[hawk2100n]

After 8 hours the new tranmission and cluch are in the car. The job went smoothly overall but it is flat out a lot of work. A couple of issues I ran into.

There are two bolts attaching the starter to the engine block and go through the bell housing. One is short and one is longer ~4". The long one was apparently siezed to the block for the last 1/4" of threads and these broke off and marred up the hole some. I was able to use a tap and very carefully clean up the remaining 1.25" of threads. Easier said than done as you have to make sure the bolt goes straight into the tap or you will crossthread the whole bolt. I ground off the marred section and the bolt went back in smoothly.

I ordered the replacement clutch from RockAuto. Got the RhinoPac clutch kit and matching flywheel. It came with the wrong throwout bearing. The bearing on the replacement transmission was like new so I reluctantly used that.

Maiting the transmission back up to the car is difficult and requires extra jacks to support the weight. An engine hoist might have helped. Car was on a 2 post lift so I could move the whole car up and down.

Donor transmission had some water in it from sitting so I flushed it as best as I could with compressed air and filled it with 2 quarts of 10w-30. I will put in Pennzoil Synchromesh in 100-200 miles.

Brand new Pennsoil Synchromesh can leak out of the bottle and all over your trunk even if you havent opened it.

The car drives like it is brand new. I can't believe how many NVH issues were caused by a bad transmission. There was a lot of slop that you would feel if you let off the gas and got back on and now thats gone. Car is way quieter and smoother to drive. I also fixed a exhaust leak that was worse than I thought so that is also quieter. I am extremely satisfied with how the car now drives and would recommend replacing the trans to anyone who may have the problems I had.

Total cost was just over $500
Transmission $220
Clutch, flywheel, slave cylinder $190 including $50 express shipping from RockAuto
Shop access + supplies $83 (military auto hobby shops are great; tools, lifts, supplies and advice)
MTF $18