bought a clutch, a tranny jack, and other tools, had the car high up on jack stands, got tranny out, installed new clutch and bearings
could not get tranny back in, for all the way we pushed and shoaved and tried to get it back into place, it wouldnt go in, always 1" left to go
my DD is down and i now have no way to get to work.

 

did you use the clutch alignment tool? it's a bitch getting the tranny to mate even after you've perfectly aligned the clutch. you might try rotating the input shaft and trying again. be careful not to knock the car off the stands with all the pushing and shoving. JDuncan helped me with mine and he had to twist the tranny around to try and get the splines to mate. it took both of us about 15+ min of just trying to get them to mate.

 

Unfortunately there is no really easy way to do this. I'd grease the input shaft and prepare for some lifting. I found it helps to move the tail end around while your trying to slide it on.

 

Get one or two long bolts started, tighten, then wrench the transmission into place.

 

NO! That is a sure way to kill the pilot bearing and damage the splines on the clutch or transmission if it is misaligned.

The original poster's probably is likely alignment. Make sure the clutch disc is aligned (use the tool). The transmission needs to be mated squarely to the engine so it often helps to tilt the engine towards the back of the car. When you remove the transmission, it will want to flop forward in it's mounts and this will make it VERY hard to reinstall.

I normally install the transmission by getting under the car with the transmission on my chest. I bench press the bellhousing into place while supporting the tail section with my feet. A little bit of rotation and wiggling and it falls into place after about 10 minutes of swearing.

 

Yeah, it is a pain in the *** to get it in there. The tranny needs to be square against the motor, this is kind of difficult since the shifter thing gets in the way. If you get a block of wood, and wedge it somewhere in the engine bay it will help. The idea is to tilt the back of the motor down. This makes it sooo much easier.. than, just use your tranny jack, and wiggle it around untill it goes in, just took me an hour, ouch. goodluck.

 

I broke of the lip with the thread holes on the rear housing trying to force it in this way.

In my opinion, the alignment tool isn't the answer either. You almost have to align it visually looking at the clutch spacing around the edge of the flywheel. The tool will get you close.

This is why I always pull the tranny with the motor when I have to pull the motor. The worst part of pulling a motor is the wrenching you have to do under the car laying on your back with sh*t falling in your face and never having the right tool.

I realize the visual alignment isn't as easy when the motor is in place though.

Brian

 

Hey guys, when you wrench it, it will go or hit a stop. Use your head, if you have to use a breaker bar you might be way out of alignment and should reposition. I even loosen the pressure plate bolts and let the clutch float because that alignment tool never seems to work. If your close enough to get a bolt started, then you probably have the splines engaged and the trans just needs a little coaxing.
This trick has always worked for me from Muncie 4 speeds to these.

 

clutch is aligned, splines just dont want to go in, its pissing me off, i'm weak aaron so lifting it into place doesnt seem like a safe option, especially when the car is on jackstands, scares the pissoutta me being under there altough i do have the car firmly supported by the rails

 

put the OEM scissor jack under the front main pulley and crank the front of the motor up, this will bring the back of the motor down. if the clutch disc is aligned properly then the tranny should slide in without much fuss but part of the problem is the motor likes to tilt forward after the tranny is removed so you have to jack the nose up to bring the back down.

lastly try turning the input shaft to the tranny in small increments before each try, the splines can keep it from sliding in if they are not perfectly aligned.

 

I just did this yesterday. Wish I knew about jacking the engine from the front...although now that I think about it...it makes sense. Also instead of moving the splines on the input shaft and trying again...I turned the whole clutch assembly via the flywheel from the top of the engine bay. Nothing wrong with doing it like that is there?

 

I have done that also, only by useing a wrench on the main pully. I didnt even think of useing another jack to tilt it, good idea. I just jammed a 4x4 block of wood inbetween my battery and powersteering pully, it doesnt take alot of pressure to move it a inch or two..

 

nope

 

Just pull the engine...

I've personally given up just dropping the tranny... I've wasted so much time, TERRIBLE time trying to mate the tranny and engine the past two times I've done a clutch-job... I say screw it and pull the motor.

If you were using a lift and had a buddy helping you it'd be a different story... But just using jack-stands... *shudder*

 

Don't know if it would work on the RX7 tranny but it helped on my cousin's truck. Get a couple of pieces of theaded rod(or one an cut it to length) of the proper thread and thread into the engine. Give yourself maybe 3 or 4 inches or enough to get the bellhousing on the bolts before the input shft starts into the clutch. Now you can get the rods through the holes in the bell housing and use them as guide rails for the tranny. At the very least they will help support the front of the transmission while you get the splines aligned.

 

Loosen motor mounts and like said lift up on front of engine (i prefer to use a block of wood and a floor jack on the front of oil pan) and lift up just enough to tilt the back of the motor down some. i have done this twice on jackstands so i think its effective

 

if you use 4 pieces of threaded rod to alighn the box correctly and then just wind them all in slowly and move the drive shft slightly ( in gear ) it will go in peices of ****. its always a dram. i have to put my tranny in in the next day or so after my flywheel nearly fell of coz some joker didnt tighten it up properly. *** hole

 

Read thru the posts and don't think I saw This...

Pull the pressure plate loose, take the disc and ck its fit onto trans input shaft w/ trans on floor. Thru all your trying you may have buggered up the splines, or just maybe ( it has happened) the splines are incorrect.

Good Luck

 

the best way is to jack up the front of the moter and it also helps to notch out the damn cut out for the shifter cause that really gets in the way and it makes it easier if u plan on doing it again

 

like what was said, its probably an alignment issue.

get a friend, and have them push on the motor to rotate it so the motor's axis points more downwards. the effect is the same as putting a scissor jack on the front of the motor. a helper might be able to do a better job than a jack though.

 

This is my 5 minute way of doing it. Align the clutch. put it in first. Stick the drive shaft back in the tranny, and have someone wiggle it while you push forward to get the tranny in. Nice and easy is the best way. much like your girfiriend. you can't force it in or she won't let you play anymore. Don't use the bolts to tighten it up, unless you have less than a 1/4 inch or so. Hope this helps. My best clutch swap time is a blistering 45 min. Two people knowing what the were doing. On a lift of course.

 

45 minutes for a clutch swap! Even with a lift that is ungodly fast.
You have my upmost respect.

 

Maybe this will help (I'm weak it it worked for me)(I totally reccommend tilting the engine too):

Get a 2x4 (or soemthign even wider) and some rags. Put the windows down and lay the 2x4 thru the cabin resting it on the rags on the window sills. Get a ratchet strap and loop it over the 2x4 and under the shifter portion of the tranny and lift the rear up, this eliminates alot of the awkwardness of lifting the tranny and enables a little 140 lb guy like me to bench the bellhouse end into position with minimal fuss. Obviously, be careful cause you could damage the windows/sills.

 

I'd put something under the frame other than the jacks incase of slippage from the jackstands. Put a spare wheel under there or something. safety first..
-Justin

 

scaredy cat!

jk get a friend and bench it together!!!!

more fun wid more ppl reheheheh

juss wiggle that **** and yell at the tranny, it WILL go in or double ur money back