Okay Guys.. Fill me in...

I've been looking around but I can't seem to find anything that really sums up what I'm looking for. I'm restoring my 85 GS and will be pulling the engine within the next week to do the Auto to 5 spd swap. I plan on changing the oil pan gasket but other than that I'm pretty clueless. What kind of maintenance should I do to the engine while it is out of the car?

I plan on cleaning it up and painting it, but as far as mechanical stuff I'm not really sure. I've got a clutch kit on the way for the tranny swap so I'll be changing the pilot bearing.

The main thing that concerns me is the oil leak that I have right now. It seems to be coming from between the engine and transmission. It appears to be oil anyway. There is a small chance that it could be tranny fluid. I don't care about the tranny cause it's going in the garbage, but what makes the engine leak oil out the back? Is there an oil seal back there to change?

I want to do any possible preventative maintenance and fix my oil leak while the 12A is out of the car. What all do I need to do? Hit me with some suggestions guys! Thanks!

Jamie

 

Here is a picture of the oil leak. It collects on the the plate on the bottom of the tranny, but I don't think that's where it's coming from. I think it is coming off the back of the engine. What is everyone's diagnosis? What should I check while the engine is out anywya?

 

Come on guys! You aren't answering!!!

 

Well, can't really tell much from the picture. That plate is the inspection plate right? If it is, take it off and use a flashlight to take a good look at the area. Also, what colour if the fluid? If its a brownish colour then its engine oil and if its a redish colour its tranny fluid (obviously, but it sorta sounded like you didn't know).

 

I took it off and it had some metal shavings on it. Hopefully they are off of the tranny and not the engine, since the auto is coming out anyway. The transmission acts like it is pretty screwed up anyway. Jerky shifts and likes to shift into overdrive way to early, and you can't shut the overdrive off anymore. I'm going to drain the fluid out of the auto when I get home today so we'll see what it looks like. I'm almost 95% sure that the leak is oil though. I just have no clue where its coming from, and if it is coming off the back side of the engine I wanna get it fixed while I've already got it out of the car... obviously..

 

Eh, I'd make sure that it's actually the oil pan gasket. I've never seen the gasket itself leak on one of these cars.

I can't tell from your picture but the best way to find oil leaks is to clean around where you think the oil is coming from until a white paper towel won't pick up any oil, then run your engine a little and start rubbing until you find some oil.

 

BTW a leak anywhere on the pan will end up in and around that inspection plate. The OMP gaskets tend to leak, as do the oil senders on the pan; these are easy fixes.

 

If you have any questions about the auto-to-five-speed swap, I'm your man.

 

Cool. I imagine you'll be getting quite a few PM's from me soon. Do you have any experience with the swap regarding the 4 speed autos? I'd like to get a detailed drawing or picture of exactly how to relocate the crossmember mounts. I've seen hornbm's pictures of how he did his, but I was hoping to get some dimensions of the stuff he made...

 

Yes, mine was an '83 12a trans into an '85 with a 4-speed auto. I don't remember the exact dimensions of the brackets, and it's not a good idea to try and use someone else's anyway. What you have to do is take both transmissions and put them side-by-side, with the bellhousing on the ground and the tailhousing in the air. Put the automatic transmission crossmember (you'll need to use it) on each and measure the height of the holes. Use the difference to make your brackets. I want to say that mine was 131mm, but this was a while back.

 

My brackets are made from 1/4" steel plate and have held up fine for about six months, so far. It took me and my old man about an hour to make them including measuring, cutting (with a giant disc grinder -- thanks Dad!), and drilling with a drill press. I put about five coats of black paint on them, and they appear to be holding up fine (though the one close to the exhaust looks like it will be rusted in a year or so.)

 

Too cool. That is the exact setup I'm doing. In fact... I think i'm gonna PM you a list of Q's right now. Haha. thanks bouis!!

 

Use big washers and the bolts from your flexplate or torque converter to hold the brackets to the original mounts (they fit). Then use the factory rubber mounting hardware on the unsupported end of the bracket. You'll want to put a few washers under the tranny above the crossmember to even it out (1/4" worth).

Use lots of lock washers and the solid mounts on the chassis and it'll keep it from popping off like hornbm's . He's a real nice guy and was a lot of help for me.

What parts do you have for this swap? Maybe I can tell you what you're missing. I know there were a few things I forgot: the pedals have to be from an '84-85; you'll need new bolts for the starter (ask Geoff at mazdatrix); you'll need a pilot bearing and seal; the three seals for the shifter and their metal cover; a little inspection plate for the motor (the one from the auto-tranny is too long). This is by no means a complete list, just things that stand out in my mind.

Also, you'll really want a racing beat light flywheel (again ask Geoff and tell him you have a counterweight already: minus $100 in cost). This part will be worth it, trust me.

Edit: Sure. The PMs kinda suck though. If you'd rather do it by e-mail I'm bouis [at] datasync [dot] com

 

Oh btw when you're getting the interior seals, the big one can be found in good shape used (get it when you get the cover plate) but the two smaller ones are always bad; buy these new.

