4 spd Installation tricks

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daves66valiant

daves66valiant

68 Dart 340/727:66 Signet Vert 340/5spd: 68 D100
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Mine seems to be hanging up and won't goin all the way. Wondering if the snout is hiting the clutch disc pilot. Guessing it moved when I pulled the tranny out. I need to get a clutch alignment tool I know but do you guys have any tricks to make it easier to install the 4-spd? Or is it just something you have to just wrestle in there.

Oh and how do you keep the throw out bearing from popping off when stabbing the tranny in?
 
Hey Dave,just wondering if you have proper pilot bearing?If so,should be able to..bench press it in thereLOL!They are heavy,so wiggleing,twisting,pushing should tyre you out!Don,t try to bolt in to pull the 2 together!My clutch came with the alighnment tool.Is your bell attached to tranny or motor?
 
Perfect clutch alignment is necessary. A good tool is required or even better is an old input shaft. Also, make sure the crank is drilled to accept a 4 speed trans and that the input shaft fits the pilot bushing or newer style bearing. Last thing is to get the trans up there and ready to go the last inches and put it in gear, slide a yoke on the main shaft so you can turn it a bit to get the spline to match the clutch.

Good luck, hopefully you are have someone to help. It also helps a lot if you are not trying to do this while the car is on jackstands, lying on a greasy driveway like I just got done doing.
 
Oh yea and like pettyblue says, DONT use the bolts to pull it all together!

The throw out bearing is falling off? Are you trying to do this by the bench press method?? I hope not. It can be done that way but its not worth doing.

Make some kind of wooden holder to fit to your floor jack. Get it all under there and put the trans onto the jack and get someone to help you guide it in. Still a pain in the butt, but much easier then benching it and you wont break your car or your face.
 
If the exhaust colleters are seperated the engine will rock a little on its supports. If the exhaust hasn't been disconnected the engine may have tipped forward when the weight of the trans relieved. Its all about the angle on the dangle. Good luck
 
Such a *****. Either way. Tried the bench press method only after the jacks method failed. I need to make a cradle. I'll make something our of some scrap wood or something when I get back fro vacation. i was hoping to have it running this weekend. Oh well it can wait.

I pulled the tranny out a couple weeks ago so I could install my headers. I had to change clutch fork, pivot bracket and some other things to get it to work.

Thanks for the tips. I'm sore today from bench pressing. I'll be ripped once I get this sucker in there. LOL
 
Stand back as far as you can to check that the tranny lines up with the motor, angle wise (trans on a jack) . Wiggle wiggle wiggle while rotating the shaft , no better feeling then the trans sliding in the last inch !!!!
 
Dave,

Get a couple pieces of all-thread about 2-4" long, or, long bolts with heads cut off. Screw the two pieces into the bellhousing and use them as guides for getting the trans in the correct relative postion. Makes it much easier to get the trans in when alone.

If you don't have a clutch alignment tool, feel where the disc is in relation to the pressure plate hat through the openings. If you feel it's not centered up, loosen the pressure plate enough that you can work it into position. Not as easy as with an alignment tool or old input shaft, but, has worked in a pinch.
 
I used a plastic clutch alignment tool and I've got the feeling that maybe those aren't the greatest because it took me hours and hours to finally get mine in......bitchin' and yellin' all the while. That S.O.B. was almost rolling off the jack at times......that was NOT an easy job. I'll bet an old input shaft WOULD help align things better.
 
Alignment tool will only get you most of the way there :) if you let the plastic tool get pulled down by the weight of the pressure plate/disc, then tighten it up..... it's not gonna line up when you try to install the trans.
try tightening the pressure plate while sliding the alignment tool in and out with the other hand. If you don't have an alignment tool you can use a wood dowel or socket extension wrapped in tape to the correct diameter..
 
Yeah I did the broom stick trick back in high school with my slant. LOL.

Yep rolled off the jack twice last night. I had to call it quits after that to find a better way.

Hope to have better luck Wednesday on my day off.

Thanks cracked I will cut the heads of the long bolts I was using.
 
Hi Dave,
I had the same problem and loosened the pressure plate so the clutch would stay in place but slip around as necessary. Once I stabbed the tyranny and snuged it up I moved the flywheel around with a socket on the Harmonic balancer bolt and tightened each pressure plate fastener, each a little at a time, until the pressure plate finally contacted the flywheel.

Good Luck
 
Thanks Paul.

These are great tips. Keep em' coming. This could be a good little thread for future cussing, bitchin, flailin 4-speed owners. LOL
 
Dave,

Another trick you can use (if the trans goes in far enough connect the clutch linkage) is to get it close, then have a buddy press the clutch pedal. This will allow the trans to slide in if the disk is slightly misaligned.
 
The biggest problem I had was when I had my bearing retainer and bellhousing machined, the tolerance was so close that once I had the tranny up and in place it only allowed the bearing retainer to fit into the bellhousing a minimal amount. I removed the bellhousing chamfered the outside egde , then install and it went in a little farther, but did not full seat, so I used the bolts to pull the assembly together, and had not problems.....this was after I knew that everything else was lined up or engaged.....Generally putting transmissions in whether automatic or manual is a exersise in futillity.......... Good luck...and the long bolts as a guide method is what I have always used with great sucess........
 
