Alright, so the slowest SR20 swap in history has hit a snag. Ive finally dedicated some time to finishing this biatch before the winter gets here, but at this point Im getting very frustrated.
To update, the KA is out and the SR is prepped and ready to be dropped into the 240. I removed the tranny, and replaced the clutch with an ACT unit but now I cant get the tranny back on! Believe me Ive tried, oh how Ive tried… but it will not go back on.
Its not exactly brain surgery, but I think I need some help finishing this part. I have one other buddy helping me, but lining up both the engine and the tranny seems to be more than a two man job.
If anyone either has some advice for me, or wouldnt mind lending a hand, it would be greatly appreciated! It would be nice if you have actually done an SR swap before, but its cool if you havent.
and i suggest dropping the engine block in on it’s own, then putting the tranny in from underneath, this might help keep the engine still without someone holding it. and will make the actual swaping a hell of a lot easier.
Basically the input shaft will go in, but not all the way. I can get within a couple of centimetres but I cant quite get it the rest of the way in.
Rotating the tranny 180 degrees is an idea I havent tried, but I dont know if I could do it with just two people. With the engine sitting on the ground and the tranny turned, the bump on the bellhousing where the starter is would get in the way.
Loosen the pressure plate enough so that the clutch is just snugly being held.
Stick the input shaft of the tranny into the center of the pressure plate.
Give it a wiggle so that the clutch centers it self.
Remove the tranny tightn the pressure plate and bolt the tranny back up to the engine.
You need to center the clutch disk properly. Usually a clutch kit will come with a plastic allignment shaft that you use to hold the disk while tightening the pressure plate. If you have one, use it and all will be well. If you don’t, do what I always do (similar to what Shift_SR20 just described).
loosen off the pressure plate so that it barely grabs the clutch disk
feel with your fingers through the three gaps in the pressure plate how far the disk is from the edge of the pressure plate.
make sure that these finger mesaurments are equal in all three locations, tighten the pressure plate again.
When putting the trans onto the engine I always put teh trans in gear, put a old drive shaft into the end of teh trans so that Ican rotate teh tailshaft - and because it’s in gear - the input shaft. this helps allign teh splines. It should all slide together easily.
You should never have to pull the engine and trans togerther with bolts, if you resort to this expect to brake something.
I always install SR and Trans. as one init. Drain the gear oild first or it will likely end up everywhere.
Since the trans and engine aren’t together it shoudl be evry easy to check just slid the allignment tool back trhoughteh clutch disk, and into the pilot bearing… you did have in inserted all the way into the pilot bearing when you usedit, right? Easy way to checkthat it’s going into teh pilot bearing. wipe teh end of allingnment tool clean. put some fresh clean grease in pilot bearing, insert tool and remove. If it doesn’t have fresh grease on it for at least 1/2" then it’s not going into pilot bearing properly.
when i did this, the use of a tranny stand came in very handy. mechanic friend was under car while i was in car make sure the shifter was in properly. that info probably doesn’t help u, but it might, im not sure what ur problem is exactly.
did you try tipping the engine up and putting a wood block in to keep it up(pointing down on tranny end) that should make it easier.
I appreciate all the advice, and it looks like Im not the only one having troubles with the tranny.
Martin, Im almost positive the clutch is aligned properly, since the alignment tool slides in almost all the way no problem at all. I was very careful about that. I think the issue is just getting the input shaft to go into the tranny straight, rather than at an angle. With a couple of hundred pounds between the engine and the tranny, Im just having a difficult time putting the two together.
Does anyone have a tranny stand that I could borrow for a day? I think if the tranny was lined up and level, I could push it into the engine easy enough.
Martin had a good idea with the drive shaft. Shops that do alot of swaps have an old drive shaft cut so all there is, is just the yoke. If you put this in after removing the drive shaft it will help keep the oil in the trany while removing and it helps to install if you put the trany in gear you can turn the input shaft with the yoke or whole drive shaft, this will help to mesh the splines on the inputshaft with the splines in the centre of the clutch disk.If the engine is on the ground this will be easy to do but if it is in the car then you may need someone to spin the shaft while you try to line it up. Ther is also one other thing. This may sound stupid and ovious but I have seen it happen. Some times it is just the dust cover (thin metal sheet behind flywheel that covers the front of the tranny. On the KA, not sure about sr) gets in the way of the guide pins. I am sure you prob would have noticed that though.
well i have been trying to get my tranny on since saturday with no luck. tranny is lined up perfectly, i have realigned clutch disc with tool 3 times, and it still wont slide all the way in. my parents set a deadline for me to finish and i have failed, car gets towed tomorrow. ill never do my own work again. i wish you luck on getting yours in
If yous guys lived closer i would be happy to come help yous but you live to damn far away. you should move to the nigara region. usualy when we work on our cars there is at least 4-5 other 240 owners there to help.
Hm… lots of good ideas. Actually my SR came with a cut off driveshaft so I can turn it with that. Would putting it in gear really make a difference? I cant see how… but I am willing to try anything at this point. Ill just have to reassemble the shifter and put it in gear.
Thanks for the advice! Hey Alex, Ill race you… first one with the tranny installed wins…
