Luke_L01

I am trying to remove the transmission from my Z, and I am finding mixed opinions on how to best do it online. For some background, first gear is now popping out when starting from a stop after a miss-shift from 2nd to 1st (thought I sucked at driving stick, but turns out the joint between the shifter and linkage was loose, ugh). That being said, I only need to remove the trans, and the clutch doesn't need any work. All of the removals I have seen online have shown removing the diff/trans/torque tube assembly all at once to access the clutch, but I am questioning if that is really necessary in my circumstance. I am considering removing the trans from the rear housing behind the torque tube (pictures attached for reference), then just disconnecting the shifter linkage from the trans, sensor wires, etc. Is there anything I'm unaware of that would prevent me from doing this?

Supercharged111

I can't say if there is anything stopping you, but IMO it would be easier to take the TT out with it all. You can still leave the clutch as is and add a remote bleeder if you don't already have one easily with that all out. It's only 5 bolts IIRC holding the tube to the bell up front.

MetalMan2

On reassembly I added TT first, then added trans. So, I think it can be done with removing the trans/diff and no TT. But to @Supercharged111 's point, TT removal isn't much more than trans/diff removal and it'll save the minor hassle of fishing the shift linkage up the TT (at the reassembly stage).

hungryhippo

You can definitely leave the torque tube in place. You can even leave the tunnel plate and headers/midpipe if you have longtubes. The job is easier with the tunnel plate out though

Luke_L01

I do have headers which would need to come out to remove the torque tube, so that’s my biggest hesitation with it. I have the plate out already so I’m glad that makes it easier.

Previous owner recently put an LS7 clutch in it and it definitely feels like it has a lot of life still, so I’ll probably go this route. Thanks for the advice!

yellow2007

If you are getting that deep into it, pulling the TT and replacing the bushings is great preventative maintenance and peace of mind.

Mc556

You may want to stop and realign your shifter. I’m betting this is your issue not the transmission. I’ve had the same issue.
If your in second gear coming to a stop shift into first and let out the clutch and push back in before coming to a stop. I’m betting it stays in first gear. If you come to a stop with the stick in neutral and then shift to first it pops out when you start forward. Is this the case?

To answer your question. I’ve pulled several C5 transmissions and IMO it’s easier to take down the whole cradle with the torque tube still attached The angles required to drop and pull out are why. FYI. Some of the connectors are glued and require a heat gun to warm up before disconnecting
If you’re thinking there is an easy way there isn’t. If you end up having to pull it take your time and do it right.

Mc556

Wanted to check back on this one.

In my mind I see a transmission pulled for no reason

Luke_L01

I just checked last night and my shifter was misaligned. I can’t thank you enough for the time and money saved.

Unfortunately I already disassembled the whole rear end before I posted this, which I need to put back together, but that’s a whole lot better than pulling the trans and spending weeks waiting for an unnecessary rebuild. I will update again once the car is back together but I’m pretty sure that’ll do it. Thanks again!

Mc556

No problem at all I’m glad that I could help. When it happened to me pulling the transmission was the first thing that popped in my head. The upside is now you know what’s involved in pulling it which is a useful skill. The first time is hard the next are easy if you ever end up needing to do it.
Speaking of which I have a 3:90 diff I need to install. I’ve been feeling kinda lazy, but time to get my hands dirty again.

TMODcustoms

Good news, glad you didn't have to drop the gearbox. This is pretty common actually, the boxes just don't age well and the bolt on the linkage likes to come loose as well. If you want your shifter to feel better and stay that way you can send it in for an upgrade while you've got the car down. I rebuild the box with new internals that work much better and last for the life of the car. If you have questions feel free to ask, I'm happy to help with anything I can.

https://tmodcustoms.com/products/upgraded-factory-boxes

lucky131969

If you plan on keeping the car, a factory service manual is a sound investment. Sure can save you time and money, especially in this case.

Luke_L01

Finished putting it back together and took it out for a drive last night. Everything felt great! Had to move the Cordoba out of the way to get it out so I took some pictures while they were both out.

Thanks again for the help and good luck with your diff! Sounds like a fun project.

Luke_L01

Thats a good idea. The price held me back from getting one at the start but it probably would be a sound investment to avoid situations like this.

Luke_L01

There was a MGW shifter on the car when I purchased it. I think it’s solid, but the person who installed it must’ve overtorqued the bolt between the shifter and the linkage because it was stripped. From what I understand though the linkage within the shifter is reused from the factory shifter.

For future reference, do you rebuild those shifters as well or just factory ones? Thanks for reaching out!

TMODcustoms

If you like it, run it, you should be good to go.
I rebuild the stock box (the lower portion of the shifter assembly) and I make a replacement for the box and a short throw shifter as well.
That bolt is important, if it comes loose you'll have trouble getting into first and or reverse and it will eventually become impossible to get into those gears. You want that bolt torqued to 22-24 ft./lbs with RED Loctite applied to the threads. This will keep it from coming lose in the future. Just as importantly, you don't want to overtighten that bolt because the gold colored collar it threads into will break.

