Shifter and driveshaft assembly

[essi1553]

So I have my new motor and trans assembled and back into the car (currently only set on the motor mounts) and I'm having one hell of a time trying to get the driveshaft and shift linkage all together.

Currently the shift linkage is only connected through the rear bushing (allowing it to slide back and forth) but im having a hard time lining the bitch clip area together, and more importantly getting the actual clip to rotate. once I get it through the appropriate holes. I'm not too worried about connecting the DSSR because it seems like I have much more access than the top half of the linkage.

Also the car is in neutral with the guibo already attached to the transmission, but getting the bolts from the driveshaft through them is proving to be another obstacle. I've already loosened the CSB and lowered the shaft but it does not provide much more clearance, and it's currently just short of being able to slide the bolts into place to mate everything together.

I would appreciate any tips or suggestions. You guys have been very helpful so far. Thanks in advance.

[tomstin]

Have you considered lowering the transmission a few inches to give you some clearance? I installed a jack stand under the bulk of the transmission, disconnected the transmission cross member and lowered the transmission a few inches.

I have the older shifter assembly and can attest to the test of patience required to rebuild that shifter with the car on jack stands.

Make sure the flex disk is installed in the correct orientation first. Then you may need to loosen the bolts to the transmission to make enough space to get the driveshaft bolts installed.

Don't forget to preload the center support bearing when you reinstall. Hopefully you marked it before you loosened it.

[essi1553]

Thank you for your input.

I was able to get the shifter assembled! The garagatastic alum bushings are not forgiving in the least (and in my opinion, a hair too thick). I had to wire brush everything absolutely clean, primarily the bitch clip (which was the main problem) After that, and a lot of fiddling I was able to get everything to match up correctly (it feels good to be able to shift through the gears despite the fact that the engine isn't hooked up yet).

The driveshaft is the new issue, but not the same as before. It seems like it retracted towards the diff, the bolts were able to line up to the guibo without issue. It's almost impossible to see whether the bushing (that mounts of the driveshaft to the transmission input shaft) is lined up correctly. Because of this and the fact that the bolts of the driveshaft flange do not come out on the other side of the guibo I'm thinking it's not lined up correctly. Is there an easy way to remedy this?

[hot carl]

i had the same issue recently putting a DSSR and shifter assembly together recently.
i had to use a dremel to grind down the bitch clip by ~0.003" to fit into the new bushing.
i still had to use a length of steel pipe leveraged between the chassis and clip to push it into place! even then it just *barely* fit. at least the shifter is super tight now! lol.

as far as the driveshaft, it is probably collapsed at the collar behind the CSB. make sure that the splined area is lubed up nicely, and bolt the diff end in. leave the CSB unbolted so you can move the axle around. wiggle and giggle that front half into place and shove forward. worked for me. it may help to have the trans lowered, too.
don't forget to tighten the collar on the splined center bit and preload the CSB a little.
hope this helps.

EDIT: just reread your post.
try attaching the guibo to the driveshaft and then attaching that as a unit to trans. that's how i pulled/installed my driveshaft.
also, i do have the dumb vibration damper that makes it impossible to get at the back (trans side) of the guibo when it's installed.

[essi1553]

Hot Carl, you we're exactly right. Thank you.

The driveshaft did collapse at the CSB and once I loosened that locking collar and tapped it a couple of times it started moving into place. I was able to get it to match up without issue after lubricating it and using a bit of elbow grease. I didn't have to remove the guibo to do it because of how much the csb collapsed I had more than enough room to work it's way in there.

The shifter feels great, very tight indeed, but I hope I never have to remove it again!