71 Eldo Transmission Removal

[wbdeford]

How tall will my jackstands need to be to get clearance to remove my 71 Eldo transmission?

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

The height of the trans from pan to the top of the bellhousing is 19 1/2".

But, you will need to allow for the height of the supporting jack at its' lowest.

I would suggest a minimum of 2'

Plus, I would also suggest removing the engine and transmission/Diff as a unit, then separating them outside the car.   It is a lot easier.

Bruce.

[TJ Hopland]

X2 on removing the engine and trans out the top.   Unless you just had the engine out for a timing chain, freeze plugs, and other gaskets its likely due and you don't want to be taking the engine out next year and trying to leave the trans.

Like Bruce said you need that 19" plus your jack.  You also got to make sure you clear all the low hanging suspension on the way out.  Its not the best balanced or light weight unit with the final drive still hanging on it so you need a real trans jack with the straps, not one of those plates that sits on a regular floor jack.   Other annoyance is the typical engine support braces are not nearly wide enough to support the engine once you get the trans loose. 

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Plus, if you hang the complete unit, like I made up in the picture, everything is nicely balanced.

Just position the factory lifting eyes in the shown position, and insert a solid bar that cannot fall out, and position the lifting hook as shown, and make sure it cannot slip sideways, and lift.

Bruce.

[bcroe]

How tall will my jackstands need to be to get clearance to
remove my 71 Eldo transmission? 

You can remove that 256 lb trans from the bottom, but first you have to support the
engine and slide it forward enough to clear the bell housing.  And either bring that 106
lb final drive with it, or deal with that interface too. 

Pulling from the top is fairly straightforward, except you need to get that huge hood out
of the way.  I pull the 403 engine out of my 79 Eldo first, then the TH425 trans and final
drive as a unit.  That is harder to do for a Cad, because the cross over shaft has to come
out to clear the engine oil pan.  Pull it all at once, some 1000 lb and try not to do any
colateral damage.  Bruce Roe

[wbdeford]

Thanks, guys....you've given me a lot to think about.....my problem is my limited space....Not sure yet where I'd be able to put the engine and hood.

[wbdeford]

Can anyone point me to a procedure to remove it all at once?  The shop manual only tells you how to remove the engine and transmission separately, but I am sure there are some other things I will need to do or take into account doing them together.

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

G'day William,

Here goes,

(1)   With the car outside of the working area, if you have to drain the water onto the ground, drain the radiator by either removing the bottom radiator hose, or turning on the drain cock at the bottom left side of the radiator.

(2)   Move the car back into the working area, and disconnect the battery terminals (Leaving the battery in place), remove the Radiator Cover/top mounts, Hoses, Transmission Cooler Line fittings, and then the Radiator, Fan Shroud pieces, Fan, Drive Belts, Crankshaft Pulley.

(3)   Place some rags on top of the Battery to protect the terminals, if you have a top post battery, remove the 5 bolts holding the A/C Compressor to the engine, and with care, and without undoing any of the A/C hoses, lift and roll the attached compressor over and upside down and lay it on top of the Battery.

(4)   Remove the Power Steering Pump and lay it off to the left side where it will simply sit there out of the way.   The Alternator now comes off, and lays to the right (you did undo the wiring?)

(5)   Remove the Carburettor, (if you are going to use my method of lifting) Fuel lines to the Fuel Pump, and plug them to stop the possibility of fuel leaking out, or dirt getting in.    Remove the Ground Strap from the trans to the firewall (it is plugged into the firewall)

(6)   Remove Left Exhaust Manifold from both the engine and engine pipe, but only remove the Right Exhaust Manifold from the Cylinder Head.   This can stay attached to the Engine Pipe.   Remove the Speedo Cable

(7)   If your car has the diagonal braces from the firewall to the inner fenders, remove these.

(   Now it is time to get down and dirty.   Raise the car and insert jack stands.

(9)   Undo the inner Tripot axle joints and push the joints apart for clearance, undo the engine and Trans mount nuts, 2 in front and one each side at the rear.   Remove the positive cable from the Starter Motor and unclip the Starter Motor Solenoid to body harness plug.    Undo the trans linkage, and the Starter Motor to Chassis Ground Strap.

The engine combo is now ready to come out.   And the car can go back onto the ground.

