The Tips Thread

Ok guys, i thought this would be a good idea to post this (AKA its will end up on page 40 of 900 by tonite). Well, everyone knows some sort of tip or trick they leanred when encountered by a problem. i thought it would be a good idea to collectively post these tips so everyone can learn from everyone's mistakes. I'll go first:

The upper starter bolt:

Get 1/4 ratchet, 6 in long extension, deep 1/2 socket ( think thats the size) and 6 inch 1/2 ratchet extension. get the ratchet (with socket and extension on it obviously) onto the upper starter bolt. then, put the female (where the actual 1/2 ractchet attaches to it) of the 1/2 in extension on the bottom of the 1/4 in ratchet for leverage. I have Craftsman tools and i was able to get ONE click in... thats how tight it is. The idea is to extend the ratchet far enough to miss the starter itself. also, try to push up on the 1/2 extension and down on the 1/4 ratchet so it dont slip while your wrenching.

Stubborn Driveshaft bolts:

Jack the car up, put stangs under the axle tubes. get the necessary 12mm 12 point socket, 3 in. extension, and 3/8 ratchet.have someone in the car hold the brake ( this is easier, b/c you can spin the driveshaft and acces other bolt w/o gettin up lol). Then put the ratchet on one of the bolts. Jack the ratchet up in order to break the bolts loose. this way isnt as easy as using your foot, but mine were so stubborn that this method actually started to raise the car off the jack stands! I actually had to push down on the deck lid to brake 3 (!!!!) of them loose lol.

some little tips:

Be patient with mods; do it all at once. It get redundant not to mention annoying to take apart the same crap just to do something else.

Silicon (make sure its high pressure, high temp, and smells like vinegar) any gaskets that will come in contact with coolant. you'll know why when you have a leak. Dont go overboard, but give it a good bead.

To fill up your new tranny with fluid, the easiest way ( for me at least) to fill the tranny with the right amount is remove upper fill plug and shifter. keep pourin in fluid till it spills out the upper fill plug, then reinstall everthing and dont forget to silicon the shifter base b4 reinstalling. (teflon tape the plug too)

NOTE: these are suggestions and tips, more importantly, my OPINION. so obviously people will criticize my methods, but this stuff worked for me so id thought id share. Please do not hesitate even the littlest things.. anything that makes someone's life easier is work it.
 
this is a dumb one, but when you change the oil, be sure to drain BOTH sumps, otherwise, you still have like a quart of old ol floating around in there

........note,,,for all you guys that dont change fluids all day everyday, (not like im proud of it or anything...im 17) for the last time

YOU DONT HAVE TO DO ANYTHING SPECIAL TO SERVICE THE DAMN TRANNY! DRAIN THE *****ER, THEN REMOVE THE FILL PLUG (WOW THAT MAKES SCENCE) AND ADD UNTIL IT POURS OUT AND YOUR DoNE

dont bother taking your damn shifter (wtf who thought of that anyways) or anything like that, dont even teflon tape the plugs, all your doing there is wasting teflon tape, it that ***in easy, two plugs


there
 
uh... dunno if you've ever changed tranny fluid or taken a physics class, but fluids dont go against gravity, so other than using a hose up through the engine bay, the easiest way to fill the tranny without having to remove it is through the shifter.

i used the jack method to break a few of my driveshaft bolts loose too.

when reinstalling a transmission, tape a plastic baggy over the output shaft end, as to not spill loads of ATF all over you and your work area while wrestling the damn thing into the bellhousing...


oh yea, contrary to my former belief, a shirt taped around it WILL NOT stop the fluid from coming out hahaha, man that sucked, no idea what i was thinking


my dad told me this and i thought you all should know (if you dont already): when putting in a new battery or just removing the leads from your current one, be gentle on the lead studs, because it is WAY easy to break them loose from the plastic battery housing, and once you do so your leads will be haunted with oxidized battery acid (the whitish greenish crap) until you replace your battery.

thats all i can think of right now, but i vote this thread as a sticky
 
Euphoric306 said:
uh... dunno if you've ever changed tranny fluid or taken a physics class, but fluids dont go against gravity, so other than using a hose up through the engine bay, the easiest way to fill the tranny without having to remove it is through the shifter.

