.
The crossmember was a bit of a pain and required some 'staging'. Once I figured out how it all went together with the engine restraint rod, I collected the appropriate wrenches, sockets and bolts and rolled under the car. I had to remove the driver's side rubber mount to get everything to align properly. Then I realize that the transmission, which was resting on the rear crossmember, was too low to start the crossmember bolts. So I rolled out from under the car to jack up the transmission. The only place I could really jack it up was where the trans joined the engine (otherwise I'd have no room to work), but once I started jacking there, the engine started to shift upwards, not the rear of the transmission! So, I put nuts on a couple of the engine mount bolts. Then I was able to jack up the transmission only. Rolled back under the car, not I had the transmission too far up - couldn't get the mounts up high enough! Roll out, lower the trans a bit, roll undr, still too high, roll out, lower trans, roll under - okay, perfect!
At that point, it's a balancing act, holding the heavy crossmember with one hand while aligning the engine mounts in their slots and the bracket in the bottom of the crossmember while with the fifth hand starting a bolt in the hole to fasten the crossmember to the undercarriage... Once one bolt was started, I could relax. Only to discover that the transmission needed to be lowered a bit more that start a bolt on the OTHER side. Roll out, etc.
Once the crossmember was attached with a couple of bolts, I could reattach the driver's side engine mount to the transmission, put the other crossmember bolts in and then - using the 'crossmember mod' - put the nuts on the engine mounts holding them to the crossmember. All done!
This took me a lot longer than I thought it would. No work tonight, as we have a dedication for one of our Scout's Eagle Project at the Municipal Building at 6:45.
# posted by Dan DiBiase @ 8:00 AM 
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