MTX case swap. HELP PLEASE

[93rev2sev]

History
I was hit while stopped at a light and the only mechanical damage was to my trans case - upon impact my motor must have jumped forward and snapped the shifter equalizer bar mounting ******. I drilled/tapped the hole a little deeper and put in a longer bolt, but it's starting to fail after about 2 years.

Present
I have a new transmission case but have no idea how easy or hard it will be to swap it out. Other than the cracked case the trans works great.

I have had the tranny out of the car before and can certainly get it out again. What will happen when I set the case on the bench and remove the broken shell half? Will parts spill out? Is it safe to pull the broken half off and put the new one on and bolt everything back up?

I'm worried that once I open the case, I will need a tranny mechanic to put it back together. As this is my daily driver, it would be bad if I take it apart and can't get it back together.

 

[CerberuS]

If you have the tools to revove everything safely , theres no-worries to have for re-building it.

Just make sure you mark bolts, longer shorter , etc. More infos you have on the things you remove , better it is , even if its ridiculous.

Everything is swappable , except one thing you might have to look out , its the differantial shims , since its a new case , id have a look at that.

May be some more experianced ppl can refer you on the HOW-TO , on this.

 

[Shoaz]

SHOnut (www.shonutperformance.com) sells a video that covers MTX transmission tear down, refresh, and reassembly. That'd probably be a good investment in this case. A Helm manual won't hurt, either, for reference.

 

[Ishodu]

I would also be worried about the shims. The two different case half's may require different shims on the diffs to get the proper preload.

 

[CerberuS]

I would also be worried about the shims. The two different case half's may require different shims on the diffs to get the proper preload.

Yup , i love that guy.

oh ya , hes canadian , thats why

Are you french marcel ? , cose i am , and your name is french as well

 

[jedhead]

Josh will loan you the shim selector tool that you will need to properly shim the diff. I bought mine from him. The funny part was that I didn't need shims in my new case. I would remove the shim from the original case in case you need it. We used the quiafe install video to help assemble my tranny. Great video.

Bob

 

[Ishodu]

Yup , i love that guy.

oh ya , hes canadian , thats why

Are you french marcel ? , cose i am , and your name is french as well

The only part of me that is french is my name. LOL

 

[93rev2sev]

Shims?

can I use the shims from the old case? If they are off a bit what will be the problem? More tourque steer, noise, tranny parts all over the highway?

 

[masho95]

can I use the shims from the old case? If they are off a bit what will be the problem? More tourque steer, noise, tranny parts all over the highway?

You may be able to use the old shims, but it all depends on what the new preload for the differential comes out to be with it in the new case.

Just out of curiosity the new tranny you got, is it in running condition, or unknown condition. Because if it's a good one, it's going to save you a lot of headache, rather than taking the old one apart and swaping everything over.

 

[Shoaz]

can I use the shims from the old case? If they are off a bit what will be the problem? More tourque steer, noise, tranny parts all over the highway?

The shims are there to adjust for the variance in dimensions from one tranny case and diff assembly to the next. It is unlikely that your new case will require the exact same shim as the old one, although it is possible. You'll find out what shim you need when you go to reassemble everything, but assuming that the current shim will work in the new case is not a good idea. Using the wrong shim size can lead to an improper preload and premature failure of the bearings.

 

[Toolman]

Not to dismiss what the above have stated, but I have swapped a few trannies in my time, and removed a few diffs, replaced cases, etc etc. Never even given thought to the shims, and no problems so far. Not to say it is not important, just that I have never paid attention, and have never measured shims. Maybe just lucky, who knows.

 

[93rev2sev]

Any idea the cost at a tranny shop?

Maybe I'll just take the tranny and the new case to the local tranny shop. To answer the other persons question...I have just a case...the rest of the tranny is being parted out on eBay by a guy with eBay ID "oursont". He sold me the case for $100 including shipping/handling. Anyone that wants tranny guts should look this guy up. He's done right by me.

 

[jelloslug]

Maybe I'll just take the tranny and the new case to the local tranny shop. To answer the other persons question...I have just a case...the rest of the tranny is being parted out on eBay by a guy with eBay ID "oursont". He sold me the case for $100 including shipping/handling. Anyone that wants tranny guts should look this guy up. He's done right by me.

I am willing to bet money that they will not check the clearances on the diff. They will just swap over the parts and bolt it back together. You would be much better off doing it yourself.

 

[Bizzy]

Not to dismiss what the above have stated, but I have swapped a few trannies in my time, and removed a few diffs, replaced cases, etc etc. Never even given thought to the shims, and no problems so far. Not to say it is not important, just that I have never paid attention, and have never measured shims. Maybe just lucky, who knows.

Lucky I guess, though in some cases it could take a little time for the damage to be done. With an incorrect pre-load your diff bearings will be very unhappy and you run the risk of eating halfshafts for breakfast, damaging the case, etc. etc. etc.

 

[jedhead]

The tranny shop that moved the quaife from blown tranny #1 to my tranny #2 moved the quaife with the ring gear from #1 and didn't do the preload. 15K later the diff bearings exploded. I rebuilt Tranny #3 with help from my friends. I recommend you do the work yourself.

Bob

 

[Toolman]

I guess I always keep the shims with the trans case they came from, I only swap out gears. The shims are only on one side, right.

 

[AREA 91]

Correct.

 

[Toolman]

You have me worried now Beth! I may need to send my fresh trans out to you to get 'shimmed'. Or can I do it myself?

 

[jedhead]

You can do it yourself. You will need the shim selector tool from Josh.

Bob

 

[93rev2sev]

One quick clarification please

Since the bellhousing side of the case is the side that cracked, is there any point in replacing the whole case? If replace only the bellhousing side, are the diff shims still an issue? Are they on the bellhousing side? Please see the picture of a cable shifted trans (attached to this post-I think you click below) for reference...the red line on the shifter equalizer linkage attachment point represents my crack. Is the shifter equalizer needed if I have solid mounts and SF bushings? If not I'll just delete it and save hours of work.