Swapping t45 out for 4r75w, pull the whole motor/trans or put car up on jackstands?

ScottyDsntKnow · Mar 17, 2013

Been debating this... I feel it might be easier to pull the whole motor/trans out as 1 unit since I have a cherry picker, leveler and I need to swap out the whole 98 wiring harness for an 04 anyway (running 04 comp). I am just worried to death about messing with the thing on jackstands and I've read horror stories and there was a thread 3 or 4 years back on the Corral where someone who posted there was killed when his Termie fell off the jackstands and crushed him. That is NOT going to be me. Right now leaning to a full pull. Harness has to be disconnected anyway, midpipe has to come out anyway. At that point it is 10 minutes with a helper to remove the hood and another few minutes to undo the engine mount nuts and trans crossmember.

This would not be my first pull, I pulled the 5.0 out of my Cobra, rebuilt it and put it back in a few years back really without a hitch as far as getting the stuff in/out. This also leads me to another issue. I have a clean Teksid and forged 8 bolt crank out of a 98 Cobra that is just aching for a forged rotating assy... My PI heads have a total of about 5k on them so I would have no qualms about swapping them and some 270 cams onto the forged assembly and just running as is until I can get some ported PI or TFS heads. Going turbo anyway next winter so now would be the time... Funds are a little low though, just spent a good deal on the trans, a few other hobbies, wife got some stuff and the house needs a few things too... Could pull the current motor out, swap the trans and put it back in in an afternoon...

Whistler98 · Mar 20, 2013

I am not sure what to tell you but maybe since you have to change the wiring harness and stuff you could pull the whole motor/ trans together. Im getting ready to pull my trans for a rebuild and I plan on using jack stands. Even if you pull the motor you are going to have to get under the car to remove the exhaust and unbolt stuff. Just be careful and double check the jack stands and not be in a big hurry.

ScottyDsntKnow · Mar 20, 2013

I'm worried about having to jack it up high enough to get the 4r75w in as the bell isn't removable. Actually the t45 is one piece too...

Wondering if orange ramps will work if I jack the car up and then throw them under the tires...

330CubeGt · Mar 20, 2013

Did mine out the bottom but it was also on a huge set of jackstands

Cpotts13 · Mar 20, 2013

Better safe then sorry. when i need to lift my car up high I generally put 2 jack stands under the axle, two right behind the lcas, two on the front jackings spots and put ramps under the side im working on. also, if the wheels have to come off I slide them under the side too.

330CubeGt · Mar 20, 2013

^ safest way to do it. I always side the wheels under the car when possible

Whistler98 · Mar 20, 2013

maybe make some ramps out of wood to place under the axles or tires? I have several cut 6x6 posts maybe i'll have to make some.

of course as long as I get the trans out I could always put a jack under the the car to get it alittle higher and reach under there and slide the trans out. The T45 isn't too heavy.

Cpotts13 · Mar 20, 2013

these are the ones i made

ScottyDsntKnow · Mar 20, 2013

Well I keep running into more and more stuff with this swap... I am at the point where I am thinking of just selling all the auto stuff I got, I could probably get more than what I paid simply because the 04 Automatic computer I got turned out to be a SYM2 which is the Mach1 ECU and worth way more money than other ones...

I could sell all the auto stuff over the next 2-3 months and then when it is nice and warm out just take a drive to the lift with a 3550 or something I got off the Corral, a simple adapter bracket for the xmember and be back in business in 3 hours. Dunno... just kind of discouraged right now...

ScottyDsntKnow · Mar 22, 2013

Cpotts13 said:
these are the ones i made

You know... I might just do this and pull it out from underneath... I'm back on track with this, I just needed to figure out EXACTLY what I need. Also did more research on the COP swap and found out that one should either move the coilpacks or swap to a 99-up computer/harness as the adapter harness is basically a hack that works well for what it is but will start to have issues at a higher HP number. Even the guy who makes them says he won't guarantee anything after 500whp. I want to do the COPs for sure so I'm swapping to the 99-up stuff regardless if I stayed 5 spd or not.

I do not want to mess with jackstands still, I would like the car sitting on loaded suspension. If I build something like that that steps up aggressively as my lowered suspension allows, I can probably get that 18-22" of clearance I need to pull the trans out from underneath without dicking with pulling the motor. From what I'm looking at, swapping the harness looks like its not TOO bad with the motor in...