Auto Transmission bolt mystery

[jdeck5504]

So I have inherited a 1980 AMC eagle station wagon and the motor was rebuilt and the transmission was almost rebuilt, I had finished rebuilding the transmission and now I’m lost to to how many bolts, thread and length of each bolt, and where each one goes, if anyone can give me some guidance it’d be appreciated cause this eagle needs to fly soon

[AMC of Houston]

You talking just the bolt attaching the trans to the engine??   Or others?   I have specs for just about any bolt on the Eagle (via the AMC Standard Parts Catalog).

[jdeck5504]

Just the bell housing to engine block bolts, all the other I have an idea about since they were left alone pretty much

[AMC of Houston]

OK; per the catalogs:

The 5 bolts across the top are part number J4001885 "BOLT, Hex Head, with Conical Spring Washer".  Those are Grade 5 steel, 3/8"x16 thread, 2.19" length (measured from under the head to the end of the bolt), with a conical spring washer (you can use a Grade 5 flat washer if needed).

The 2 lower bolts are part number J4004370 "BOLT, Hex Head, with Conical Spring Washer".  Those are Grade 5 steel, 7/16"x14 thread, 2.75" length (measured from under the head to the end of the bolt), with a conical spring washer (you can use a Grade 5 flat washer if needed).  These will have a Grade 5 nut on the other end.

Hope this helps.

[jdeck5504]

Thanks, i now have each bolt in their spot and now im stuck trying to figure out the transmission mount layout as well as the best way to tighten down two if the top bolts towards the driver side

[vangremlin]

You might be able to reach those top bolts from the top, but more likely you will need some extensions and a swivel joint and come in from the back.  Good luck!

[MIPS]

Sorry for the hijack but how exactly do you torque the upper bolts during the reinstall? A torque wrench is almost useless on a U-joint and three feet of extensions.

[AMC of Houston]

I actually managed to use a torque wrench on those - once - not worth the trouble to do it again.   I used a 1/2 drive super-long extension, a short impact wiggle socket, with another impact wiggle under that socket.    Would almost make 90 degrees of bend!

[djm3452004]

I don't know why people on here give others so much grief about it, but I just used a 1" hole saw and cut 2 holes in the trans tunnel in the locations that corresponded with a straight socket/short extension "path" to the outer 2 of the upper 3 trans bolts.  Locating those holes needs to be done carefully if you go for that method.  You don't want to Swiss-cheese your tunnel/firewall. 

The end-result of the above is that all 3 of the top mount bolts can be accessed easily from inside the car with a socket and 6" extension.

After cleaning the holes up, closed them up with 1.25" rubber grommets (Dorman CTI 90306) and moved on with life.  I'm too old and too anal about achieving correct torque values on critical mountings than to spend my time contorting and using 3 feet of extensions to tighten those bolts.  In my case, I've had the engine/auto trans removed multiple times before finally going with a 5-speed, so it paid to make things easier.

But beware, if you do what I described and say so, there are many on this site that will consider you a failure for doing so.  It's apparently a rite of passage in the Eagle world to make life unnecessarily difficult on yourself. 


David

I actually managed to use a torque wrench on those - once - not worth the trouble to do it again.   I used a 1/2 drive super-long extension, a short impact wiggle socket, with another impact wiggle under that socket.    Would almost make 90 degrees of bend!

[AMC of Houston]

BBWWWAAAAAhhhaaahahahahahahahahaaa.  Making life unnecessarily difficult on myself is what I do best!!   One of the 2 reasons I bought the Aston Martin - the other reason being that its the prettiest car I ever saw in my life!