I saw someone take out the engine and rear suspension assembly on a Ferrari 355 with a 4 post lift once. You simply drive two wheels up on it and place wood blocks under the rear wheels after jacking the rear up; SLOWLY lift the 4 post lift, and then jack the rear up to compensate for it. If you do the job alone, you have to go back and forth to ensure the car is balanced on the lift as well as with the floor jack and jackstands.

This method may be useful for you in removing the rear suspension. However, you absolutely have to be careful or damage to the underside of the car could happen, and worse, even the shell itself.

 

Mongo: So, just the front wheels are on the lift platforms? Weird. In my case, most of the car would be outside. Might as well just do it on the ground. Anyway, I'm proceding with a "partial" drop on the lift. Just getting started.

 

Hello Bill, I also have a transmission jack that you are welcome to use. It is this one: http://www.harborfreight.com/800-lb-...jack-3185.html

It worked pretty well for my five speed transmission R&R.

Bob

 

Hope this pic helps with the idea I'm presenting. Note how the car is supported before the wheel wells.

 

Mongo: Ah. Clever. I'll save that idea for my next tranny swap.

 

Well, I'm getting there in between other tasks. I've got the whole crossmember and tranny lowered by 6" and back about 3", doing this "partial drop". I did not have to remove or detach the calipers and brake lines or the parking brake pad and all tranny hoses are untouched. I just had to pull the brake sensor wire (er, that may be the ABS sensor wire) from one of its cable holders on the crossmember (shown in 3rd pic) so it wouldn't get stretched out. There is plenty of slack in everything else. The last 2 pics shows the mess I'm addressing. Of course, I could go a lot lower if I remove the calipers and release the parking brake cable end from the handle. I may just do that. I have the flexplate and TT removed at front as well as the bellhousing (instead of cutting it as some have done). My usual procedure is to drop the front of the TT way down, which gives access to the upper rear TT bolts for TT and then TC cover removal. Anyway, I'm making progress. If only I could remember where I put the TC and pump seals I bought a while back.

 

Bill: Yer making it look easy.

Take notes...im next.

 

Bill: Yer making it look hard.

If you had done it the normal way..... you'd be done by now.

 

"Normal" would involve a 2-post lift or on the ground with jackstands. Unfortuantely I can't use the other garage space, and the homeowners association rules won't allow cars repairs on the driveway. So, I have to do this on the 4-post lift. How to completely remove the rear suspension from under the car in that setting baffled me, although Mongo's suggestion looks workable. So far, so good and only about 4 hours, much of that spent removing the exhaust and shielding, which is done regardless of process. The only extra task is the bellhousing, and I have getting to the upper bellhousing bolts down to an art. If I pop off the calipers and parking brake cable (oops! don't want to forget the speedometer sensor), I can get the rear so low it is effectively doing the same thing as the "normal" procedure except that the tranny stays attached to the crossmember, which is fine for what I am doing. Being able to do this all under the lift instead of lying on concrete is a plus. Sure, I could do this UNDER the lift, but ugh!

 

OK, I have the rear as low as I can go with my jack setup. Front of TT is not lowered yet.

All I had to do was unfasten the speedo sensor and a harness clip from the diff, unbolt the calipers from the hub and unclip one more brake pad/ABS sensor wire clip. Parking brake cable has enough slack. So now I have direct access to the full TC for removal of the TT, TC cover and TC for seal replacement.

It would have been possible with a TALL jack of some sort to lower the rear suspension onto some dollies and roll it off the lift ramps and then remove the tranny, if I wanted to, but I don't have that kind of jack or dollies.

 

So it the TT unbolted from the engine?

 

Yeah, TT and bellhousing are loosened separately, but not dropped down fully yet. With this method, because I don't fully wheel away the rear crossmember and tranny, I do need to drop the bellhousing to allow the front of the TT to come down so it can then be removed from the TC. That's due to a crosspiece on the bellhousing that some others simply cut away.

 

C'mon Bill. I need you to cut that piece out so that I'll feel I have permission to do it when I replace the TT bearings on the '88.

 

I can't bring myself to do it. I've been tempted, but I have little trouble removing the bellhousing.

 

I've removed it a number of times, no side effects.