We purchased an FD a year or so ago that is a box of parts puzzle. The car had been the recipient of a grannys v8 kit and had the chevy v8 motor and 5 speed tranny in the car when we hauled it home. Luckily the owner had stopped the project when he found out that he would have to modify the firewall to clear the distributor. This car had all of the original rotary parts (motor, tranny, driveshaft, PFP, front subframe, etc.) . Fast forward (ok maybe slow forward) the rotary motor has been rebuilt the tranny has been inspected and had the syncros replaced. Motor on a stand with new pilot bearing and seal installed ands ready to re-install into car once I have the original front subframe back in. Basically the hood and fenders are off and the engine compartment is naked with no radiators or IC, oil coolers etc. No obstructions really at all. I have the car lifted about 2ft up on a ranger quick jack lift providing quite a bit of clearance. My question is can I drop the motor and tranny back into the car as one assembly? I don't have a tranny jack, but could get one if needed. Considering the disassembled state of the car I would just as soon assemble the motor and transmission outside of the car and drop it in as one unit, but don't want to do that and then have to end-up pulling it back apart to do them separately. Any experiences on this for an FD would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any feedback, its appreciated.

 

Yes, it will install as one assembly. A load-leveler on the engine hoist will make it a lot easier to angle the assembly properly. And obviously a second person is a plus. Once past the firewall a floor jack will probably be needed under the transmission tail-housing to level it as it goes down and back, and to install the PPF. Maybe with some blocks of wood since the car is raised a bit. Just leave the shifter off and the shifter reservoir empty until after it’s in.

 

Thanks for confirming. I do have a load leveler, various jacks and blocks to support the trans and a helper so should be good to go. Appreciate the info on the process and the tranny is fluid free right now without shifter so tipping it at angle shouldn’t result in a oily mess.

 

One other thought in the event you haven’t replaced it already...that rear transmission seal where the drive-shaft snout inserts is (IIRC) less than $15 for OEM. I always recommend to replace it since it’s so cheap and easy to R & R. And it would really suck to have to pull the exhaust, PPF and driveshaft, shields and tunnel bracing a second time for a leaking rear seal.
Good luck and keep us posted on the progress. Glad to hear the car coming back.

 

I do have both the front and rear tranny seal ready to go in. I agree wholeheartedly. A similar example popped up yesterday. The rebuilt motor has been sitting on the stand for a while and when I got ready to install the new clutch setup I noticed the rear seal had a bit of a light crease in it. That stopped me dead in my tracks and will have to get a hold of Ray to get another so we can avoid any drama. All those seals amount to very little cost but not taking the safe route can be a pain and result in damage to things like a new clutch!!

The rear tranny seal looks straightforward how is the front ?

 

Funny you should ask...getting ready to drop my transmission to fix what I suspect is a leaking front seal. Fist time with it but from going thru the FSM and what I found here in searching I don’t anticipate any drama.
The rear takes about 2 minutes to swap. Pop the old out, and I usually put the old seal on top of the new before tapping it in slowly and evenly with a small body hammer. You can also use a big socket. I’ll put a skim of oil on the contact surfaces before insertion of the driveshaft.

 

It also helps to tilt the front of the car up as much as possible