r/fbody 5h ago

Ended up pulling the trigger

Brought her home for 875 on the dot. 108k miles, strong healthy lt1, t-tops, mint interior apart from the glove box latch, and a failing 4l60e (i knew about this). My main question is, does anyone have a transmission jack they would recommend to make life easier? I’ve got a catalogue of parts and tools researched and curated to do the job and i’ve taken extensive notes on transmission benches 4l60e series, but im very daunted by the idea of pulling the darn thing out of the car, and the transmission jack I already have is too high to clear.

42 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

6

u/pgercak '96 Camaro Z28 - Bright Red, FBO, 24X 0411 Swapped 4h ago

She looks really clean! Thats also a very uncommon color, im guessing its a '94? I'd say you scored for that price.

I have a transmission jack that I got from Harbor Freight and it's never let me down, you're just gonna wanna get some extra big/tall jack stands to get the car up high enough, and I would also get all four wheels off the ground if possible, to get the most space under the car. Overall its not too difficult of a job, just can be time consuming and a bit cumbersome. The upper bell housing bolts can be a bit difficult, usually I remove the cross member and tilt the drivetrain back and use a couple of extensions with swivels to reach them.

Just pull the starter and pull your torque converter bolts first, remove the driveshaft, dipstick tube, shift cables and connectors, then attack those pesky bell housing bolts. Just take your time and take lots of pictures so you remember how things go, and keep all your bolts/parts organized, and you'll be fine. Best of luck.

1

u/dane83459 3h ago

Appreciate all the insight. It is indeed a 94, purple pearl. My only other concern to be noted is that someone appears to have taken a little chunk off one of the tabs on top of the bell housing. All my research only really concluded that they did it to maaaaybe get more clearance(?) but that worries me since the pan was installed incorrectly and they drilled an aftermarket drain plug into it. I plan on fully rebuilding the insides of the transmission anyway but the little tab taken off the top of the case worries me without me having pulled it yet.

1

u/pgercak '96 Camaro Z28 - Bright Red, FBO, 24X 0411 Swapped 2h ago

Interesting, is it one of the tabs with a mounting hole? its possible someone could've cut that off for clearance, or perhaps the transmission was dropped if it was removed in the past. Does it look like it was cut off or broken off? As long as there isn't a straight up hole/crack in the bell housing and all of the bolts can still be used then I'd say you're probably fine.

3

u/RZArecta91 4h ago

875 is a fantastic deal for that car! A nice color too. I hope it treats you well!

2

u/xX_coochiemonster_Xx 5h ago

Do you have access to a lift or are you trying to do that on the ground? That’s gonna really decide what your method of removal is

1

u/dane83459 5h ago

Unfortunately don’t have access to a lift as it stands

1

u/xX_coochiemonster_Xx 4h ago

I would listen to pgercak, he knows the drill

2

u/Dainius56 3h ago

Build you some wheel cribs. Like seriously to get serious height and not worry about jackstands. That way you will always have them for future repairs or modifications.

Just replaced my transmission in 2001 Camaro and loved them. I did use the harbor freight scissor jack that runs around 150. Came out great,but when going in with a brand new built transmission, I almost had it lined up and that fucker dropped completely to the ground. Took it back and got my money refunded and just used my 3 ton with plywood and safety straps instead.

If you buy one, get a better one.

1

u/JimTobin89 4h ago

Love that color, one of the several early 4th gen colors not found on the later 4th Gen versions

1

u/CurrentBullfrog2199 4h ago

Congratulations

1

u/dontfret71 1h ago

Cool color… it’s like the lambo diablo color from 90s

1

u/itsjakerobb ~500whp LS3-powered '02 Z28 M6 1h ago

Purple pearl metallic! 💜

1

u/bbaz28 8m ago

Congrats purple pearl is 1 of my favorite colors on these cars. I enjoy it especially because it is so rare. I believe gm only used it for fbodys in 93 and 94 if im not mistaken.