dropping a 280zx tranny in the driveway

[uccreepanddrums]

i was just wondering what the easiest way to drop the tranny out in the driveway was because i dont have a lift. i have heard a couple of different ways, but just want some input.

[mario_82_ZXT]

I find a regular jack works easier then a tranny one.

 

Just make sure the car is (safely) elevated enough to clear the bell housing.

It's cake.

Mario

[ezzzzzzz]

Four well placed jack stands well up are needed! You'll be pushing and pulling a lot and you don't want that car coming down upon you! After I get the car stable on the stands I give it a damn good shake to be sure it's going nowhere. It doesn't hurt to place tires and/or the hydraulic jack in place in the event of any mishap. Getting crushed and suffocating would ruin the best of days.

Disconnect the negative battery cable (always safety first). Remove the shifter knob. Unbolt the clutch slave cylinder from the bellhousing. Disconnect the speedo cable and any wiring harness connectors. Remove the driveshaft. Drain the transmission or be prepared to clean one heck of a mess when fluid pours out the back of the tranny (note, if you have a spare driveshaft you can remove the front yoke and use it to plug that opening). Unbolt the tranny from the engine and pull the starter at the same time. Start wiggling it off the engine. It is heavy and will hurt you. Wear gloves. I like to muscle it out and onto my chest where I can lower it off to the floor. It won't drop until the input shaft clears the pilot bushing and clutch plate.

Do whatever you're there for and prepare to reinstall. I like to place two long bolts with the heads cut off into the block as guide pins. Rotate the input shaft to match the spline pattern of the clutch plate. Start working that beast back into place. It will go easy or hard but it will eventually go. Perfect alignment is a must. Sometimes it helps to have a friend rotate the tranny output shaft with the driveshaft. once seated well (<1/8" or none at all between bellhousing and block) reinstall bolts. Reverse the removal order. Connect neg battery cable after checking everything else twice. Done. I don't think I missed anything.

[uccreepanddrums]

thank you very much this will help a lot and seems a lot easier than what i have heard. the tranny will not be going back in so i won't have to worry about that part, but thanks anyway. much appreciated!

[DavyZ]

I have used ramps, which work fine and put the front wheels up on those. Unbolt said tranny from engine, disconnect driveshaft, drain fluids, get directly under tranny and work the sucker until it starts sliding back. Bench press it down to your chest (figure it's 75 lbs or so max) and get it off to one side. Voila, you're done. It's actually much simpler than you think and it's not too scary either. First time (high school) I was paranoid because I thought trannys weighed a few hundred pounds. I was wrong

 

Davy

[Rustyfriend]

yea, roger on that one. i dropped one for my first time a few weeks ago and it was easy as pie and didn't weigh much at all.

[roger.svoboda]

good thought about the guide pins. Harbor Freight has a tranny scissor jack mechanical that works well but if you are only going to do the job once get a friend with arms the size of your leg.

[firm]

When I did this with my s130 we put the front up on ramps with a few boards underneath and jacks in the back. Then we had another jack to put under the tranny itself when wiggling it out. It's really not hard to do at all once you get it going, I would say the hardest part is actually getting it aligned right and put back on.

[Six_Shooter]

I just did this yesterday in my auto to manual swap in my '73.

 

Removing the exhaust, helped get a lot of space to allow the tranny to just lower straight down on the jack.

 

The hardest part of the entire swap was installing the manual tranny, but even that was easier than other cars I replaced the tranny on.

 

I was very amazed at how the engine did not tilt back, even with the tranny attached and no jack under the tranny. The engine mounts must be very stiff.

 

I also made some guide pins from longer bolts, just ground the head to be round, helped quite a bit.

 

Here is a pic of the car, this was taken yesterday, but it's still on the stands because I have to finish a few details, like replace the exhaust, fill the tranny and bleed the clutch. It's raining today too, I'm glad I got most of the work done yesterday when it was nice. BTW the only reason I didn't use the garage to do this is because my truck is in it, still not mobile.

 

 

After not being able to bench press the tranny into place yesterday, I definatly need to start going back to the gym.

[zman1988]

I've heard a rolling start at the drag strip can make a tranny drop, just do the same thing in your driveway.

no jacks needed,

no risk of being crushed,

you can sit in a nice comfortable car.

[blue72]

I've done it with the car up on jackstands as well. I even had one of those cheapie $24.99 hydraulic jacks at the time to remove the trans with. I just put a wide board on the jack and slid it in place under the trans (it contacted the rear and front of the transmission to distribute weight). Jack that up, slide trans off of dowels, past clutch onto board, lower down. Easy as that.