Last night I finally got time to install my transmission. The mechanic that overhauled my transmission gave me a little tip for installing it. He had a headless bold the size and thread of those used to bolt the bellhousing to the engine block. You screw it into the top hole in the block then you have something other than just the input shaft to line things up on. Also, once you have the transmission up on it, everything just slides right up in the right place. I made 2 of these headless bolts: one about 4 1/2 inches long and one only 2 3/4 long. The long one was too long; it kept the transmission back to far so it hung up on some of the under-carriage. The short one was just perfect. Once I switched to it, the transmission slipped right in place, including perfect alignment on the other alignment studs. With that bold and the 2 side alignment studs, the transmission hung there perfectly while I ran in the other bolts. Very simple trick, but a big help. I remember really struggling with the transmission the last time I did this. This may be a common trick, but I had never seen or heard it before, so I wanted to share it.
Now, I have a question: After getting the darn thing bolted up, I remembered that there was a little tube of some kind of lubricant in the box with the new clutch plate that I used. The instructions indicated that it should be used on the pilot shaft and the splines where the clutch disc rides on the splines of the input shaft. I used a new pilot shaft bushing in the crankshaft which had been soaked in oil for 24 hours before I put it in. So, my question is: Should I pull the transmission back out to put that lube on the pilot shaft and the splines or do I just forget it?
Now, I have a question: After getting the darn thing bolted up, I remembered that there was a little tube of some kind of lubricant in the box with the new clutch plate that I used. The instructions indicated that it should be used on the pilot shaft and the splines where the clutch disc rides on the splines of the input shaft. I used a new pilot shaft bushing in the crankshaft which had been soaked in oil for 24 hours before I put it in. So, my question is: Should I pull the transmission back out to put that lube on the pilot shaft and the splines or do I just forget it?
