Installing auto transmission v6 vt commodore

[thebot123]

Today i started putting the trans in the vt (finally bought one this morning.) and god i must say it is deadly.

I have only a jack and 2 scissor jacks and oh my god it is so sketchy, i never want to do one again unless i got proper gear..

basicly ive got the transmission jacked up and half slid on the big engine gear (forgot the name im half cut a the moment haha) and i just need to give the gearbox a bit more of a push and then i can put the bolts in etc..

i just wanna know what some lads on here do to get this trans on properly and safe (well half safe, i guess)
cause i mean you can only line the trans up so close before jacking it up and then you have to move the transmission no matter what while its on the jack and it is sketchy....

any pointers? ive still got it just half on supported by all the jacks...

 

[Sabbath']

Have you got the Torque Converter lined up properly?

 

[thebot123]

Have you got the Torque Converter lined up properly?

yeah mate, well i think so i made sure the bolt holes would line up with the engine before i started jacking it up, i cant see the torque converter bolt holes though when under the car through the engine gear because the transmission is not pushed on far enough yet.

 

[thebot123]

it is literally like 3-5cm away from coming on i just thought id call it a day as it was steaming hot here today

*edit*
just curious to know how yous all do it, do you use chains, hoist? whats the easiest way? do you just give the trans a nice big kick to slide it on properly? lol!

 

[thebot123]

any techniques would be great! im sort of fretting getting under that car today...

 

[Brett_jjj]

One mistake Ive seen a lot of people make when fitting these autos is not having the torque converter pushed right back into the trans, this will stuff the transmission pump if its fitted up to the engine whilst the converter is not all the way in. To check if its in properly, spin the converter by hand whilst pushing it back into the trans, it should "click" inwards 2 or 3 times before its in its proper place.

 

[thebot123]

One mistake Ive seen a lot of people make when fitting these autos is not having the torque converter pushed right back into the trans, this will stuff the transmission pump if its fitted up to the engine whilst the converter is not all the way in. To check if its in properly, spin the converter by hand whilst pushing it back into the trans, it should "click" inwards 2 or 3 times before its in its proper place.

ohh really? the converter came off when i was getting it home, i put it in the trans and pushed down on it and dropped a fair way into the housing? should i rip it off and start again? its just sitting half on the engine with jacks sort of holding it i know its half slid on because the trans is moving left and right and only needs a bit of a tug back to make it fall off..

a mates coming round to give me a hand tonight i hope hes a fair bush mechanic hahah but his input will probly give me a incite on what to do.... hopefully he might have some big ass chains we can rap around the metal roof beams and some how support it, nearly dropped the trans so many times on us yesterday..

 

[cander24]

Given you're doing it on your back on the ground you really just need to keep twisting the box clockwise and anti-clockwise and lifting a little up and down etc while you're pushing it forward to mate with the back of the block. If not lined perfect it wont go. Did you locate all 3 stages of the torque converter when you fitted it over the splined input shaft? i.e. push it over the splines until it stops, then turn it slowly and it should line up with the next spline and go on a bit further etc.
Once you've got it so the bellhousing has reached the 2 locating dowels on the rear of the block you can use the bellhousing bolts to draw them together but NOT before you've reached this point. Doing it too early can force it in with things incorrectly lined and can damage the shaft splines or worse can damage the oil pump in the auto.
Hope that kinda helps.
Cheers

 

[thebot123]

Given you're doing it on your back on the ground you really just need to keep twisting the box clockwise and anti-clockwise and lifting a little up and down etc while you're pushing it forward to mate with the back of the block. If not lined perfect it wont go. Did you locate all 3 stages of the torque converter when you fitted it over the splined input shaft? i.e. push it over the splines until it stops, then turn it slowly and it should line up with the next spline and go on a bit further etc.
Once you've got it so the bellhousing has reached the 2 locating dowels on the rear of the block you can use the bellhousing bolts to draw them together but NOT before you've reached this point. Doing it too early can force it in with things incorrectly lined and can damage the shaft splines or worse can damage the oil pump in the auto.
Hope that kinda helps.
Cheers

thanks mate thats a big help i did not do stages no, i just spun it around pushed semi hard on the converter and it dropped into the housing.. im gonna pull the trans off i reckon and re do it just to be sure... ill wait for my mate though...

thanks for this piece of advice boys i never thought the converter would be so critical my manual just says install the torque converter properly. has no reference to "see before" like it usually does on most things

would still love the info to come in whoever has it... do you fellas usually jack them up with a trolley jack and push it on wriggling and moving it? now im sort of a sketchy fella, ive pulled off some sketchy crap but even this is a bit out there lol!

 

[Brett_jjj]

Ive always jacked up the trans on a trolley jack so its roughly around the height it needs to be to fit onto the engine, and then just roll it forwards onto the engine until its fully mated. You will need at least two people to do it without damaging anything or hurting yourself..A bit of wiggling around side to side and up and down helps get it into place properly on the engine. You can also just lift it up into position on the engine, but its harder this way, 3 people make it a hell of a lot easier.