Wouldn't it be great if the 833s were full aluminum case. I've done that "bench press" method a few times and it wasn't fun....but I did do it. If you have read my thread, "Dis my ride", you'll see a story where I had to recruit a very strong friend to help me put the 4-spd back in my Hemi Roadrunner.
I totally recommend that you use an alignment tool! Yes it is irritating to have the throw out bearing slip out of the fork retainers. You have to go in "straight". What I do now ('cause I usually have to do it myself when it needs doing) is to cut the heads off of 2 long bolts and screw them into the bell housing, one at the top and one at the bottom. Once you lift the tranny and get those studs into the holes, it takes a lot of the strain off of you and you can wiggle it in. Otherwise, you're going to be twisting, turning, rubbing, grunting, cursing and needing cold beer. Be sure some one has a camera to see you are looking like a monkey trying to make love to a football under there!! LOL! Good luck and don't forget to have fun.
Pa:cheers:t
 
Hahaha. The best method IS the bench press method. I've never owned a vehicle with an automatic tranny so I've struggled and cursed, and damn near killed myself doing this since I put my first 4-speed back into a car when I was 16. That one being an aluminum Muncie...was a hell of a lot easier than A833s.
You are best off using an old input shaft for an alignment tool. They don't move at all when you are putting disc and PP together. I don't use the threaded bolt/rod method, because if the splines don't line up I prefer to just grunt it around and muscle it in. Also throwing that much weight onto the threaded holes of the bellhousing can cause severe damage if the retainer isn't seated. Besides this is an old "no-no" to a rehabbed GM guy like myself due to the mounting "ears" on the Muncie case that would easily break off, rendering your transmission unusable.
If you can't muscle it due to the weight...like my truck transmissions, I borrow a cheap transmission adapter that fits on a floor jack. They are inexpensive, and you just run a couple of chains across the trans to keep it from rolling off. It one rolls off on you, you won't be able to keep it from hitting the ground, which is bad news for the case, and god forbid, any fingers or hands in the way. Put some carpet on the bottom of the adapter so that it won't scratch your nice new cast paint job.
And just remember... when you are near exhaustion, greasy, sore, and at wits end. Think of me standing around nursing an ice cold beer laughing my *** off. That will give you the energy to reach down and get that last 1/8 inch you need no problem. :snakeman:
 
PFogel said:
Wouldn't it be great if the 833s were full aluminum case. I've done that "bench press" method a few times and it wasn't fun....but I did do it. If you have read my thread, "Dis my ride", you'll see a story where I had to recruit a very strong friend to help me put the 4-spd back in my Hemi Roadrunner.
I totally recommend that you use an alignment tool! Yes it is irritating to have the throw out bearing slip out of the fork retainers. You have to go in "straight". What I do now ('cause I usually have to do it myself when it needs doing) is to cut the heads off of 2 long bolts and screw them into the bell housing, one at the top and one at the bottom. Once you lift the tranny and get those studs into the holes, it takes a lot of the strain off of you and you can wiggle it in. Otherwise, you're going to be twisting, turning, rubbing, grunting, cursing and needing cold beer. Be sure some one has a camera to see you are looking like a monkey trying to make love to a football under there!! LOL! Good luck and don't forget to have fun.
Pa:cheers:t
Click to expand...
Yep, you and I can just grab a nice padded stool, crack a chilly one and enjoy the show!
 
I use a old input shaft with the bearing still on and the bearing retainer for the bellhousing I am using, make sure the seal is still in it, slide input and retainer in till retainer seats in bell make sure the bearing on input seats in back of retainer, PERFECT ALIGNMENT.
 
ive always put alot of grease on the input shaft and it seems to make it alot easier for me
 
Blues65 said:
Hi Dave,
I had the same problem and loosened the pressure plate so the clutch would stay in place but slip around as necessary. Once I stabbed the tyranny and snuged it up I moved the flywheel around with a socket on the Harmonic balancer bolt and tightened each pressure plate fastener, each a little at a time, until the pressure plate finally contacted the flywheel.

Good Luck
Click to expand...

lilcuda said:
Dave,

Another trick you can use (if the trans goes in far enough connect the clutch linkage) is to get it close, then have a buddy press the clutch pedal. This will allow the trans to slide in if the disk is slightly misaligned.
Click to expand...

Loosen the pressure plate then tighten it back down after you get the trans lined up and bolted to the bell. I turned the motor over twice to torque the pressure plate bolts to specs but it was well worth seeing that transmission slide into place!
 
If I have time tomorrow the fun will begin again. I'll let you know if I sat and had a beer in disgust or elation. :)
 
i have always worked with jack stands till i came to school in the fall. having a full lift and a 4ft high tranny jack was so nice for me. i did it in a hour by myself. dont mean to brag it was just nice equiptment. so if you have a friend with a full shop or a shop close that you could borrow a lift for a hour or so it would be worth it in my opinion especialy if you cant get it soon.
 
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