Last time I had to do a trans swap, of course every friend I have was too busy to give me a hand, so I was on my own....again. My car's got T/A headers, 2" primaries, 3.5" collectors. The distance between them is smaller than the bellhousing. So I am laying under the car trying to figure out how to make the big square fit through the little circle. Then I got it......RATCHET STRAPS! Using 2 of them, I hooked them to the frame and made a little cradle for the trans, then just ratcheted it up. No more balancing on a floor jack or dropping the trans on your head, and we all know that a trans jack doesn't do jack because it doesn't give you enough tilt. Then you can use a third strap to pull the trans to the motor. It was the easiest install I have ever done. Try it next time. You'll thank me.
very cool idea. I just got done helping a friend put a TH350 in his 71 past the headers, and it was a B*TCH. I got so tired of struggling past the headers on my 72 (as often I am solo on the job like you) that I sold them and am going to a ported-manifolds setup. good idea, the straps. Ingenious.
Thats what I did when I did mine alone but I cut 4 slots in the top of the trans tunnel. The nagle was sort of easy as I used long bolts with their heads cut off as guide pins to get the angle right.
That almost sounds like cheating.:laugh: I wouldn't know what to do if I couldn't arm wrestle the th400 into the car once in a while. you know, try to get it up onto the jack, already under the car, try to keep the jack from slipping out from under the trans, etc... oh the memories. Makes me want to go drop the trans out just for practice now....
and i thought i was the only who thought of this lol. when i was young i'd wrestle it in there by hand and most cases in the yard lol. but layin under there this last summer gonna give it the college try by hand, realised i aint as good as i once was. layin there under the car i had a great idea the ratchet straps, worked awesome i was so proud of myself, and of corse no one around to brag to. where are all the freinds when it comes time to change a tranny? lol
I ran my own shop for years, I used this little secret on everything from trans gas tanks, and diffs. It works like a charm.
It holds the damn thing up in the air and lets you finagle the trans around to get past the headers without dropping it. If you use a jack its impossible not to drop it. If you do it by hand, fatigue is a factor unless you have several people or you are Arnold Schwarzenegger. Hasta la vista baby
Funny you say that. After the trans success, I had to change the fuel pump in my K-5 Blazer, which is lifted (jack doesnt go high enough unless you put a cinder block on it, teeter totter) and had about 3/4 of a 32 gallon tank. Worked like a charm!
Tiresmoke, I hope you were just joking about using a cinder block under a jack. They can suddenly shatter under weight with disassterous results.
I have 455 with T400 and I cut the ears of the trans case. Voila, it fits right inbetween the headers. Am I the only one to do this. We been doing this for 20 plus years allready.
Of course I would never put a jack on top of a cinder block! It was above the jack, silly!:Brow: I wish I was kidding.