Supercharged111

Here's something else I learned last night as my car occasionally gives me trouble with 2nd gear. It's not an effort problem, it's a lack of travel into 2nd. Last I aligned the shifter it made it much better, but then after some time it seemed not so great anymore. I got into it last night and found the bolt on the linkage was bent so replaced it. I also got to thinking a guy might be able to fudge the thing a bit and another post did mention this. Check post #9:

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...alignment.html

He states if you have trouble with 2/4, try fudging the box to the back of the car. I did that last night and now in the garage it feels I may have gone too far and now will have the same struggle with 1st gear? Gonna have to put some miles on it and see. If so, I'll have to go back in and split the middle. I'd never seen that mentioned before in other threads, I was more interested in whether or not there was a right/wrong order to torque those 3 bolts down to 22#.

TMODcustoms

Your on the right track, but think about what the bottom of the shifter does when you move the stick/****; everything is opposite.
When you move the stick forward, the bottom pivot of the shifter goes towards the back of the car. It's pivoting on the upper pivot, I think about that as the main pivot of the shifter. The next pivot point is the ball on the bottom of the shifter; the one with the bushing on it, that fits into the cup on the shaft that lives in the box. Move the stick forward and the bottom pivot goes backwards, moving the shaft backwards and moving the linkage backwards. This is the same for side to side motion; when your pushing the stick to R for example, it's moving the bottom pivot of the shifter to the driver's side; opposite direction again. When this happens the bottom pivot of the shifter, the one with the bushing in the cup on the shaft, causes the shaft in the box and the linkage to rotate; because that shaft doesn't move right to left. The pivot converts the side to side movement of the stick to rotation of the shaft; that's why the shifter bushing plays such a large role. Just as importantly, the linkage needs to be tightly connected to the shaft so there is no loss of motion between the shaft and the linkage during rotation. (This is what happens when the bolt in the collar does not have RED Loctite on it resulting in issues getting into 1/R)
Adjustments / alignment is opposite of what it appears from the outside. If you having trouble with a gear you want to adjust away from that gear. What your really adjusting for is the gearbox internals, 1/8in (fwd/rwd) of adjustment is plenty for the box and even smaller adjustments (right /left) are used for the shifter.
I feel a whole lot better explaining how the components work together, so everyone can understand what's going on in there. It's not difficult, just a bit particular.

To answer your question about the order, on the MGW box I would look towards their video, it's probably shaft to the linkage loosely, then box in loosely, then tighten the box then the linkage bolt but I can't say for sure. (They don't use the foot on the bottom of the box which is not a big deal it's just different than the factory box.) The way I do it with a factory box is to get the tail end of the shaft from the box into the collar on the linkage, but leave the bolt out for now. Once that's in you need to get the foot in the slot. Confirm that the foot (which is the black plastic piece that lives on the fin on the underside of the box) is firmly attached to the fin on the bottom side of the box. If it's not you need to remove ALL of the glue on the box with a wire wheel. Squirt a little bit of silicone into the foot and stick it on the box. Wrap it with a rubber band and let it cure before you install the box. The foot is actually a shim as well and insures the box is seated at the right height. You will have a terrible time with the alignment of the shifter if you don't have that foot on there correctly.
Slide the box, foot first into the slot down on the side of the torque tube. You should be able to move the box fwd/rwd a little bit while keeping the foot of the box in the slot. Center the box as best you can eyeball it and tighten those tow bolts down. Next, center the shifter as best you can eyeball it and give that bolt 22 ft/lbs. (By this step you should have already cleaned the threads of the bolt and the threaded hole in the collar with brake cleaner and a wire brush if need be, it needs to be clean so the Loctite can do it's job but don't use the Loctite until later.) With the box and the shifter bolted down give it a shot and see what happens. Don't just sit in the car and run through the gears, you want to actually move the car, a few feet is fine, you just want to let the gearbox move a little. If you can get into all the gears take it for a spin and see how it goes, if you can get into all the gears it's in the right spot. If your getting into al the gears the final move is to hold the stick centered in N and pull that bolt out of the linkage one last time. It's important that you keep the stick from moving while you do this, get some help if you need it. Pull the bolt out of the linkage, give it a little RED Loctite and put it back in and your ready to put the rest of the car back together.

I get complaints for not including a centering tool with my shifters but I prefer to give people a grasp of how the whole assembly works for this exact situation your dealing with. Now that you know this you can easily rule out anything having to do with the shifter, box or the alignment. I would say 90% of people get it right on their first shot anyways but I like knowing that my customers know how the shifter / box assembly functions, what to do to solve these particular issues and if they need a hand I'm always available to help out. I'm glad you didn't drop your gearbox, hopefully this helps other people down the road as well.

Supercharged111

My impression is that, because you're moving the box and the collar, the net result would be zero.