what am i doing wrong, i used the alignment tool, and i get about 1/2 an inch from the housing meeting the back of the engine, it just wont get any further though ;(

 

You have to get a pry bar b/w the strut tower brace and the engine and rotate the engine's rear downward so that it can line up with the transmission. I couldn't put a tranny into position for 2 days until I did this.

 

The trans is not going into the pilot bearing a tight fit push the trans foward and shake at the same time , try to get the trans-bellhousing -motor GAP even all the way around. IF any bolts will start this will help but do not force them in ,you could harm the seal and or bearing

 

Its normal, if you are doing this on the floor it doesnt just slip right in. Well if your lucky it does. You just have to wiggle the tranny in. Try turning the crank a little and work the engine in. You can try jacking up the front of the engine to make it tilt downwards. This makes it easier to align the motor and tranny, since it gives you a little more room. You can also put the bolts in if it is long enough and slowly and evenly tighten the bolts.

 

thanks guys, i do not have a front strut brace, where could i jack the fornt part of the engine up at... i looked for a place but the only place i could find would be the front of the oil pan...

 

i havne't done this on an FD< but with other cars is i put the tranny into gear. this keeps the shaft/spline from turning while you try to put it in.

Danny

 

how would it stop the shaft from spinning? There is nothing holding it, the rear output shaft(dont know if this term is correct) is not attache to a drivesaft or anything so it will just freely spin!

 

Just finished putting my tranny back in and had the same problem. Figured the problem was the engine tilting up a little when the weight of the transmission was removed. I went and bought some metric bolts that were 1/2" longer than the stock ones. Used these to pull the engine and transmission together bit by bit. If you go slow and don't just crank down on one bolt you bring the engine and tranny into alignment.

Just fired it up yesterday and everythings running great! But it really is a PIA job....

 

Forgot to add this...

I had to unbolt the pressure plate and clutch disc from the flywheel and slide them over the input shaft on the tranny before I could get the tranny to get close to the engine housing. Then when I had the tranny bolted up to the block I tightened down the pressure plate thru the inspection hole, just rotated everything with my B.A.S. (big *** screwdriver) and then did a final torgue tighten.

By the way, if you leave a gap between the tranny and the engine housing -- about 1/4" it makes it easier to rotate the pressure plate with your fingers until you can get it to slid over the flywheel locating studs and be ready to bolt down. (lemme see... figured that out about the 3rd try -- no probably around the 4th -- yeah thats the ticket!)