The Dodge Challenger Message Board

anyone got any tips on this process,and how long it takes approx.

thanks bryan

Off the top of my head...always dangerous to rely on my brain!

This is a job for two people.

First get the car up as high as poss because you have to have room to get the trans/bellhousing out. Probably by pulling it forwards and out from under the front of the car.

Remove exhaust system to get it out of the way. Empty fluid out of trans. Remove driveshaft. Disconnect all linkages from the shifter. Disconnect lines to radiator. Speedo cable. Anything else I might have forgotten about.

Remove inspection plate from bottom of trans and mark one converter bolt/flexplate and the converter with paint so that you get the flex plate back on the converter the right way around when you put it back together (it only lines up with all the bolts in one position) Then remove the four bolts holding the flex plate to the converter.

Remove the starter motor.

Put a trolley jack under the trans sump with a flat peice of wood to protect the sump. Take the weight of the trans and remove the 4 trans crossmember bolts.

Put a bit of wood between the engine sump and the steering linkage. Make sure it is as wide as the sump and thick enough to just fit between the sump and the linkage.

Now drop the trans down until the engine is just resting on the wood. Lock the jack there and remove the bolts that hold the trans to the engine. Remove the trans dip stick tube.

Now lower the jack a bit more until you are sure the engine has it's full weight on the wood. Then pull the trans back as much as possibe. drop it a little more and pull back again. Keep the trans balanced so it does not fall off the jack. You can pull back and lower all the way to the floor now. Check all the time it is coming down that you never left anything connected!

I find it easier to drop it onto a bit of carpet and then it is easy to drag the carpet and trans out together.

Job done. With two people it is a couple of hours work at the most. But if you have never done this sort of thing before give yourself a half day to be sure.

Its also a good idear to put a ring spanner to hold the converter from silpping out , You do this by putting one end on the stud that holds the startermotor and tighten the nut , the other end just sits agents the converter and holds it inplace.this helps more when installing, and make sure when you put the converter in the box that it goes all the way in sometimes it looks in but it isent they usaly drop in two stages.