MGW install dead in tracks....

[AZ SVT]

I'm trying to install an MGW race shifter in my 2016 GT. I'm doing it on jack stands by myself.

But I can't get the horizontal bolt on the top back of the transmission back in. MGW says its hard to get the bolt in and out on the GT out without some help to pull the transmission down. I managed to get the bolt out to remove the factory shifter by lowering the trans with a pry bar between the trans and the body. But I can't do the same on the install because parts of the MGW seem to be in the way.

I'm hoping someone has done this install in a GT by themselves without it being on a lift and has some advice. I'm guessing on a lift, I could pull down on the trans enough by hand just from body weight but lying on my back a few inches below the trans really won't let me put much force into pulling down. Someone suggested unbolting the DS center support and it might drop enough on its own but it sounds like a long shot with its own potential problems.

Just how rigid is the exhaust itself? I'm wondering (if there isn't a better idea) if I could use a ratcheting tie-down strap to pull the trans toward the exhaust or would that just pull the exhaust up towards the trans and bend/break something?

 

[B7BlownSnake]

I did the install on ramps. I unbolted the rear trans crossmember, pulled down on the transmission, and my buddy (smaller hands than me) slipped the bolt in. It actually went in very easily on both my 2013 and my buddy's 2015.

 

[raptorgabe]

i just did this to ! i just tried not to take the bolt out all the way! if u have someone pull down and u put it in will be easy

 

[AZ SVT]

It only took me 3 months to find someone who would help me pull down on the trans enough to get the bolt in. As mentioned it just took five minutes with two people. Unfortunately, at my age I failed to realize I had run out of friends who still worked on cars. LoL. I have other cars so I avoided the shame of having a car towed just for one bolt.

In the interim I tried every idea posted on various forums that MIGHT allow one person to do this. None did but one involved unbolting the DS from the trans. And now I need to find the torque spec for those bolts.

There is a "rubber" flex coupling between the trans and the DS. So basically there are two ways to disconnect the DS from the trans. You can unbolt the trans from the flex coupling or unbolt the DS from the flex coupling. I unbolted the DS from the flex coupling.

I found on the internet the torque for the bolts that attach the coupling to the trans (81 lb.ft) but not the for the smaller bolts that attach the DS to the flex coupling.

Hopefully someone can find the torque specs in the service manual and post them. The specs for the flex coupling bolts do not appear to be in the section about the DS but probably can be found by searching for Flex Coupling.

If they aren't in the factory service manual, can the torque be determined from the size and markings on the fasteners? I'm thinking not because these bolts connect the drive shaft to basically a big block of rubber and that material probably dictates the torque to use as opposed to the max torque for the bolts if screwed into a solid metal part.

These are the three bolts that connect the flex coupling to the front of the drive shaft. Drawing of the flex coupling and pictures of my actual bolts are below.

The bolt heads take a 15mm wrench and the nuts take 18mm.

The bolt head is marked "SFT 10.9". The nuts have a "T" marking on one edge and "1 0" on the opposite side. The end of the bolt has a groove cut in it. I don't see any thread locker, at least not anything with a color but the bolt turns easily until it gets to the last thread in the nut and then it gets very hard to turn, sort of like a nylock nut but its not one, so the last thread in the nut is somehow different than the ones before it.