Swapping Transmissions
 

Well my transmission is pretty well shot I guess, and instead of getting mine rebuilt, I am going to purchase a rebuilt transmission for cheaper. Is there anything that I should no about the swap, or is it pretty straight forward. And other parts needed? Hope this works out ok.

There are plenty of things you should know. I emailed you, but since you posted here, I'll go over a few things briefly.

1. Get a factory service manual for the car. They seem expensive, but trust me - the information inside is worth the price. I'm not kidding. The time, frustration and blood these manuals will save you is well worth their price.

2. You need some pretty tall jackstands so you can lift the car high enough to fit a transmission underneath the sides. My jack and stands are rated to 7,000 pounds, so they're pretty big.

3. Do yourself a BIG favor and get some sort of jack to lift transmissions. With the TC full of fluid, the tranny weighs close to 300 pounds. I used a motorcycle/ATV jack - it laid very flat and provided a very wide base. I think other people have used transmission adapters for their floor jacks, but those don't lay nearly as flat.

4. Have somebody help you. This is a big job invlolving many, many steps and very heavy parts. Have somebody on hand - not only to help, but for safety.

I have a few photos in my locker from the tranny swap I did on my own car in Spring. They tell only part of the story, but that's a start.

Listen to everything Mr Pockets said, it all applies 100%. one thing to add, make sure the torque converter is properly in place or you will ruin the pump of the replacement transmission.

I went over the input shaft seating in an email to nysvx10 because it was the source of a little frustration for me. :p I can't see how you could ruin the pump shaft by not having everything seated correctly - if it's not all right, the engine and tranny won't bolt together at all.