Transmission bondage... or another way to do it :)

[worzella]

Many of us might (or will!) struggle with how to get the gearbox output shaft "big nut" off and then back on with the whole thing rotating. Mine was out of the car when I did the seal/shim refresh on my 4-speed, so the options are so much more....

 

When I removed the nut I made some short aluminum bar sections about 3" long, drilled a hole at each end and attached one side to the flange hole and the other to holes on the tranny rear casing.. I think the holes for the shifter platform. Worked like a charm, but then many viewers of my post told horror stories of doing similar things and cracking off case bolt holes and other bad endings. 

 

Then there is the famous Marshall and company L-profile steel bar with nice circular cutout for the socket that attached to the flange holes and jammed into the ground as you cranked to 72 ft lbs or uncranked. This bar is ambidextrous on removal and tightening.

 

But woe was me.. no good tools to cut steel and craft such a nice tool. But then last night in my sleep it came to me... there is more than one way to hold that damn flange... behold the latest hack... worked like a charm. I then inserted the keeper over the bolt, filled the guts with MTL with 1 QT and a splash and installed the throwout bearing mechanism. 

 

Tonight I will install the shift platform and this baby is ready to bolt onto my newly rebuilt motor and get married to the subframe and raised up for an almost finsihed car... it has been a lonnnggggggg 9+ years waiting for these final moments!! 

 

Randy 

 

 

 

[worzella]

Why, you ask, so much chain ?

 

Well I originally had the guy cut the cheaper length, only to find that my connectors to the flange would not fit through the chain links. So I had him cut a length of the more expensive stuff. Well it was OK because the length I requested was too short so I combined the two. 

 

I sense a "cheapness" thread in all of this... short lengths and too small links. I guess it comes from having to buy $14 little pieces of BMW parts that cost them 3 cents to make, so I have to make it up somewhere

[TobyB]

Holy hell!  I'll take a pic of my solution to this when I get home....

 

...not being a rigger, wot?

 

t

 

ps, why not just use a bolt, as scribbled below?

 

hee

[worzella]

Ha ha - but then I would not have had such a ludicrous photo to post:)

 

Once I started the setup, I realized that the chain all over was overkill and actually on the bottom side you cannot see, I did put a bolt through some sturdy casing hole and I believe that did most of the heavy lifting.

 

The important part is that something worked and it is one more thing to check off the list