TKX Install in the Coupe

Well with the car just high enough off the floor to remove the T5 it proved to be too low to get under the TKX and press it up and into place. I am going to head to Harbor Freight and get their low profile trans jack that is good up to 450 lbs.



You can use a 1/2” impact on the lift mechanism on it so that will make things a lot easier.

I did get the MGW shifter base installed. MGW provides no installation instructions so when torquing the supplied bolting you will need to reference the TKX manual. I didn’t use the RTV they supplied as the Tremec shifter came off and did not damage the factory green gasket.



Evidence of torquing and the Stifflers cross member.



Hopefully I can get the trans in the car this evening.

Yeah, so don't install the shifter before you put it in the car. Had to pull that back off and then I had enough room to get it lined up with the bell housing, clutch fork, clutch and pilot bearing.

With that even the stock shifter would have to have been removed in my case to get the transmission installed.

Dropped it as low as I could and reinstalled the shifter as the two forward bolts are up under the trans tunnel and you cannot get to them when you move the trans up into position to install the cross member. More later.

Well the TKX has found a home. The low profile trans jack is worth every penny. Used some scrap wood pieces in the garage to get the trans to lay on the jack square and rolled it under the car.

Had to raise the car 3” higher to get the jack and trans assembly to slide under the car. Snaked the high spots under via the rear of the front wheel well to clear the subframes.

Got it started into the bell housing and just raised the jack up a little at a time and moved the trans forward. Typical last 1/2” wasn’t budging so I used a 12” quick clamp to depress the clutch pedal. One jaw on the front side of the clutch cable tab and the other on the back of the clutch fork. The clamp jaw wanted to slip off the clutch fork so I used a 5/8” deep socket and put that in the formed part of the clutch fork and the jaw had something to grab that wasn’t tapered.



Some wiggling and shoving and it went within a 1/4” of home. Put the trans to bell housing bolts and and it pulled up with little to no effort putting a half turn on each bolt at a time working my way around the trans.



I’m waiting on the 21 tooth speedo gear before I go any further as the trans cross member is right in the way of getting the speed sensor out. It lacks about 1/2” so not in a bind or anything. Should get that Thursday or Friday so hopefully some more progress this weekend.

The shifter is definitely over to the passenger side about an inch more than the T5 so everything I have seen and read on that holds true. Hopefully with the MGW shifter I can adjust it to make that up. Will have to enlarge the hole in the lower shifter boot for the MGW so will cut that offset to the passenger side.

It’s just an inch to the passenger side. You can buy a billet spacer to move the shift handle over. The MGW shifter handle doesn’t attach to the shifter base like the stock one so that spacer doesn’t work. It does offer a lot more movement so you can move it over more than an inch so I should be okay.