 

So the pedals out of the 83 donor car don't work then? That's too bad. The counterweight will work on the 85 engine though right? Is there any way you could get me some pics of your tranny mounting setup? I think it would really help me if I could see how you did it....

 

Um, they could work, but the bolt that holds them into the frame is too short. I noticed this I pulled the center cover-thing between the pedals and it was a lot longer. This is all 84-85 cars.

Pulling the pedals from a junkyard car is a PIT(F)A. Sorry . But unlike what some people said, you don't need the whole support thing; all you need is the pedals and the big bolt that holds them to it. You'll also want the clutch and brake switches, as well as the springs and stuff that pull the pedals back down (especially the clutch -- these are different in '84-85 cars).

Maybe you could use the pedals from an '83 if you took the whole under-dash support out. I think this would be more trouble than its worth and I did this:

I got mine from a car that was wrecked in the front, had no wheels or axels and was sitting in the mud, on a rainy, cold day. The interior had been exposed to water for at least a year. The seats were aftermarket and were bolted to the floorpan with RUSTY bolts that I had to break to get the seat out. Even though I was wearing coveralls and a hat, I was actually shaking from the wet and cold when I finished, after an hour or so. Got the pedals for $15 though.

I could take some pictures, but not for a few days -- if I go home this weekend I'll try to borrow my sister's camera.

Edit:
The flexplate is bolted to a counterweight with a couple of little bolts. Easy, but make sure you have six point craftsman metric sockets and wrenches, okay? Otherwise you'll find yourself doing a lot of cutting with a dremel.

The counterweight would have to be removed to use a stock flywheel, which really should be resurfaced if you have a new clutch. This is difficult because it has a built in imbalance to replace the counterweight. Anyway, the counterweight is held on by a 54mm nut that's torqued to 350ftbls. You'll need a special socket, a (good) air gun, a bar to hold the engine from turning, and a special puller just to get it off. At least $100 in tools.

With the racing beat light steel flywheel (~$300), all you need is a 14mm socket.

 

When I took them out of the donor car I got the whole freakin' pedal assembly. The whole bracket that the pedals are on, all the springs, and the bracket that goes around the steering column. Maybe I'll try and put it in tonight when I get home, before I go shopping for another set...

 

I can't even say for sure if it will bolt in or not.

 

Please excuse the bump,

Back to the original conversation about the engine maintenance. What kind of stuff should I do to the engine besides cleaning it up, while I've got it out of the seven? I don't wanna have to take it out again for a long while unless I have to. Seems like I've been doing more repairs on her lately than driving and I'd like to fix any problems that may be lurking around the corners......

 

Just a suggestion, are you going to paint the engine compartment? it really brightens the look of a car.

 

Yeah, I'm doing an auto to 5 spd swap, and I really wanted to paint the engine bay too. So I figured, why not strip the entire car, pull the engine and tranny, do a complete color change on the interior and exterior, and then clean up everything when I put it back together as a 5 spd. Basically fixing up the car in one shot, like I wanted to from the beginning, with a few extra modifications along the way. Its not going to be perfectly restored, but I want to keep the majority of the car in factory specs. For now I'm sticking primarily to bolt on mods, and small tweaking here and there.

 

*bump*

Sorry to bump this again everyone but I still never really figured out what maintenance I need to do to the engine. What is good preventative maintenance to do when you have the engine and tranny out of the car? Pilot bearing and seal? Oil pan gasket? Front and rear tranny seals? I'm looking for anything that you guys would suggest changing and or repairing while I've got the engine and tranny out of the car. I want the 7 to be clean and trouble free when I put it all back together. I"m not cutting corners anymore, so I wanna make sure I fix potentially common problems.

 

If it was me, I'd rebuild the motor if it had a significant amount of miles on it. But that's a whole project in itself. Otherwise, change out the front and rear seals on the engine and tranny, the bearings for the clutch, do the oil pan gasket and the OMP and then mount that new tranny in there. If you make your tranny swap project into eighteen projects at once you'll never get done.

It took me a long time to learn not to take on too much at once. Don't get caught up in the idea of "I can do it right now while everything is apart."

 

I had what I thought was a pan leak for a while, but it's actually a leak from the connection of the oil cooler pipe to the front of the engine.

Maybe you are that lucky, too?

 

I hope so. I have a sneaky suspicion that the auto tranny was what was causing all of the mess. It's never going back in the car so that potential problem is fixed. I'm gonna change the oil pan gasket, front and rear engine seals (maybe), and the front and rear tranny seals. And it goes without saying that i'll be tightening the crap out of everything before it goes back together. Hopefully somewhere along the way there i'll find and fix the culprit, if I haven't already. I can't wait to shift through the gears on that 5 spd. I'll probably shed a tear the first time I drive it with the 5 spd in. ......... i'm not kidding...