I have a rolling chassis in the garage, trans is mounted up to the motor. I can count them all for you in the AM.

Now I have pulled the trans a few times in the past. Those top two bolts can be reached if you pull the trans cover from the tunnel. a nice long extension will do the job.

 

I can't remember how many bolts held my bellhousing on but I do remember somewhere along the lines of 6-8 with probably 4-5 different sockets required to pull them all. :brickwall It's really not a difficult job. Just requires looking everywhere with a close eye....and some wiggling.

I didn't pull my engine out of the Jeep but I've pulled the tranny a few times and every other thing conceivably attached to the engine. A friend and I have pulled the engine out of his CJ and it didn't even take 2 hours with hand tools. That time obviously included 2 people but also everything else like radiator, grill, fuel lines, etc. on a super rusty Jeep.

I can assure you the top 2 bolts which are inverted torx aren't very hard to get to if you lower the tranny down a little bit. I believe you'll need to remove the crank position sensor as well. I know I had to but can't remember why. Maybe tackle those top 2 bolts first. If you have to, drop the skid plate and the tranny a bit to get them. Then jack it back up and reattach the skid plate while you disassemble the rest.

 

Thank you! I’d appreciate the bolt count if you can get it. I read somewhere on this site that there should be 2 on top, 2 on either side, 2 on the bottom. Also assuming all are on the backside (not block side). That should be 8 bolts (different sizes) not including the starter which I have already removed.

So no need to unbolt engine mounts? Tranny will move with mounts still attached?

 

And Towny72.....didn’t even think about going into the cab! I already have all the boots removed. I’ll have to check that out!

 

The tranny will pivot about the engine mounts if you need to lower it.

 

Thanks waternut.....going to give it a try this evening.

 

If you don't have swivels like these, you need them.

This is what I use to remove the top trans bolts... and the intake/exhaust bolts.

Get good quality swivels.

 

Behold! This is the rear of your engine block. There are only 5 bolts that hold the bellhousing to the engine block. The 2 lower ones are larger, let's say 7/16-14. The 3 upper ones are 3/8-16, but if they are the originals, they are torx head.

I thought it was all pretty easy to get to. Like Chris said, dig out every extension you can find. Notice in the pic that I have supported the engine under the oil pan with blocks of wood. I let the rear of the trans sag as much as I could without the fan hitting the shroud or anything else being damaged. That gave me a lot of room to get to those upper bolts. I considered getting them from inside the cab, through the shifter hole, some guys say to do that. It looked easier from the bottom to me.

There are other bolts in the bellhousing, but they don't enter the block. You still have to remove them. The starter has 2 bolts obviously, and there are 2 ridiculously large bolts that do nothing but hold the dust plate in place. Those won't be any challenge, but they do have to come out or it won't drop.

This is the dust plate. Notice it is a keyhole shape opening, and it won't come out by sliding down. Don't bend it or otherwise damage it. It aligns your starter!

Here is one of those huge bolts that do nothing but hold the dust plate.

And this is the bellhousing side. Notice there are a couple of small tapped holes up high. Again, just the dust plate fasteners, but they have to come out and they are easy to miss.

Eventually you will want to put it back together. Before that day comes, get yourself 2 bolts, 7/16-14 x approx. 3" long. Cut the heads off. Use those for alignment pins. They go where the alignment sleeves are. Speaking of which, don't lose your alignment sleeves. They will come right out easily when your back is turned.

 

See the size of the extension compared to the size of a full size Ford tailgate?
Makes it easy with the swivel.

To put back together, I place the bolts in the swivel and electrical tape the bolts in. I can reach the upper bolts and start them by hand.

R&R on a trans only takes me a few hours. Don't pull anything apart not necessary and use the right tools.

 

Wow!!!! Thanks for all that info! That makes it so much easier!

Decided to wait until tomorrow to tackle it. Suppose to rain tomorrow so I took care of grass today and Jeep tomorrow. Reman engine coming in Tuesday so I need to get all this done!

You don’t know how much I appreciate the pics!

 

Oh....and I picked some of those wobble heads (?). Was having a heck of a time getting manifold off and read in this site that those made the job easier. Went to Auto parts store that was suggested and they had them 50% off! Picked a set of standard and metric.

Came home and 20 min later, manifold off.

So glad I stumbled onto this site! A wealth of knowledge in these forums. Thanks again!

I’ll update tomorrow evening.

 

bpounds.....lost me on the 3” bolts with heads cut off. Will probably make more sense when I get it apart. Are alignment pens hollow? Meaning the bolts will go through the alignment pen?


Also....so the bolts through the bell housing have nuts in the engine side? Or is the engine tapped?

Sorry for all the questions. Just trying to prepare as much as possible!

