E30 Gearbox Swap

[tibbs.james 1]

Well

The autobox from my 320i is now sitting on the floor. but man alive what a pain to get it out.

after unbolting crossmember & driveshaft and lowering it down I had to connect all my socket extensions and undo the stupid torx head bolts from right back by the output shaft and the socket constantly fell off while i would scuff my knuckeles to put it back on.

Then one coolant pipe was in front of one of the bolts i needed to get undone.

And to get that big bolt undone i had to trim down a spanner to get it to fit in the small gap.

And after taking off the swaybar to get the cover off the bottom of the engine to undo the torque converter bolts i was just feeling dandy.

If i ever do this again the engine will come out.

But if im thinking correctly getting the manual gearbox in will be a lot easier due to it being a lot shorter than the auto.

Does anybody have anu tips for getting the manual on there easily and with less hassle?

I have read the various posts about fitting a getrag 260 but i was just hoping to make sure nobody had some real good tricks for making things easy.

otherwise everything has come out and is undamged in any way so at least ive got that going for me

Rant over !

[tibbs.james 1]

Aha

I was fairly succesfull getting the Gearbox in place and mounted up ect as it was so much easier to get my hands up into the guts of it to put in the bolts for the top of the gearbox and that.

However when i went to put my front driveshaft piece in i noticed that it did not align to the bolt holes, So this is going to go to my engineering dude so he can press out the bearing hanger and replace it with the one from my auto driveshaft.

It was about 5mm out on each side easy enough to change but a pain to have to be waiting on more parts.

Starter motor will go to auto electrician tomorow to be rebuilt too!.

Edited September 23, 2007 by Jimmy

[323e30 0]

haha guess its too late, , but anyway for next time , Its alot easier and faster to remove the engine and box to change the gear boxes out of the car.

All you do is undo engine mounts, gearbox mounts, driveshaft at gearbox end and drop the drive shaft hanger bearing ( mark with a pen a line on driveshaft so that if it seperates at the spline you can put it back together how it was so it doesnt become un balanced). and remove bonnet (if auto remove oil cooling pipes from radiator, and unplug wires from box and disconnect the gear shift linkage) ( for manual disconnect the clutch slave cylinder and unplug wires from box and remove the gear shift linkage and gear shift mounting plate)

remove wheels off car and put onto raised axel stands at front... This is so that you can get under car and later lower the body so that you can get clearance for engine and box

Remove engine with gear box still attached, Use and engine hoist to pull out engine, but You will need to set up the chains to engine so that i lifts up the engine on a failry steep angle so that the gearbox hangs lower than engine

Once the engine is up then lower the body down so that you have clearence to get out the engine and box without hitting the body of car. ( due to angle of the engine and box on hoist)

then when its out off the car remove the gearbox and fit the new gearbox while it is out of the car, ( if changing from auto to manual dont forget the bearing that goes in the middle of the fly wheel on the manuals as autos dont have them) after replaceing the torque converter with fly wheel..

before putting engine and gearbox in, ( if auto to manual conversion, Fit the hydrolic lines and changes pedals, and also fit the manual drishaft as it is longer than an auto driveshaft)

Then basically put the engine and gear box back it the same way it came out but take care and try not to hit the hydrolic lines or wire on the fire wall.

and dont forget to bleed the clutch lines at the slave cylinder before using it.

this is easier said then done but should take less than a days work with one person doing the job.

Hope i havent missed anything important, but its fairly strait forward once you get started.

[tibbs.james 1]

Yes i was about 70% into removing the auto when i decided i would never do it this way again.

But as far as putting the manual gearbox back in due to the increased space it was a piece of cake.

I am hoping to buy my Girlfiend and E30 with a stuffed engine or gearbox so your method will be the go next time.

What you said above was exactly how i removed engine and tranny with my 300zx

[nz320i 0]

you must be using a pre facelift driveshaft on a facelift? the mounts are different but soooo close!! nice work

[hotwire 352]

Yes i was about 70% into removing the auto when i decided i would never do it this way again.

But as far as putting the manual gearbox back in due to the increased space it was a piece of cake.

I am hoping to buy my Girlfiend and E30 with a stuffed engine or gearbox so your method will be the go next time.

What you said above was exactly how i removed engine and tranny with my 300zx

I usually remove/refit either box with engine in situ but with car on hoist. Lower the trans /gearbox mount, raise front of engine slightly & then looong wobly extentions to access top mounting bolts

[jjs 60]

Has anyone here done an E39 trans swap?

[hotwire 352]

Has anyone here done an E39 trans swap?

Nope.... & hope I dont have to!!

[tibbs.james 1]

Yeah thats what i figured at least the driveshaft is the correct length and splines fit in nicely ect. but the bolt holes are about 5mm out on each side. but as the bearing itself appeears to be the same im sure enough it can be swapped over. If worst comes to worse i can have a plate welded over it and have the solts re drilled. But my two drive shafts are going to my engineering dude tomorow.

