I have been working at this for the last 2 hours and can’t get the transmission to sit flush with the block or even attach onto the guide pins. Here are the things I’ve tried:

- Lightly greased input shaft
- Measured the splines on shaft and clutch (seem to be matching)
- I’ve got another person helping guide the engine in, but no luck
- Jacked the transmission up to slightly elevate the front of it so the angles might be a little better.
- The clutch is still aligned with everything and I haven’t damaged the pressure plate forks.

There is a tiny dent on the pilot bearing that signifies that I’ve at some point got the splines to line up, but I was only half way there because it hadn’t gone into the pilot bearing yet.
I know a lot of you guys have had transmissions off before, so if you have any suggestions I am all ears.

 

Doing this in the truck or everything out on the floor

 

Please remove that rust that i can see on your friction disc and make sure that the pilot bearing is fully seated, the disc slides on the input shaft prior to starting assembling the clutch assembly.

Make sure you do not install the friction disc backwards, it is possible and I have seen it done before...

So you used the alignment shaft tool to place into the clutch friction disc before snugging down each bolt correct.

The alignment tool seat into the pilot bearing and helps you center and balance the friction disc prior to securing the bolts.

 

in the truck unfortunately.. If it doesn’t go together tomorrow, I will probably just end up pulling the trans and attaching it back to the engine, then go ahead and put the whole thing in as one unit.

 

During the rebuild that the machine shop did, I paid extra to have them install everything just for this reason, so I wouldn’t mess the assembly up myself. Crossing my fingers I can get it to attach properly tomorrow.

 

Wonder if the inner diameter of the bearing is correct.

Clutch disc could also be misaligned, mine gave me the same issue. I loosened the pressure plate bolts and readjusted the disc and the trans went in fine after that

 

Word of caution about installation. If your transmission has been off for a while make sure that you take and clean the tip of the input shaft by lightly sanding any corrosion or film from the shaft.

Since the mechanics was to install the new pilot bearing during the clutch installation, if they used a universal tool then that can explain a few things about the alignment. The universal does not have splines and the friction disc is simply positioned based on the fitment of the shaft dowel insert.

Before you ask, Yes, I cut off the input shaft splines from transmissions, as well as Cut the end off a crankshaft while I was in Japan as alignment tools!! Tools Man, I needed exact tools…

I hope these photos aid in my description:



















Please note I was in a rush and did not check which way the friction disc was positioned...

 

it can be difficult to get the engine back in sometimes, even with the clutch perfectly aligned, as your putting it in, check around all of the bell housing and make sure the gap between the engine and bell housing face is about the same all the way around. For stubborn installs, it can also be useful to get a couple more bell housing bolts and cut the heads off and round the ends cut a slot in the end so you can unscrew it with a flat blade screwdriver. Screw them into the back of the engine and they become long dowels that help align the box to the engine. They can be removed once the box is on.

 

Yeah I'll double check it, but it looked dead on straight when I checked it. Then again the eye can only see "straight" so well.

 

Thanks for the pictures, helped me out, before I try it again Ill definitely clean the shaft off since I didn't think about it the first time for whatever reason.

 

"Looked" dead on straight? Didn't you use a clutch alignment tool when bolting on the pressure plate? The alignment tool should easily slip in and out with the pressure plate correctly torqued down.

 

The machine shop that assembled the whole thing used one of those alignment tools, because they sent me a picture of it still attached to the engine when they rebuilt it. I only say “looked” straight to help aid in the description of my situation.

 

Ah! Ok.

You might want to get an alignment tool (they're cheap) and verify things still line up. Little things can acrew things up.

 

Going to try an alignment tool if it doesn’t work out tomorrow while fiddling with it some more. wish me luck

 

Long update: I realigned the clutch assembly with the alignment tool and tried to get the engine back in the truck with no luck. The fitment on the clutch to input shaft is just too tight to “slip” on. So I took the transmission out and now I’ve got what you can see in the picture.

I must have the best scenario now for engine to transmission mating possible because I can control the position of both objects?? Do I just wiggle and move the transmission around until it finally seats onto the engine? Or is there an even better solution that I am unaware of?

Side note: the Haynes repair manual is absolutely useless. Almost every project listed in that book is missing key details that leave you in question. It also doesn’t have torque specs for anything (which is why I originally bought the book)