Transmission help!

[Eleven]

Series V Alpine. Transmission came out easy, going back in is something else. Is there a technique to this? Should it go up flat or at a steep angle? The starter bulge on the bell housing seems to hang up on the body work. Any help or tips would be much appreciated!! Anyone want to come by and help out? Am in Bellevue Washington!

Thanks!

 

[Green67Alpine]

When you do get it back in, let us that have yet to do it know what you learned......

I'm sure you'll get some advice on this topic...

Tom J

Going to be installing O D trany next winter.......If I get this thing running this summer............

 

[Eleven]

I will

My son and I spent 3 hours trying to fit it back and made zero progress. I am going to go back to what has always worked with all my cars (AND PLEASE don't tell me that Alpines are different, I couldn't take it!)...that is pull the engine, mate the two up and slide them back as a unit. Will post to say how it went.

 

[RootesRooter]

Not sure what you mean by "steep angle." I loosen the engine mount bolts to allow the (supported) engine to tilt back as far as possible without damaging the mounts, but that still isn't a very steep angle. (e.g. the oil filler neck shouldn't be hitting the firewall)

Did you use a clutch alignment tool before trying to mate them? It can be very difficult without one, unless you're really good at eyeballing it. SS sells this tool very reasonably.

Because of the starter bulge fouling the tunnel, you'll need to rotate the tranny to be able to slide it straight-on through the pressure plate opening, then rotate very slightly back and forth to get it to mate with the clutch and partially into the pilot bushing, then rotate back again to align the bellhousing bolts. It can fun trying to balance the tranny, pointed slightly upwards and rotated at a 30-degree angle, on a jack and push it home at the same time, but it does work.

Dick Sanders

 

[Eleven]

Not sure what you mean by "steep angle." I loosen the engine mount bolts to allow the (supported) engine to tilt back as far as possible without damaging the mounts, but that still isn't a very steep angle. (e.g. the oil filler neck shouldn't be hitting the firewall)

Did you use a clutch alignment tool before trying to mate them? It can be very difficult without one, unless you're really good at eyeballing it. SS sells this tool very reasonably.

Because of the starter bulge fouling the tunnel, you'll need to rotate the tranny to be able to slide it straight-on through the pressure plate opening, then rotate very slightly back and forth to get it to mate with the clutch and partially into the pilot bushing, then rotate back again to align the bellhousing bolts. It can fun trying to balance the tranny, pointed slightly upwards and rotated at a 30-degree angle, on a jack and push it home at the same time, but it does work.

Dick Sanders

Thanks Dick! I'll give that a try, didn't consider the engine mounts. The clutch is new so we left it in place, doing just a straight trans swap with a spare I have. I'll see if we can't get a little more angle on the engine and try it again.

 

[V6 JOSE]

Eleven,

Try leaving the transmission in gear, so you can turn the tail shaft and thus turn the input shaft, to help align the splines on the transmission with the splines in the clutch disc.

Jose

 

[Alpine 1789]

When you drop the back of the engine, don't forget to disconnect the carb linkage! Been there, done that, had to fix that.

 

[RootesRich]

Get a couple of long bolts (like 8") and use them to help align the bell housing/ tranny to the block.

 

[Jeff Scoville]

Make sure both trannys are of the same spline count.

 

[volvoguys]

Removing the motor to install a gearbox is absolutely not necessary. Dick's advice is as sound as you can get and I'll suggest you follow it 'cause it will work. DID YOU USE a clutch alignment tool before you to tried to mate the box? If not, I will again suggest you follow his advice and spend the $10 to get this critical tool. Stay with it.

Mark

 

[husky drvr]

Eleven,

If your spare trans is from an Alpine GT ( fastback ), it will not fit because the input shaft is about two inches too long. Even using the GT bellhousing will not work because that would tilt the trans over towards the driver and is too long to fit the sV tunnel I think.

 

[Eleven]

You guys are great!

The clutch alignment is not a problem as it was not disturbed when we removed the old trans. (Have done enough clutch and trans swaps to have lived that mistake!) We could not get close enough to even get the splines in!! We did a comparison of the old trans with the replacement and could find no differences. The fellow who gave it to me said that it was a Series V with the right spline count, both count out the same. We got hung up on the body work and could not get the bell housing up to the back of the engine. It fouled the starter bulge and all the rotating in the world did not help. I'll start with loosening the motor mounts and increasing the engine tilt. Will check that I have the throttle off also (thanks for that tip).

 

[Eleven]

Update, it's in!

Thanks to all of you for your help! The manual instruction to remove the exhaust has nothing to do with clearance for the trans. My exhaust is rusted tight and I could not get it apart but saw that I could work around it. Wrong move. You remove the exhaust section because the engine hangs on it and will not tilt, duh! (I was advised not to let the oil filler hit the firewall so that was the first thing I did...) Once the engine is tilted, the trans fits up pretty well. Do put it in gear, saves a lot of effort lining up the splines. The engine and trans can be removed as a unit, if my son was not helping, I think that is what I would have done. Even with my nifty $52 Harbor Freight trans jack, it would have been a bear by myself. Am trying desperately to get it going now. If you see a red primered Alpine at the SOVREN race next weekend, give me a wave!

 

[jumpinjan]

This procedure is so easy, I can do this myself

 

[Eleven]

I like that lifting box

Was trying to figure out where to grab the engine! Great idea!

 

[Eleven]

The replacement is duff

I may need to build one of your boxes Jan! It's all got to be done over. The replacement I was given is worse than the original. Any thoughts any one has over why a S5 box jumps out of 2nd, send my way! Thank you in advance, the help posted here previously was terrific!

 

[jumpinjan]

The 2nd "speed" gear rides on a bushing and it has worn beyond the service limit. It then rocks one way then the other on drive then coast. This rocking is somewhat stopped by the shifter fork until it finally wears. This rocking breaks the grip on the engagement dogs, and the gear is thrown out of engagement. This can happen to 2nd & 3rd speed gears. The solution is you need your transmission rebuilt by a specialist. I can rebuild them for about $500-$700 depending on what parts need replaced.
Jan

 

[Eleven]

Ouch!

The 2nd "speed" gear rides on a bushing and it has worn beyond the service limit. It then rocks one way then the other on drive then coast. This rocking is somewhat stopped by the shifter fork until it finally wears. This rocking breaks the grip on the engagement dogs, and the gear is thrown out of engagement. This can happen to 2nd & 3rd speed gears. The solution is you need your transmission rebuilt by a specialist. I can rebuild them for about $500-$700 depending on what parts need replaced.
Jan

Thanks Jan! I guess I need to reorder my budget a bit. What's shipping from Seattle are, any guesses?

 

[jumpinjan]

I have shipped transmissions successfully through UPS (max. weight for UPS handling is 150lbs. The trans is about 70lbs). You need to get some plywood for a base and mount the trans to it. Keep the rear trans mount on it (not the long crossover channel) and use the holes to insert wood screw through them and put metal straps around the trans to secure it to the wooden base. Then put everything in a cardboard box. Don't use foam around a "loose" trans, I received some where the input shaft penetrated the weak cardboard and was sticking right out of the box, because it was rolling around. Spend some time to secure it right.
Jan