ZF Removal

Pretty easy actually.
I use a cheery picker and wrap a nylon tow strap around the middle, towards the rear of it a couple of times since this is where most of the weight is.
If your going to pull the bell housing with it, take off the starter & slave cylinder completely. Remove the wheel housing spreader bar, the bolts holding the bell housing to the motor including the one's underneith the car holding the dust shield. You can get to those while pulling the starter. Undo the 1/2 shafts at the ZF inter stubs axles, take off all the ZF mounts, ground cable and speedo cable & reverse light wires. Pulling up a little with the cherry picker, pull back to free the output shaft from the pilot bearing and clutch disc. You may have to jack up your motor just a little to get the right parallel angle.

I don't have A/C so I don't know what will have to be removed on this part. I would think probably the fan and housing from the rear for clearance.

If your going to leave the bell housing attached to the motor. Then you don't have to remove the starter or slave cylinder, just the slave pin holding the slave piston and piston itself. Then remove the bolts holding the ZF to the bell housing and just do everything else the same way. BUT BE AWARE, there are 2 allen head bolts inside that bell housing that also hold the ZF to the bell housing that can only be reached from inside the bell housing once it's all out of the car. If these bolds are still there, you will have to pull the bell housing with the ZF to get to them.

Some people after taking the ZF & bell housing out the first time, do not put back in the allen head bolts or convert them to studs for future removal. I converted mine to studs.

Chances are if your ZF has not been pulled before, these allen haeds bolt are still there in which case your going to have to pull the bell housing with the ZF the first time.

Should take you a couple of hours at most. I have a ZF 2 and I can pull mine completely out in an hour. But I've had lots of practice at it recently.

It's really pretty easy, maybe 4 hours IF you loosen motor mounts & jack (considerably less if not). My dash 1 is especially easy since no factory side mounts. If you have a dash 2 it takes longer unless you're willing to bend your side mount tabs to enable you to pull the ZF straight back. Basically you just, in approximate order:

Remove 4 bolts each side connecting halfshafts to ZF, Unbolt side mounts assuming you have them, Unbolt AC condensor & dryer from body & move onto padded right quarter panel, Remove condensor grill, Unbolt any rear ZF mount, Remove any parking brake cables that may be bolted to your bellhousing, Unbolt slave bracketry from bellhousing, pull slave lever arm off ZF cross-shaft & set to side, Unbolt & remove camber bar (jacking car helps), Disconnect shifter shaft by driving out pin, Disconnect reverse light switch, Unbolt all bellhousing to block bolts (don't forget there are probably 2 underneath at dust cover), & Disconnect speedo drive from ZF by unbolting the huge nut, NO others. I then sling webbing around side shafts & pull back with hoist, but with helpers can pull off by hand. Keep in mind at this point you will probably either have to bend your side mount tabs OR loosen engine mounts to give you more upward flex before you can come back. If you have to jack engine, keep a close watch on the distributor cap if it's already close to firewall & rear glass, so as not to crack rear glass. May also have to loosen headers at that point, I suppose. Reinstallation is the reverse, just a little more time consuming to plug back on.

Good luck. I'm not a serious mechanic and have found it to be very easy on my car, though admittedly a Dash 2 is a bit more time consuming if don't want to bend the tabs, in many cases. Just don't apply much upward ZF pressure until it's substantially unplugged as you don't want to bend the ZF's input shaft!

FWIW,
I pulled mine out with the bell housing. You have (2) allen head bolts that go into the ZF-2 from inside of the bell housing. Couldn't figure out how to get them out without pulling the bell housing.

Coz,

Didn't you run into the same issue with those two allen bolts when you puled your ZF? As I recall, you were going to leave them out when you reinstalled it because they were deemed not entirely necessary. What's your input on re-using these two allen bolts? Can we leave them out with no consequence? Thanks.

Michael

There was debate over this Michael back and forth with those I talked to about it. Some say they are part of the support around the bell housing, some say they don't matter.

I decided that I would replace them with studs that screw into the ZF and slide into the bell housing. This still gives the support some say it needs and yet makes it possible to remove the ZF without pulling the bell housing.

Just makes it a little easier if you have to pull the ZF the next time. Your still going to have to pull the bell housing down the road if your going to replace the clutch or pressure plate. But at least this way it can be pulled in two pices or not at all if you don't have to.

quote:

Originally posted by Cyboman:
Coz,

Didn't you run into the same issue with those two allen bolts when you puled your ZF? As I recall, you were going to leave them out when you reinstalled it because they were deemed not entirely necessary. What's your input on re-using these two allen bolts? Can we leave them out with no consequence? Thanks.