 

Yes, the engine block is tapped, and the alignment pins are actually sleeves and the bolts go through the sleeves.

 

And the cut off bolts help get it all lined up. Alignment is one of the hardest parts of the job, because the pilot bushing has to be mear perfectly aligned. Assuming you have a manual trans. Autos are much easier.

 

Got it. Thanks. Was looking at close ups of your pics and I see what your talking about. Think I’m ready to knock it out!

Appreciate it!

 

+1 on making alignment bolts. Back in the late 60s I had to swap engines and then flywheels when upgrading my 67 Ford Galaxy (manual transmission) from a 289 to a 302. (Flywheel swap was needed due to those SB Fords were externally balanced by the flywheel which I discovered when putting it together with the 289 flywheel on the 302. Oops.) I made up two alignment bolts about 8-10" long to guide the gearbox all the way home since I was the transmission jack holding it on my chest to get under the car then pressing it up onto the guide bolts. In that case there were only four bolts holding the 3-speed to the bellhousing so I made the extra long guides the same as the regular bolts.

 

Seems like a great idea. I plan on doing that. May make them for all the bolts. Make lining everything up easier.

Update: Did as everyone suggested and put jack under rear of skid plate. Skid plate almost extended to end of TC, so put a 2x8 between jack and skid plate. Removed the 6 skid plate bolts and slowly lowered rear of tranny. Amazed at how far it tilted! Didn’t have to worry about fan shroud or anything. Had everything off the front of engine removed including radiator.

Took 2 extensions and was luckily able to snake my impact gun in there and hit the bolts a couple of times. Got them starting to come out. Should be a snap to get them out all the way.

Not removing engine until tomorrow. I was afraid to remove the two bolts with just the other 2 holding it in place, so I just lifted skid plate back up and put skid plate bolts back in. Left jack in place, so all I should have to do tomorrow is just lower skid plate again and remove bell housing top bolts.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Will update tomorrow!

 

So went ahead and pulled 2 of the top bolts (left and right). Evidently, whoever had the engine out before me thought those bolts were difficult as well and I have no top center bolt! Is this bolt essential? So I actually only have 4 bolts holding bell housing to block.

 

I don't think I would do more than two guide bolts. The key to using just two is being able to put them in holes above the input shaft so the transmission weight is hanging rather than being propped up from lower holes. They should work above or below, but I just find that hanging a heavy object works better than propping it up if possible.

More than two guides, or guides in all the holes could lead to a PITA just trying to get all of them to go into the transmission flange. Murphy's Law says there will always be one or more that doesn't stick out perfectly straight.

 

True. Hanging does sound better.

What about the bell housing only having 4 bolts to the block. From what folks said earlier, I should have 3 on the top and two on the sides for a total of 5 bolts to remove. I only have 4 bolts on mine. The top center bolt is not there.

Is that ok or do I need to find another bolt and put it in the top middle hole when I reassemble?

 

True. Hanging does sound better.

What about the bell housing only having 4 bolts to the block. From what folks said earlier, I should have 3 on the top and two on the sides for a total of 5 bolts to remove. I only have 4 bolts on mine. The top center bolt is not there.

Is that ok or do I need to find another bolt and put it in the top middle hole when I reassemble?

I would get a bolt. And if I was getting one, I would get all 3 so they will take the same wrench in the future. I don't think your trans is going to fall out without that one bolt, but leaving it out is just not something a mechanic should do.

Get grade 8 bolts. Hex head are fine. They don't have to be E-torx like the originals.

 

Mine didn’t have to torx anyhow. I’ll pick up some new bolts. Thx.

 

Just a quick update. I did get engine out today and noticed there is no bolt hole at the top of the bell housing. There is one to the left and right of center, but it dips down on top.

The engine block, however, does have a threaded hole in the block. The block has hole at approx 10-11 i’clock, 12 o’clock, and approx 1-2 o’clock.

Bell housing has at approx 10-11 and approx 1-2. I guess I dont need a bolt at 12 o’clock.

 

Robbie, I had totally forgotten that. I wondered what transmission you must have, but then I checked my old pics and sure enough, my BA also did not have the top center bolt. It's only been a little over a year since I did the swap. Guess my memory is going....

Here is my old BA.

 

I understand.....older I get worse my memory gets! You should see all the taped electrical lines and ziploc bags I have while doing this! If I don’t hurry up and put in new engine, I’m going to forget where everything goes!

I’m just glad I don’t have to get that center bolt in there! But now I know! When the ax15 swap comes around, I’ll know what I need.

You’ve been very helpful following me on this ride....I certainly appreciate it! And thanks for the pics.....that’s definitely what I’m looking at....good ole BA10!