DIY repairs.

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Simon W

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Fellow Frogger
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Jan 23, 2012
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Gold Coast
I wonder if there are any Froggers in the Bris/Gold Coast area who have a garage with a hoist who might consider hiring it out for two or three days. I am going to be doing a gearbox change, engine sump gasket and front shocks on a 505 GTi wagon?

I have my own tools and equipment, and have done these before without a host...but for the gearbox change in particular, it would be so much easier with a hoist.
 
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You'll need a second person, too.....and / or a gearbox hoist/support thingy. The automatics are a bloody heavy gearbox. Or is it manual ? I can't recall if they came out in manual.
 
Beano said:
You'll need a second person, too.....and / or a gearbox hoist/support thingy. The automatics are a bloody heavy gearbox. Or is it manual ? I can't recall if they came out in manual.
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Yeah I had a couple of manual GTi wagons.
 
Not that this will help you, I'm too far away But I think that is a great idea. If anyone wants to borrow my two post hoist I'm in North VIC.
 
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If your doing this job on your own you will need one of these:

Transmission Jacks - Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse

Become a Machineryhouse Mate! Australia's leading supplier of Engineering, Metal & Wood working machinery. Buy online or in-store.
www.machineryhouse.com.au www.machineryhouse.com.au

The other way is to enlist the help of a mate to lift the gearbox up into place and put a couple of bolts in the bell housing.
 
Beano said:
You'll need a second person, too.....and / or a gearbox hoist/support thingy. The automatics are a bloody heavy gearbox. Or is it manual ? I can't recall if they came out in manual.
Click to expand...
BA 7/5...manual...heavyish, but manageable, just. I have done 3.5 (had to take one out of a donor car to put in mine, hence the half) of these changes on my own, without hoist; a lot of mucking around due to having to move rear axle back (as you'd know), I only used two axle stands for the car...I don't know that getting the car onto and working under the car using 4 stands is a good idea safety wise. Instead I have used two, with one end always on the deck (chocked) and have had to jack/prop swap between front and back a couple of times.
Yes a gearbox support stand thingy if a hoist were use would be good....probably could get around it by dropping the hoist down low for the actual drop and insertion part (which kind of negates some of the advantage of using a hoist I guess), but I don't have a thingy!
 
COL said:
If your doing this job on your own you will need one of these:

Transmission Jacks - Hare & Forbes Machineryhouse

Become a Machineryhouse Mate! Australia's leading supplier of Engineering, Metal & Wood working machinery. Buy online or in-store.
www.machineryhouse.com.au www.machineryhouse.com.au

The other way is to enlist the help of a mate to lift the gearbox up into place and put a couple of bolts in the bell housing.
Click to expand...
Too true. I did the whole gearbox / clutch change on our last 308 up until the point of getting the first bolt through the bellhousing. A third hand was invaluable for this.

Cheers

Justin
 
Failing everything else, you can use a trolley jack for limited lifting of the 'box at a judiciously chosen point maybe at the rear so you only have to lift the front and mate it to the engine if doing it flat on the garage floor. That is how I did all my 'box swaps/services. You need to know how much to lift the car up for your application to begin with and judge if this is going to be out of range for the trolley jack.

I found the most safe way to keep the car up is to use heavy timber beams under the sills or such front and rear. Beam ends resting on bricks. Wheels don't need to come off either if doing a RWD car. Some FWD cars can have the front wheels on until the 'box is in.
 
schlitzaugen said:
Failing everything else, you can use a trolley jack for limited lifting of the 'box at a judiciously chosen point maybe at the rear so you only have to lift the front and mate it to the engine if doing it flat on the garage floor. That is how I did all my 'box swaps/services. You need to know how much to lift the car up for your application to begin with and judge if this is going to be out of range for the trolley jack.

I found the most safe way to keep the car up is to use heavy timber beams under the sills or such front and rear. Beam ends resting on bricks. Wheels don't need to come off either if doing a RWD car. Some FWD cars can have the front wheels on until the 'box is in.
Click to expand...
Again a trolley jack fitted with a gearbox adapter would be invaluable if doing the job on your own.

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I have done Renault R12 transaxle changes on my own in my younger days laying on my back. This was when I was younger and stronger, not sure I would want to change out gearboxes/tranaxles without some sort of mechanical lifting device now.
 
COL said:
Again a trolley jack fitted with a gearbox adapter would be invaluable if doing the job on your own.

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I have done Renault R12 transaxle changes on my own in my younger days laying on my back. This was when I was younger and stronger, not sure I would want to change out gearboxes/tranaxles without some sort of mechanical lifting device now.
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Yes, so did I. But the 352 isn't that heavy.

And yes, something to keep the tranny from falling off the jack would be great.

I also used an engine crane with a long sling attached to lift the 'box at the clutch end roughly where it needs to be before trying to level it with the trolley jack at the other end. If the sling is one of those ratchet straps even better, you can fine tune how much you lift it from under the car.
 
schlitzaugen said:
Yes, so did I. But the 352 isn't that heavy.

And yes, something to keep the tranny from falling off the jack would be great.

I also used an engine crane with a long sling attached to lift the 'box at the clutch end roughly where it needs to be before trying to level it with the trolley jack at the other end. If the sling is one of those ratchet straps even better, you can fine tune how much you lift it from under the car.
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When I test fitted the NG3 into my R12 project I used a similar idea. A soft sling around a bearer for the roof of the shed, a soft sling around the balance point of the transaxle and one of those little 250 Kg come-a-longs. I tried to man handle the transaxle into place but gave up because I was only born with two arms and hands and really need 3 to 4.

Unfortunately I don't think you could use this approach in a rear wheel drive car as there is not enough of the gearbox ahead of the fire wall to allow the rigging gear to hang vertically and also a gearbox would have a different balance point than a transaxle does.
 
COL said:
When I test fitted the NG3 into my R12 project I used a similar idea. A soft sling around a bearer for the roof of the shed, a soft sling around the balance point of the transaxle and one of those little 250 Kg come-a-longs. I tried to man handle the transaxle into place but gave up because I was only born with two arms and hands and really need 3 to 4.

Unfortunately I don't think you could use this approach in a rear wheel drive car as there is not enough of the gearbox ahead of the fire wall to allow the rigging gear to hang vertically and also a gearbox would have a different balance point than a transaxle does.
Click to expand...
Yep,

a 505 is a very different kettle of fish, I'm going to be removing it from the rear, not taking the engine out, so that isn't an option.

I've done a few of these on my own (all manuals) with no hoist, dropping /lifting the box using blocks of wood and a trolley jack and another screw jack works ok, just a lot of in and out trips under the car and working on your back which would be so much easier using a hoist. I reckon I could probably use a table and some chocks of timber to support the box for the drop and insert, with some deft use of the raise/lower buttons in place of a gearbox jack stand, if a hoist were available.
 
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