Transmission Swap

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mxgx12

New Member
Im about to do my first tranny swap. I have a 91 HF CRX with a DOHC ZC, L3 transmission (Si). Whats the best way to do it (as in fastest, least painful way), pull the engine and do it outside of the engine bay or do it with the engine in the car? All my buddies say pull the engine, but all the manuals I look at talk about doin in while the engine is in the car. Any help? or incite on the best way to handle this? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.
 
I have always left the motor in the car. takes me roughly 2 hours to swap a trans.. don't forget to put a jack under the motor as close as possible to the trans to support it..
 
do you have to remove or unbolt any of the passenger side suspension? Ive seen a lot of places say a transmission jack shold be used, I dont have one. But I have a hoist and a couple regular jacks. Will they work? Also if I change the clutch will everything be easily accessible from underneath? I appreciate your response. I was preparing to pull my motor just to do this. now Im not. thanks.
 
just the ball joints and strut forks to get the cv axles out of the way.. are you using a lift????
 
Ive seen a lot of places say a transmission jack shold be used, I dont have one. But I have a hoist and a couple regular jacks. Will they work?

Regular jack will work but it will feel like monkey efing a football. Have a friend help you (make strong like bull) with you under the car (balancing the trans towards the engine) and a friend (under the hood) helping guide and balance. It will (most likely) be frustrating when you put the trans back in but be patient and it will go back in....you may need to lower or raise the transmission or what have you.

Also if I change the clutch will everything be easily accessible from underneath?

Sounds like you are putting a new clutch in so I say you resurface the flywheel and get an OEM throw out bearing for sure....this whole process is a hassle so make it worth your time. You will need 12-point socket and a flywheel holder (you should be able to rent one) or an impact gun or a crank pulley holder or some 'ingenuity' to get the flywheel bolts loose. Make sure you torque them back down to specs too. Its a really light torque too.


just the ball joints and strut forks to get the cv axles out of the way.

......word and I also take the lower bolt on the coil/shock to get the axle all the way out....."Out of my damn way you piece of crap axle" (as I fight to mate the trans back up lmao)
 
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Im about to do my first tranny swap. I have a 91 HF CRX with a DOHC ZC, L3 transmission (Si). Whats the best way to do it (as in fastest, least painful way), pull the engine and do it outside of the engine bay or do it with the engine in the car? All my buddies say pull the engine, but all the manuals I look at talk about doin in while the engine is in the car. Any help? or incite on the best way to handle this? Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.

Leave the engine in as everyone said. The first major job I ever did on my own was a clutch change. It is a bitch to get the tranny back on, just be persistent.
 
yes just take your time when putting it back in... and never never use the trans bolts to pull the tranny and motor together.. make sure the trans is all the way flush against the motor before you put the bolts in...
 
yes just take your time when putting it back in... and never never use the trans bolts to pull the tranny and motor together.. make sure the trans is all the way flush against the motor before you put the bolts in...


I broke the bellhousing on my tranny trying to use the bolts to pull the tranny haha ...

so yeah, dont do that
 
I was gonna use the lift to support the engine, then unbolt the motor mounts. Also support the engine with a jack as close to the trans as possible. Then use another jack to move the tranny in and out of place. I'm not sure about the clutch. Supposedly the engine has a new clutch, according to the guy who also said the tranny was good (but it wasn't) so I'm skeptical. I know the clutch from my old engine has plenty of meat left on it. I dont have money to buy one, so Ima go with the clutch that has more life left in it. Kinda low on funds so I was hoping to pull this off on the cheap. as in only buying new tranny fluid.
 
Use the flywheel for this clutch with more meat left on it. Its mated to that flywheel and should stay together.
 
If its the same clutch then the flywheel should fit. So.....you leave the clutch you see or you're taking the flywheel off whether you put a used or new one on. I strongly suggest you see if you can wait until you have funds for a clutch too.....you'll be happy later. A nice Excedy stage one clutch for a smooth DD
 
So the swap went pretty easy. Me and my dad had the new tranny on in about 4 hours. We took it slow and easy tho. I ended up using the clutch that was already on the engine. Like the guy said, it was a totally new clutch, still had the white ACT stencils on the freakin pad, so I was stoked about that. I didnt do anything but clean the flywheel, I know everyone said get it resurfaced by I was on a time constraint and a budget so I just left it since the same clutch stayed on. I got some interesting stuff goin on with a left suspension fork and a right hub spacer though. Gonna need some advice but should probably start a new thread for that. Thanks for everyones help, glad I left the engine in the car, saved a lot of time. Hondaswap is the shit.
 
No need to re-surface the flywheel if you didn't change the clutch. Glad you got it done!
 
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