JanThorCro

Hey all.

I wanted to post this earlier, but life has been...

I did a clutch swap, on a 01 civic by myself and needed to support the trani during the process. The pics are basically self explanatory.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/6377755...7629757155852/

Just a few notes.

I have 20 years as a carpenter and 20+ years as a rock climber. That said, I was 100% sure of my ability to create a rock solid trani support. If you choose to create a setup like this be very mindful and build it as if your mother is going work under it...

Pushed up against the front bumper is a thing that resembles a large chair. That chair supports the lever\trani and as such has to be ROCK SOLID. When I built it, I used alot of #12 CC (SPIKES - 3.25") and #8CC (2.5"). There are no drywall screws to fail and drop that trani on my head... The chair is constructed out of 3\4" plywood scraps and 2X4's. I also installed a 2X4 across the top for the lever to pivot on, better than pivoting on plywood only...

I used 6 drywall buckets (filled with water) as the counter weight on the opposite end of the lever. Those 3 - 2X4's are 10 feet long, so 2 or 3 drywall buckets full of H2O would be plenty to hold the weight of the trani.

When it came time to remove the Flywheel bolts, I used a small flat bar. With the correct trani-bolt re-installed I was able to wedge the short part of this tool into the valley between the teeth on the flywheel and this locked the flywheel in place for me to loosen the bolts attaching the flywheel to the crankshaft... I used the same tool when I reinstalled the Flywheel bolts. I just had to turn the flat bar 180 degrees to lock that flywheel in place...

The Blue slings that I wrapped around the trani and then over the end of the lever, are climbing slings (Tube style) that we use to create climbing anchors. They are good for a couple thousand pounds of weight. I would use the slings again as they are flat. I lucked out in my wrapping them around the trani, in that, the trani did not roll when I pulled the bolts out. This made re-installing the trani easy as pie. Whatever you use, avoid dental floss, it’s your head that is directly under that transmission hanging in the air...

At night I would just lower the trani down onto the internal frame and remove the Lever (battering ram) and close the hood.

One final note. This is for all us that may not always see 3 steps ahead. I arrived at the lumber yard on my mountain bike. I purchased my 3 - 10' 2X4's, (for the lever) and proceeded to ride that bike home with those 2X4's on my right shoulder. About 40 seconds later as they began flopping around on my shoulder, I hopped off the bike tossing them on the ground, to avoid Jousting with an 18 wheeler.

Have fun and be mindful.

scooty

Pretty cool but seem like a pretty complicated setup and a lot of work.

Could you have just used a couple of jack stands to support the trans while you slipped it on and off the engine? Maybe a 2 by 4 cut to the right length spanning the width of the engine bay, across both fenders, and then you're straps to support the trans?

How much do these transmissions weigh any way? 45lbs dry?

JanThorCro

I've no idea what the trani weights, it felt like a feather.

Your 2X4 prolly would have worked. I remember thinking of doing it like that. I just liked the control I had with my setup.

texasnoob1

LOLOL! I couldn't stop laughing at your pics! But hey, whatever gets the job done, right?