I use a 90W gear oil bottle with a length of clear hose attached to the nozzle. From underneath the car, you need only to squeeze the bottle. From up top, I hang it on the rain channel and let it feed like an IV bag. I prefer this method to tearing apart the center console and removing the shifter. It's just one 3/8s in. plug that needs to be removed. Two, if you're draining the old stuff out first.
 
fox racer said:
Stubborn Driveshaft bolts:

Jack the car up, put stangs under the axle tubes. get the necessary 12mm 12 point socket, 3 in. extension, and 3/8 ratchet.have someone in the car hold the brake ( this is easier, b/c you can spin the driveshaft and acces other bolt w/o gettin up lol). Then put the ratchet on one of the bolts. Jack the ratchet up in order to break the bolts loose. this way isnt as easy as using your foot, but mine were so stubborn that this method actually started to raise the car off the jack stands! I actually had to push down on the deck lid to brake 3 (!!!!) of them loose lol.

I use this one for doing gears. Makes it easy to crush the crush sleeve. I even bought a good Ingersol-Rand impact gun a while back and it won't even come close to crushing it. I used to use a ratchet with a pipe on it. The jack method is easy.


Dagger said:
I use a 90W gear oil bottle with a length of clear hose attached to the nozzle. From underneath the car, you need only to squeeze the bottle. From up top, I hang it on the rain channel and let it feed like an IV bag. I prefer this method to tearing apart the center console and removing the shifter. It's just one 3/8s in. plug that needs to be removed. Two, if you're draining the old stuff out first.

I have a gun that works like a big syringe (sp?). It works great for rears or transmissions. Just screw the cap off, fill it up, put the hose in the hole and squeeze the plunger. Shoots it right in. It is easier to fill through the shifter if it's a first time install.
 
tranny fluid, used a gatorade bottle and a vacuum tube, drilled a hole in the top, poked one on an edge on the bottom. held it up with the hole on the bottom edge facing upward let my finger off it to let air in, comes out easily that way. otherwise, use the shifter hole if it's a t-5.

oil, i put a little bit through when it's empty on one plug cars, mine, i put one plug back(with the pan under the other one), put a half a quart in, then drain again. plugs back, filter and put the five quarts in, also don't use a dirty funnel, especially if you have the high rise valve covers, you wont need to even use a funnel (Just don't drop the plastic oil bottle cap ring in).

Driveshaft, use the other person hold the brakes method, use threadlocker, torque it down in "X" sequence multiple times and use the jacking method to get old rusty ones off.
 
Water Pump:

Take a cardboard box, & turn it upside down. Count the number of bolts that hold the water pump on, don’t forget to count the 4 funny looking studs too. Poke a hole in the box for each bolt/stud. Arrange the holes in a circular formation, and mark the box at the 12:00 point. When you remove a water pump bolt, put it in one of the holes in the box according to where it came out of the water pump. When you are done, all bolts will be arranged it the exact same order and position that you removed them from the water pump. That makes re-installing them easy, no wondering where does this bolt go.

Gaskets for oil pan In intake manifold:
My favorite trick that saves time and effort is the stay in place gasket. Be sure that you scrape (don't use a wire brush) all the old gasket material off, then clean all the surfaces with acetone or MEK.

When the surfaces are clean, use weather strip adhesive on the head to manifold surface, and on the side of the gasket that mates to the head. Follow the instructions on the tube or can and when it gets tacky, press the gasket down on the head.

Clean the area where the rubber rails mount to the block in front and in the rear with more acetone or MEK and do the same trick with the weather strip adhesive that you did to the heads.

Coat the rubber seals and the gasket area around the water passages with lots of Blue Silicone gasket sealer and put it together. Wala! no leaks, and no gaskets that shifted out of place.