Pop a hole in that OSB, span 2 joists with your 2x4's on edge, run a chain around them 2x's and attach yer hoist. More than enough strength for supporting that hoist. Or push the car by sheer will till it lines up with a joist, pop 2 holes in the OSB for you chain to pass thru to secure your hoist...done.
No pushing the car, I disassembled the wheels and it is up on support. However, i see your point in spreading the load out over several of those ceiling beams.
By the way, I forgot to mention that the front dog bone engine mount will still be supporting the front of the engine.
Lay another short 2x4 across the top (perpendicular) of the two spanning the width of the car, hang the engine from there...those two 2x4s on their side will easily carry the weight of that lil V6...as others have mentioned, throw some blocks underneath as backup too. Better safe than sorry.
Yes, have not thought of that, thanks. I am going to get some yellow pine and add to the front and back as well. I have a short piece of 4x4 that should work for the perpendicular piece. That should be plenty strong to carry the weight of the engine. Found a table for wood strengths of softwood. I might see if Grizzly can add tables to our editor. For now I will just post the link: Wood Strength. Yellow pine has a bending strength of 14,500 psi and a compressive strength of 8,470 psi.
I added the extra 2x4 to the front and rear and some corner bracing a friend suggested. I am confident that the engine will be supported securely while I work under to remove the transmission. I wanted the rear and front support instead of just a centre support because I don't want the engine twisting; I figured it would make aligning the trans easier when installing. I remember helping Dad on some installation that wanted to be a bear on aligning things to get the trans back in the bell housing.
I removed the bolt today as it was going to be crucial to removing the transmission. I pieced together most of my extensions so I could reach the bolt through the passenger side wheel well. Then using a long break bar, I popped it loose and removed it. I have read where some people don't bother putting the bolt back. However, I don't think it is going to be that difficult. Aligning the bolt so it does not become cross threaded is the main thing and I can just reach the bolt location by reaching my arm up and around the rear part of the sub frame. Look at the image again: Replacing the bolt is important in this application. On that side are only two bolts; the middle is for an alignment dowel. Leaving that bolt out could introduce stresses that could crack the transmission case on that side.
I got the sub-frame split and out. Dropped the trans yesterday. An inspection of the input shaft shows the splines are stripped. Common problem on the early models. I have not inspected the new used one yet. It is still out in the drive. You would not believe it but it came on a huge articulated lorry that could not fit in my drive. I thought when I paid the $50 extra for residential delivery it would be switched to a smaller truck. The man got part way in the drive and enough of the truck out of the roadway so cars could pass. The man took pity on me and used his pallet jack to get the trans down my gravel driveway and close to the shed. Getting the old trans out was not so easy; it slipped off the jack even though I had bolted a wider board to the jack. Sister just rang and told me that she is bringing a better jack for me to use when I install the new used one. It will be on loan from Brother-In-Law and he said he has used it to work on transmissions.
The money being spent on this job just keeps growing. I had to order two new mounts, the torque strut dog-bone thing and the front mount. The dog-bone was cheap but the front mount was around $18.00. Luckily the rear mount was still good. I inspected the pump drive shaft on the old trans and it is completely stripped; which is why it no go. I examined the pump drive shaft on the new used trans and several of the splines are bad and others are showing stress signs. Not sure why there are the stresses that damages these splines; vibrations in the torque converter perhaps? If you look at the torque converter in the photo in the post above this one, you will see the extrusion in the middle of the converter; that is where the pump shaft fits and is driven by the output of the drive plate. GM fixed the problem by hardening the drive shaft. So it looks like I am buying a new drive shaft if I can find the proper replacement.
Addendum: Perhaps the problem stems from only having three mounting points between the drive plate and the converter; perhaps when "kicking" the engine the drive plate flexes and thus translates into uneven forces introduced into the external housing of the TC where the pump drive shaft is located. Four mount points would have been better but translate into higher production costs. I would love to hear some opinions from the mechanical members on this.
