OT: DIY Gearbox lift

[whiskychaser]

Easy enough to take the gearbox out on a trolley jack. Putting it back in is another question. If its a manual you have the splines to worry about-if its an auto (like mine) you dont want to install the TC crooked. And the auto is a damn sight heavier! My brother came up with this solution. The bottom 'deck' is on 6 castors so you can move it backwards and fowards, side to side. You can raise the box a midge's in any direction by turning the nuts on the six studs under the 'top' deck. The MK1 design enabled you to put the box on the lift, push it under the car, then raise it. I didnt think having the car that high was safe and the studs might bend. So we chopped them down and man-handled the box onto the lift once it was underneath. I've done a quite a few box swaps over the years but have never been able to screw all the bolts in finger tight from the off!:)

[E34-520iSE]

What a great idea, much better than resting the box on yourself! It looks like it's made from timber battens and plywood. Any chance of some more pics?

Cheers,

Shaun M

[ryan roopnarine]

here in 'murrica, we have a purveyor of cheap, lead coated chinese crap called harbor freight. after d*cking around with multiple trolley jacks, &c. &c., i went there and spent about $60 on a scissor operated transmission jack. this was cheaper than renting a trans jack for multiple days. my friend (the one helping me) insisted that I was being "ghey" and that we could do it without. 30 minutes after putting the trans on the jack, we had it mated up properly and 4 bolts in (and this is whith the exhaust in place). that contraption looks like it costed you more time than money, which is ok so long as it got the job done.

sometimes you need to bite the bullet and get the right tool for the job.

[yaofeng]

[QUOTE=ryan roopnarine;305964]here in 'murrica, we have a purveyor of cheap, lead coated chinese crap called harbor freight. QUOTE]

That is why the greenbacks are worthless these days. By the same token it is also why people in the UK are paying a ransom for what they want to get they need to re-engineer a jack.

My garage is bursting at the seams with tools made in you-know-where.

[whiskychaser]

i went there and spent about $60 on a scissor operated transmission jack. this was cheaper than renting a trans jack for multiple days. my friend (the one helping me) insisted that I was being "ghey" and that we could do it without. 30 minutes after putting the trans on the jack, we had it mated up properly and 4 bolts in (and this is whith the exhaust in place). that contraption looks like it costed you more time than money, which is ok so long as it got the job done.

sometimes you need to bite the bullet and get the right tool for the job.

£30 wont buy a decent trolley jack:D. The only scissor type transmission jack I could find didnt have lateral adjustment. Whoever laid the concrete on the drive was thinking drainage, not somebody was going to be changing a gearbox in 30 years time:D Will post some more pics when I get them off the camera:)

[E34-520iSE]

£30 won't get you much tool-wise. A pair of axle stands maybe, or a spanner set, maybe a couple of loaves of bread lol!

ATB,

Shaun M

[whiskychaser]

£30 won't get you much tool-wise. A pair of axle stands maybe, or a spanner set, maybe a couple of loaves of bread lol!

ATB,

Shaun M

True:D Will pm you the spec and some more pics when I get them off the proper camera. The design was adapted from one he knocked up to move the piano:D

[E34-520iSE]

Great!!

ATB,

Shaun M

[Ferret]

£30 won't get you much tool-wise. A pair of axle stands maybe, or a spanner set, maybe a couple of loaves of bread lol!

ATB,

Shaun M

... or 1/3 an E34 tank of petrol ;)

Mine cost me 85 quid / 170 USD to fill up yesterday, and that was still with about 10/15 quids worth of fuel in the tank.

£100/200USD dry to full? Ouch!

[Ferret]

Easy enough to take the gearbox out on a trolley jack. Putting it back in is another question. If its a manual you have the splines to worry about-if its an auto (like mine) you dont want to install the TC crooked. And the auto is a damn sight heavier! My brother came up with this solution. The bottom 'deck' is on 6 castors so you can move it backwards and fowards, side to side. You can raise the box a midge's in any direction by turning the nuts on the six studs under the 'top' deck. The MK1 design enabled you to put the box on the lift, push it under the car, then raise it. I didnt think having the car that high was safe and the studs might bend. So we chopped them down and man-handled the box onto the lift once it was underneath. I've done a quite a few box swaps over the years but have never been able to screw all the bolts in finger tight from the off!:)

Nice job! We just kinda bollixed it all together balancing on a jack, took us an hour of fiddling but it went in eventually.

Swearing is an integral part of a gearbox job without the right tools :D

Wouldnt like to try it with an auto!

[E34-520iSE]

... or 1/3 an E34 tank of petrol ;)

Mine cost me 85 quid / 170 USD to fill up yesterday, and that was still with about 10/15 quids worth of fuel in the tank.

£100/200USD dry to full? Ouch!

Shhh, don't remind me. My car stays square wheeled more often now!

Cheers,

Shaun M

[whiskychaser]

Nice job! We just kinda bollixed it all together balancing on a jack, took us an hour of fiddling but it went in eventually.

Swearing is an integral part of a gearbox job without the right tools :D

Wouldnt like to try it with an auto!

The only swearing I did was 'fck me , that was easy!' when it went right in:D
And we can use the lift later to get coal to heat up the water for the tin bath ;)