will951

Hey guys,

Picked up an LSD unit to replace my beat rear end with open diff. Question is: I am mechanically inclined, a guy who works for me is a great mechanic -- could we do this job ourselves? I mean....there can't be too much to it......

Or do I need a lift? My brothers friend/ mechanic did one in my old N/A in just a single afternoon without a lift or anything. So.....I thought why couldn't I???

Any experience/ tips are GREATLY appreciated!!

Take care

ian

On a scale of 1 to difficult I would rate this a 5.

This is a job that can be taken care of easily in an afternoon. I think the hardest part of the swap is getting the mouning bolts on top of the transmission to line up when you reinstall the new trans. Other than that it is a simple but dirty operation.

daniel951

will you can do it in a garage and it is NOT very hard. I have done it around 2-3 times. Here you go buddy

Tools


Metric Wrench Set
Metric Socket Set
Jack Stands
Floor Jack
Probe or small flat tip screwdriver
8 mm Allen head socket
8 mm Cheesehead tool
Removal


Disconnect the battery negative lead
Place the vehicle on jack stands.
At the transaxle, push back the rubber boot on the shift linkage. Cut the lock wire on the retaining bolt. Remove the bolt and disconnect the shift linkage from the transaxle.
On early vehicles with carpet on the console underneath the shift lever perform the following:
Inside the vehicle, pull up on the bottom of the leather shift lever boot to separate it from the rubber inner boot.
Pull up the carpet around the rubber boot.
Slide a small flat tip screwdriver under the edge of the trim piece at the base of the rubber boot. Push on the clips with the screwdriver to remove the trim piece.
Pull up on the rubber shift boot to separate it from the shifter opening.
Using a probe or small flat tip screwdriver, remove the clip which holds the shift **** to the shifter.
Using a probe or small flat tip screwdriver, remove the clip which holds the shift linkage to the shifter.
On later vehicles with plastic trim around the shifter boot perform the following:
Using a flat tip screwdriver gently pry around the base of the shifter boot next to the console. Be careful not to damage the boot. This will separate the boot and inner trim ring from the console.
Pull up on the rubber inner boot to separate it from the shifter opening.
Using a probe or small flat tip screwdriver, remove the clip which holds the shift **** to the shifter.
Using a probe or small flat tip screwdriver, remove the clip which holds the shift linkage rod to the shift lever.
Once the shift linkage rod is disconnected from the shift lever, turn the shift rod down and push toward the front of the vehicle. This will disengage the shift linkage rod from the transaxle.
Remove the covers on the bottom of the transaxle bellhousing.
Roll the rear wheels until the drive shaft retaining bolts (2) are accessible through the opening in the bottom of the transaxle bellhousing. You'll have to engage the clutch pedal to roll the wheels.
Mark the position of the clamping sleeve on the drive shaft so that they may be reassembled in the same orientation.
Using an 8 mm Allen head socket remove the clamping sleeve bolts.
Slide the clamping sleeve off the drive shaft splines toward the transaxle.
Set the parking brake to keep the wheels from moving. Disconnect the CV joints (8 mm cheesehead tool) at the transaxle and hang out of the way with shock cords or bailing wire.
Disconnect the backup light wires near the top of the transaxle.
On vehicles with electronic speedometers, disconnect the cable for the speedometer sensor on the transaxle.
Remove the nuts and bolts (4) that attach the torque tube bellhousing to the transaxle.
Support the transaxle with a floor jack.
Disconnect the fuel filter from the transaxle support cross-member and remove the two bolts (M10) that attach the transaxle cross-member to the chassis.
Move the transaxle toward the rear of the car enough to slide the shift linkage tube out of the way and disconnect the drive shaft clamping sleeve.
Lower the transaxle as you move it rearward to clear the spare tire well.
Once the shift linkage tube is removed and the drive shaft is clear of the transaxle, lower the transaxle from the car.
Installation


Using a floor jack, raise the transaxle into position against the torque tube bellhousing.
Insert the shift linkage rod protective tube into the transaxle case. Ensure retainer is fully engaged into the case.
Guide the shift linkage rod back until it engages the transaxle intermediate shaft. Apply loctite to the shift rod retaining bolt. Install bolt and torque to 21 Nm (15 ft-lb). Lock the bolt in position with steel wire.
Through the access opening in the bottom of the transaxle case, slide the clamping collar into place over the drive shaft splines. Torque the Allen head retaining bolt to 80 Nm (58 ft-lb.)
Install the transasxle bell housing covers.
Install the transaxle support cross-member bolts (2 - M10). Torque the bolts to 46 Nm (34 ft-lb). Attach the fuel filter to the cross-member.
Install the transaxle case to torque tube bell housing nuts and bolts. The M12 fasteners are torqued to 85 Nm (62 ft-lb.) and M10 fasteners to 42 Nm (30 ft-lb).
On vehicles with electronic speedometers, plug in the speedometer sensor cable at the transaxle.
Connect the backup light wires near the top of the transaxle.
Connect the CV joints to the transaxle. Torque the CV joint bolts to 41 Nm (30 ft-lb).
Connect the shift linkage to the shift lever.
Reassemble shifter console.

josephsc

You have a garage? I'm jealous -- I swapped out my tranny in a driveway.

The trickiest part is figure out how to lower and raise the tranny. You might find that your jack doesn't give you enough range and you have to improvise. Definitely helps to have a friend help (but not necessary).

daniel951

i would reccomend have someone help especially taken the tranny out and putting back in since it tends to like to fall off the jack when mounting and unmounting. I know my car was really high in the air and my jack wouldn't go high enough for the tranny so i used wood to make it reach

arbeitm

Yes. All you need is a jack and a second set of hands.

will951

Excellent. Looks like I'll take an afternoon or two and save myself some $$$$$$

I guess I should buy a quick shift kit while I'm there....

xsboost90

we swapped tifos trans in my garage in three hours- and we ate lunch.

PeteL

Easy garage job, but extra hands or a good Transmission jack are essential.

MichelleJD

This oughta help, although I don't know if Skip ever got the pics on a server:
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ansmission+jig
Here's my attempt (successful) to build it (I still use it 3 yrs later!):
https://rennlist.com/forums/showthre...ansmission+jig

will951

I can imagine that a craddle of some sort would be very helpful. I will have an extra set of hands, as well as a jack with a pretty decent pad on it. I guess we will see.....

Still chewing on the short shift kit idea. $150......does anyone have one? Is it worth doing now or not a big deal if I waited?

daniel951

i don't believe it is a big deal to change out this second since taking the shifter out is pretty easy and doesn't take hardly any time whats so ever

Scott at Team Harco

I thought so. That's why I did mine in the driveway.

75ohm

Thanks for volunteering Pete...

Jfrahm

It's not too hard. You might break the shifter rod guide tube of you forget to remove it or strip a cheesehead halfshaft bolt, but generally it's not bad. Just a bit time consuming.

Grinding off a stripped cheesehead took half as long as the rest of the trans removal in my case.

You might consider replacing the RR axle and/or swapping the axles around to even out wear. Also I was thinking I would like to use hex heads on the axles and those saftey wire star washers to keep them tight. Maybe not a bad idea.

How's the clutch?

Good luck,
-Joel.