OK, lets take a quick poll. I'm going to change my clutch, input bearing, etc. I'll be doing it in my garage on standard-height jack stands (18-24"?). I've removed trannies a couple times before on my Spitfire (similar size/weight engine/trans, I think). I found it easier and much less scary to pull the engine and trans up and out of the engine bay, rather than trying to have the gearbox land on my chest while yanking on a car levitated above me Putting it back together from underneath is even worse, I think.
Considering doing the same this time. Am I crazy? Is laying on the ground and lifting the tranny into place way easier than I'm making it?
Or do I just need to borrow a lift bay in my friend's auto shop for an overnight? I can just see the tranny crashing to the floor.
Also, do I absolutely need to find/beg/borrow/purchase the $120 bearing puller tool, or will heat and brass persuasion do?

 

well, i have always dropped it out from underneath. its not too heavy if you remove the geasr oil, and i use a floor jack to support it on the way down so that i can control the fall. putting it in is the reverse so not too bad. besides if you pull it all from the engine bay, you have to do so much more work d/c the harness and all the peripheral stuff and then you have to put it all back.....wasted time if you ask me.

as for the tool, im not sure if you will need it, but you should prolly have it on hand just in case. thats my $.02

 

I think it's easier to go from underneath. As far as the pilot bearing tool, go to harborfreight.com and order their pilot bearing tool for less than $15. You will have to grind the feet down a little bit, but it will work great.

A tranny jack comes in handy too.

 

OK, I'll try it that way. I think I just get the ******* when I'm yanking around on heavy objects while laying under an automobile. I'll just pile a bunch of stuff under the corners to supplement the jack stands and go to it.
Thanks for the feedback and I'll check out the bearing puller on harborfreight.

 

go from underneath it's easy and quick...use a floor jack to hold up the tranny till you got all the bolts out...and use the floor jack to bring down the tranny...once it's down lift the tail shaft of the tranny pull the floor jack out and then drag the tranny out of the way...

As far as the bearing puller...not a good idea to heat up the back end of the e-shaft...you have rear main oil seal on the back of the iron there that might get hot and get damaged...rent a bearing puller or borrow one or buy one...

Ive done tranny pulls a number of time with out floor jacks by letting it rest on my chest...and then also putting them back in...

 

You can make a cheap Pilot bearing puller.

Buy a carriage bolt (rounded head no slots) with a head slightly larger than the inside diameter of the pilot bearing and 5-6" long. Carefully grind or file down the head until it can be lightly tapped into the hole in the middle of the pilot bearing. Taper the edge of the head making the bottom (side towards the thread) slightly larger than the rounded top.

Gently tap the end of the bolt, forcing the head into the hole until it pops behind the pilot bearing. Slide a 1" (1/2 drive) socket, a fender washer or two and a bolt onto the threads. Position the socket on the edge of the eccentric shaft. Tilt the bolt slightly so the head gets a good grip on the back of the bearing casing.

The pilot bearing will be pulled out as the nut is tightened.

The picture is only an example. The bolt is too short and the head is too small. (That's what my wife says) The socket is too small also, but you get the idea.

Then there's the toilet paper method

 

kinda depends, pulling the engine and trans together out the top is easy, might work fo ya, if you need to do other stuff, like reseal the oil pan...

 

I haven't pulled an RX-7 engine or transmission, but I have done several on other cars, and my choice goes with dropping it, if for no other reason than to obviate electrical problems. It helps to have a transmission jack, $20-30 at the autostore.

Don't use heat on the PB: too much danger of upsetting the rear seal. Use a puller ($10 at harborfreight), the clever method of 74rx4, or the toilet paper method.

Replace the transmission input bearing when you do it.

Always have a PB guide tool ready: best $4 you ever spent. Better than lying on your back jiggling the !#$$% transmission around, pulling it out, re-centering the clutch plate, etc.

You can measure the transmission beforehand so you know what height jackstands you need.

 

i always pull the trans out by myself and its always by itself from under the car. i use a jack to help lower it and the same when re-installing the trans.

 

The way our cars are designed, I would think that pulling the engine from the top would be an annoying amount of work.

Our cars are "Mid-Front Engine" as Mazda calls them, which means that the engine is closer to being under the center console than completely in the engine bay. (The best example is to look at an RX8 and realize that half the engine is tucked in the tranny tunnel opening :P)

Our engines are moved back that drastically, but I'd still say go through the bottom, very little to get in the way if you do it that way.

 

1st gen trannies are pretty light and easy to deal with. I'm not buff enough to bench press one in or out so I use a floor jack to guide it up and down. I haven't had a 1st gen tranny fall off a floor jack yet.

 

That transmission is pretty easy to horse around.

 

have you opened the hood? the engine isnt under anything but blue sky with the hood open.

engine is actually really easy to pull, if you've done a couple its maybe an hour job.

 

to pull out the front/hood do you not need to remove all the cooling stuff. Like rad and whatnot.

When i pulled my engine it was like an hour top tops but i already had rad and fan and all that off. so i just needed to disconnect various sensors, intake/carb, exhaust and then i was good to go.

Id still say if you are able to get the car up a bit it will be easier to drop the tranny

 

if you can pull the engine out through the transmission tunnell eaiser than out the top, my friend you have may be able to discover the cure for cancer. until then, pull the engine from the top and the trans from the bottom.

 

Isn't that what I said? I might have worded myself wrong again...

Sorry...