Hung Like a Stang

Never been so mad at Ford.... As you all are well aware of, the torque converter has studs that go through the flywheel (instead of having bolts that go through the flywheel to the torque converter LIKE EVERYONE ELSE!) And I cannot get this thing aligned. I can get bolts started on bellhousing, and the studs are right there at the holes for the flywheel, but nothing.

Any tips?! I'm sweating my ***** off here! [:'(]

(btw, YES, I did try the flywheel on the torque converter before I put this thing on, it did fit)

mattdel

the studs on the TC aren't gonna come through the flexplate until the bellhousing is somewhat tight to the block. tighten down the bell to the block a tad more and see what happens. wiggle everything around some, it'll fall into place eventually.

94StinkinLincoln

get your flywheel bolt hole at 12 o clock, and do the same for the converter stud, that helps alot.
the bell and motor have to be close like mentioned before, when you get it together, grab one of the studs and shake it back and forth, if you dont hear a clank sound, then you better pull the converter and try again.

FLcracker9

+1 for getting the flexplate holes at 12, 3, 6 & 9 o'clock, along with the TC studs. Another trick I started usingmany years ago is, I bought two 7/16" bolts about 6" long, and cut the heads off. I thread them into the block on the middle hole on each side of the block where the tranny bolts go. I use them as a guide to slide the tranny onto the block so it doesn't twist out of line. once the tranny is all the way in, I get a couple of bolts in hand tight, then remove my home made dowels. This has saved me a lot of curse words. The tranny slides in like a hot knife through butter, just make sure the TC bolts engage the flexplate correctly. The home made dowels allow you to take a rest at times, while you're wrestling the tranny in place. Those same 2 bolts have been in my tool box since the early eighties!

mjr46

you just have to keep playing with it until it falls into place.. I usually have two people handy...one to run the engine crane while I wiggle engine into place with concertor lined up to flexplate as close as possible

Hung Like a Stang

thanks for all the tips guys.

I cannot belive how long this is taking. Ive put in numerous transmissions, bymyself even. But this is just absolutely ridiculous. I think I've got it going now, I'm gonna head back out there in a few and see if I can get it done.

Hung Like a Stang

just thought i'd update....still not in yet. I cannot believe this.

mattdel

so... whats the problem? gotta be something in the way.

94StinkinLincoln

lube those guide pins (aka devil pins lol)
and take some sandpaper with oil to them if they are rusty.
angles being off make a world of difference, i had that problem before.

Hung Like a Stang

just to be certain, there's only one way the flexplate goes on right?

I get it up every time, can get all the bolts pretty much all the way in but the studs will not come through the flexplate, they're like right there, but just enough off to not come through.

I tried using the bolts as dowels and only thing it's done was make it hard as sh*t to get the trans up in there (probably should have used a little shorter bolt though)

I really don't understand what's the issue.