Michael

You don't have to bend the tabs. Just take the 3 bolts off the ears holding the mounts to the ZF, remove the 2 bolts holding the mounts and shims on each side and the gearbox will come out. When putting it back in, I put the gear box in place, bolted everything down, then inserted the mounts back into position from under the car and bolted them back in place. The ZF had to be rasied a little to get the mount back in on the drivers side. No big deal.

[QUOTE] If you have a dash 2 it takes longer unless you're willing to bend your side mount tabs to enable you to pull the ZF straight back.

Great solution, Coz!

You get to keep the support, and have the flexibility to remove the trans in two pieces. Thanks for sharing.

Michael

I have a dash 1, the car is an early Pantera. After reading the posts I am going to go for it. Thanks for all the help!!!!

AJThree,

Why don't you try to get a few other Pantera enthusiasts to come over to lend a hand? Have a ZF pulling party. You don't have to have hats and noise makers, but some pizza would probably be appreciated. It'll make the task seem easier and be more enjoyable!

Michael

3hrs for first timers, taking your time, probly 30 min for experienced people:



Gary

First, buy a service manual. The guys have given you a good description of the proceedure and the manual was very good with the order of operations.
I have not heard of anyone that did not have to jack up the back of the motor to get enough clearance at the back of the ZF to remove it. I sure did. Maybe a Dash 1 car is different and someone can chime in here.
My ZF had been out before, so this had been done before and this may have contributed to my problem. You have to jack it up once to get it out and again to get it back in so you're putting a lot of pressure on the oil pan. I have heard of a custom jack fixture that wraps around the pan and seats where the pan bolts to the block, but no one could tell me where to get one and I tried all the vendors. Pantera Performance had one that they made, but it was not for sale, rent, or trade, and I never got the chance to steal it! Not a lot of clearance for such a fixture anyway. If you jack yours up, Do NOT leave the motor jacked up on blocks while you're working on the ZF.
Here's why...
The only place to jack the motor up is at the back edge of the bottom of the oil pan. If you have an aluminum aftermarket pan, you're in good shape. If you have a stock steel pan, it is possible that you will compress the pan upward enough to hit the crank. There is VERy little clearance between them.
When I got my ZF back in I turned over the motor and did not hear anything...but when I started it...thap thap thap thap...sure enough, the crank was clipping the inside of the oil pan.
At this point you have two choices...hi tech...or hillbilly.
High tech (clearly the proper way to deal with it) is to sawsall out the frame cross member and the parking brake bracket. Pantera Performance sells new bolt-in brackets to replace these. This can all be done with the engine and ZF in the car. This allows you to put in a $300 aluminum oil pan that will be stiff enough to withstand further jacking up (so to speak).
Hillbilly (the way I did it) involves a big nut, a big washer, a slide hammer, and a welder (oh, and a change of oil and filter). Find a nut that fits the end of your slide hammer, weld it to a big washer, then tack weld that washer to the oil pan in four small spots. The pan is not that strong (that's how we got here in the first place) so you won't need to whack it hard to pop it back out.
Start the car. If the clatter is gone, stop it and change the oil and filter. I know this is going to horrify some of you (sorry, George) but with the small tack welds and immidiate oil change, I'm hoping not too much crystalized crap got into the oil. I'm hoping.
This is my story and I'm stick'in to it.
Mooso.

I have a dash1 and have taken it out. I raised the back of the car on a jack and then lowered it onto a vertical 1x4 about 14 inches long. I put the board behind the oil pan on the oil pan bolts. When I lowered the car "carfully" the board raises the back of the motor enough to get the trans out. In fact I had to do it twice. Measure from the floor to the back oil pan bolts and cut your board about 1 or 1 1/2 inches longer. When you let the car down, you will have clearence. If you make it too long you wil have a 3 point stance with the rear wheels off the ground...not very stable. Use front chocks and common sense.

Somthing elese....If you have a rear single mount. Mine broke a stud off in the trans, when I went to drill it out it fell inside.{ long story that involved a magnet and shaking it upside down, finally got it out}. That is how I learned to remove it. I bought a side mount kit from PI and did away with the rear. It is now much stronger and reliable. I think it was a poor design to use long studs at that rear mount.