(10)   As the engine is lifted, it is necessary to remove the trans mounting cover plate, and carefully slip it out of the way.   There are only three bolts holding this to the back of the unit, and once undone, it is awkward and heavy, so care is needed to juggle it.

(11)   I found it necessary to remove one of the Windscreen Wiper wiring plugs to gain clearance from the rear trans chain cover as it passed by, and with a little bit of careful juggling, moving and hoisting, it will come out without damaging anything.

If I remember anything else, I will edit the story.   There will be some things I have missed, or messed up.   But, basically, it is how I did it.

Bruce.

[wbdeford]

Awesome....thank you, Bruce!  Will file this away for when I'm ready to do it.

[TJ Hopland]

I use the engine hoist to assist in removing the hood.   With the hood open I place the end of the boom at the front of the hood to support it while you remove the bolts.   This is the part that sucks because it kinda takes 3 people.  2 at the hinge points and one to lower and move the hoist out of the way.    If you don't have a hoist a winch strap to the rafters of your garage will work too but you will need a hoist to do the engine.   One photo I saw the guy used winch straps to lift the hood straight up to the ceiling and just let it hang there while he did the other work. 

[wbdeford]

TJ, do you know the approximate weight of the hood? 

[TJ Hopland]

I don't know but its quite a handful for two average guys.   I don't remember thinking it was that bad for two guys to move around the garage once it was standing upright.  Its moving it from that position to the horizontal that gets to be a bit more awkward.   

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

I have removed my hood by myself.  (but, it is easier with two or three as these are heavy)

Tied the front of it to the ceiling in my garage in the open position with the weight off the hinges.   Put a rolled up blanket between the hood back ends and the windscreen to protect everything, then looped another rope from the ceiling, under the back side of the hood, under the hood to the other side, then back up to the ceiling.

Undid the three bolts on each side, and manually raised each side a short distance at a time, till I could roll the car out from under so the hinges didn't hit.   Then completed the lifting of the hood to the ceiling.

Once the back was up, then raised the front.

My garage ceiling has beams to hold up the house above

The one pictured is from my Ranchero, but it is tied up similar to how the Caddy one was done, except that the Caddy one was tied the other way around.   The large loop to the back, and the single central tie from the hood latch.   With the Ranchero, the central tie is through the rear hood vent hole.

Putting it back on was just the reversal of the removal procedure.

Bruce.

["Cadillac Kid" Greg Surfas 15364]

Eldo hood is in the neighborhood of 160 pounds.
Greg Surfas

[bcroe]

I have removed my hood by myself.  (but, it is easier with two or three as these are heavy)

Tied the front of it to the ceiling in my garage in the open position with the weight off the hinges.   Put a rolled up blanket between the hood back ends and the windscreen to protect everything, then looped another rope from the ceiling, under the back side of the hood, under the hood to the other side, then back up to the ceiling.

Undid the three bolts on each side, and manually raised each side a short distance at a time, till I could roll the car out from under so the hinges didn't hit.   Then completed the lifting of the hood to the ceiling.

Once the back was up, then raised the front.
My garage ceiling has beams to hold up the house above

The one pictured is from my Ranchero, but it is tied up similar to how the Caddy one was done, except that the Caddy one was tied the other way around.   The large loop to the back, and the single central tie from the hood latch.   With the Ranchero, the central tie is through the rear hood vent hole.

Putting it back on was just the reversal of the removal procedure.   Bruce.

That is the same scheme used here.  I put some short 2 X 4s vertically against the
windshield in case the hood swung back.  Bruce Roe

[wbdeford]

Bruce and Bruce, what kind of knots, mechanisms etc. did you use to secure the rope, and do the lifting?  Greg, thanks for the weight estimate!

[The Tassie Devil(le)]

Where the rope is attached to the overhead beam, I use a Bowline, and the same goes for wherever I make an eye or a look.

To tie the ends I use what is required, be it a Clove Hitch, Round Turn and Two Half Hitches, or similar.

If I didn't have overhead beams, I would fasten a bracket to the ceiling.   

Further, if I was doing it all the time, I would install a couple of pullies overhead, and set a small winch onto the wall, but I am tall enough to not need that.

Plus, using ropes over hard things allows me to put the friction of the rope going over the beams to my advantage when working with the ropes.   Assist the weight when lifting, and friction when lowering, or changing position.

When working on ones' own, one tends to find ways of doing stuff.   Ropes, Levers and Blocks of Timber come in handy.

Bruce.