Its such a pain how they had to chnage it.

Long wobbly extensions suck, but thank god for the torx bolts i think had they been normal bolts they would have easily striped with the mental long extension.

My hose for my master clinder resivour is a bit old and nasty so what type of hose should i replace it with.

ie brake/clutch fluid being highly corrosive

Edited September 23, 2007 by Jimmy

[bravo 34]

Driveshaft hangers are different pre f/l to f/l and are easily swapped over. 10min job even without a press if you've done it before.

Don't listen to that bollocks about removing the whole motor - that is a huge pain. All you have to do next time is undo the motor mounts, and then hoist the engine from the front hoisting point about 50 mm - the weight will transfer back and the gearbox will tip down enough to make access to those bolts relatively easy (Still need all the extensions etc for leverage, but you can get your hand on the bolt to get teh socket on easily.

I've done 5 gearbox swaps now and never taken the motor out of the car. They get easier every time as you learn little tricks. (like undoing the two bolts holding the sway bar bushes on so the bar drops enough to undo the inspection cover - 2 second job for so much less pain later.

Not sure which coolant pipe would be in the way??? Also, the manual box is easier as it is smaller, and lighter.

Hope you remembered to put the spigot bearing in the end of the crankshaft before putting the gearbox and clutch on.

Good luck.

[tibbs.james 1]

i never thought iof unbolting the engine mounts, but my engine hoist was at a mates place lifting a subi engine so it would have been 6 and 1 or half a dozen of the other.

So how exactly do you swap the bearing hanger over ? just undo the circluip then stick a gear puller on the back of it and pull it off i assume ?

[bravo 34]

Yeah, pretty much.

Undo circlip and slip off - dust cover comes off also. If you don't have a gear puller, put the joint in a vice (use Al or wood vice blocks and firm, but tight) and then "gently' remove using a hammer and anvil tapping evenly all around the bearing.

Obviously the correct tool is the gear puller or press, but if you are stuck, the hammer method works.

P.S. CRC is your friend.

Edited September 24, 2007 by bravo

[tibbs.james 1]

well im forging ahead as per pics show.

All ineed to do now is get the flexible part of the clutch line and get my hard line bent into the right shape so i can fit it all.

I was advised by Pete At Eurorec to just cut down the old Auto brake pedal and not to change the whole pedal box but it has ended up with a height diffierence between the pedals.

Perhaps i might buy some ACS pedals to cover that up. either way it wont really make a diffierence as the auto and manual brake pedals have the same offset on the right hand side anyway.

I even had some time to fit my spiffy new pads and rotors

can't wait to go for a good lap round the Port Hills

[bravo 34]

Good stuff. Pulling out the auto brake pedal and installing the manual one is as easy as adding the clutch one if you feel like getting uner there and redoing it.

[Boost Junky 1]

Good stuff. Pulling out the auto brake pedal and installing the manual one is as easy as adding the clutch one if you feel like getting uner there and redoing it.

Wish i had have known that haha! I spent hours swearing and cursing replacing the whole damn pedal box lol

[Gus 5]

Wish i had have known that haha! I spent hours swearing and cursing replacing the whole damn pedal box lol

dont worry, its virtually an e30 rite of passage. impossible is nothing. compared to a pedal box!

[320guy 0]

I would rather do 5 pedal boxes than have one of the top torx gearbox bolts round off.

[Boost Junky 1]

So very true Gus! The arm that runs across to the brake booster was what stumped me because the fat pin that holds the rod onto the pedal box is taller than the ammount of space it has for you to pull it out! I spent hours swearing at it lol!

Haha yea rounded bolts are a nightmare dude, alot of people leave their top bellhousing bolts off mate, more so the drifters who are regularly pulling their gearbox's out

[320guy 0]

Haha yea rounded bolts are a nightmare dude, alot of people leave their top bellhousing bolts off mate, more so the drifters who are regularly pulling their gearbox's out

There not that hard to get to, just the torx ones are easy to round off if you dont have the proper tool. We couldnt get the proper torx socket so said f**k it, and used a single hex socket, got all of them out except the top left bolt rounded off. Had to drop the whole subframe and engine to get to it with a grinder and cut if off.

Are they strong enough without the top gb bolts?

[Boost Junky 1]

Yea your right they are possible to get off after a little effort haha. Sux aye how you gotta do a whole lot of work just to get one rounded bolt off! Thats the way it goes though, if we expected none of that to happen then life would be to easy lol.

Must be mate I know plenty of guys not using the top bolts and never had any issues. I guess at the end of the day the dowels will stop the gearbox from turning and the remaining bolts hold the gearbox on. And by no means do I gurantee it so dont take my word for this haha I hold no liability if you decide not to use them

Luke