No. It's common wear. As metallurgy and lubrication improves so does the longevity of these parts. It happens on alot of hydro pumps and splined connections. From pto's on tractors and hst's pumps to ATVs etc. Use Walmart gm dex 6. In the replacement trans. These converters need a fair amount of torque to flex or balloon.( In comes billet converters and anti balloon plates) They take out or crack the flex plate first. We are talking at least 400+ wheel tq or 500+at the crank (common on a lightly modded blown or turbo 3800 and it's still not too common for a plate to crack. Large big hits of nitrous can flex them too or any converter for that matter. Unless you do any of that stuff, the 3 bolt connection has worked and still does in new vehicles. The only transmissions I'm aware of that use more mounting points(I'm sure there are more) is Allison.
On the replacement trans, I am seeing about a third of the splines with wear. I looked at the splines under a high power lens and I don't think I should put the trans in without replacing the shaft. This trans is suppose to only have 26K miles on the trans; at least that is what the odometer on the car said when it was wrecked according to the seller. This was a known failure point on the earlier models of these trans. I am guessing if I buy a new replacement shaft it will be hardened. Boomstick , do you think I have to worry about the torque converter? I will see if I can get a close up shot of the splines in the replacement.
I would never reuse any converter without an r&r unless it was from a personally known good transmission. First place crap goes is into the pump then valvebody. The shaft wear imo is just another reason not to reuse it. Besides possible contamination, the converter clutch is probably worn. I know your asking if you should throw the dice and re-use it...I wouldn't recommend it.... ebay a cheapo tc? Or just run it because it only needs to go another 10-20k? Growing up paying my own way I know how tough it was being broke and needing to fix stuff. The most important lesson I learned was to not cut corners. Especially with building a trans. Edit. Further thinking about if your old one went 200k why won't the replacement?
Just to be clear, the replacement trans came with the torque converter that was in that car and that is the one I will use if I don't get a replacement. Seller claimed only 26K miles. I can get an AC Delco OEM shaft for $24 something on ebay from a seller so I am going to go ahead and order a new one. I plan on keeping the car for some time and driving it; it still looks good and the engine is still tight. So the question is to use the low mileage (according to seller) torque converter. That is not going to be cheap to replace; around $150.00 I think. So that is what I am questioning now; the torque converter. I can not get any answers on why they think this part failed at such a high rate; maybe the shaft was just too soft and the TC chews them up?
Boomstick I contacted a trans site and got a reply back from someone that said he had not seen that in his 20 years of service work and wanted me to send photos. So I reply to him and gave more information and sent photos of both transmissions to see what he thinks. What I am thinking is that the torque converters have some flaw in them; perhaps they are not balanced properly or something. I don't really have the money to buy a torque converter; I am already deep in my reserves for parts now, but I don't want to use a torque converter that may have issues and chews up the oil pump shaft. It is too much work involved in pulling these transaxles. I had a Ford Taurus that had an out of balanced torque converter and it would wobble and chew up some part in the trans and then go to leaking fluid. I replaced the torque converter and the worn part and rebuilt the trans and never had any problems with it up to the day I sold the car.
I don't see any wear only mesh marking on the shaft. I wasn't aware of pump shafts going out either, but then again I worked on newer stuff. All I am aware of is the 4th clutch hub....they used friction welding and the hub would break under heavy load. They heat treated it and fixed it later on..... I'd run the low mileage converter. And again use dex 6 rated fluid. The fluid itself is a huge upgrade. It has much better lubrication qualities. I don't think there is any flaw in the converter. 200k is probably the service life. It is for most stuff even today. Even modern "reliable" cars like a Honda Accord can't keep it together that long. As long as the transmission is year and make compatible it should be fine. If you got 200k out of the old one, you should at least get 100k out of this one...
Hard to see in that photo; I will see if I can get some better photos. I could try my phone. I heard back from the other guy on that transmission company site; he said to replace the shaft (he called it the turbine shaft) and the torque converter. I am not sure I can handle replacing the torque converter as I am about tapped out. I will have to think about that. I don't even have another car to drive and this one has been down since July 3.
When you get your new shaft, take a file to it to see if it is hardened or not. If it is, the file will just skate across the surface. If not, it will "bite" and remove material fairly easily.
