Tips on removing TH400 on the ground

I'm contemplating removing the TH400 from my Electra so I can go through it and replace all the aged seals. Part of me thinks it isn't many steps to remove the transmission when the car is on tall jack stands. I believe there will be enough room without having to raise or undo the engine mount bolts.

Has anyone here done it on jack stands? Was the difficult part dropping the transmission from the engine without literally dropping it? I could see struggling with it on a floor jack and worrying about it falling off. Any other tips of advice?

As I'm writing this, the idea of renting a trailer for a day and bringing the car to the shop to have it pulled on the lift seems much easier...:idea2:

 

As I have no access to a lift its the only way I have been doing it for over 40 years. The trick is to get it HIGH enough to be able to get it out from under the car. Most Floor jacks don't go high enough so you have to use jack stands then release the floor jack and put a spacer on top of the jack pad and jack it up again. A 4x4 with a 2x4 nailed to it is perfect for getting the car to the correct height to get the trans out.

Pulling a 400 is easy. The last one I did was in my Avanti. It was a little tight but I got it out my self and put it back in. It is nice to have a helper just to hold the jack stationary while you get the trans up onto the jack saddle. Wait until you have the trans on the jack to put the convertor in. pull the driveshaft. 6 trans to engine bolts. 3 converter bolts. Trans mount. 4 trans mount crossmember bolts . Linkage and speedo cable. 2 trans lines. pull trans dipstick tube . I am usually done in a hour as long as I have all the wrenchs under the car with me.

Believe me a lift is in my dreams for the future because since I turned 60 I hate working on my back on the ground but I KNOW I can still do it. I did my Avanti last year.

 

Well, took about 3 hours to pull it and clean up. Drive shaft gave me the biggest hassle, followed by the torque converter spilling everywhere. :laugh:

Larry, I think I will be investing in one of those for the re installation. Front pump to case gasket was definitely leaking. Going to go through the trans, seals, clutches etc and then probably get a stock torque converter.

 

The very first thing is to remove the oil pan and drain that whore. remove the fileter and some more will come out. then put pan up with three bolts . Then in this order,
drive shaft,
speedo cable,
linkage clip,
torque converter cover
torque converter bolts
trans mount
modulator hosepipe holder bolt
get your jack under it
crossmenber, bring it down some
if you dont have dual exghst youl want to remove it from the manifoles before the torque converter bolts.
if you have dual leaving them on will help keep the motor up.
cooler lines
bell housing
slide it back make sure the converter is all the way in
bring it down.

 

Did it once like that on the 72 EW... stands were just high enough (less than 1/2" play) to get the tranny from under the car on a piece of ply wood. Tranny wasn't responding at all, so I had to do it local.
Big issue came when after changing all possible components and seals it needed to get attached back to the engine... no fun: hard to lift that thing back up again.
Next times I took the car to a garage with a lift for a tranny operation :Smarty:

Tip: maybe put a pan back with a drain plug.

 

So this is what I do. I have an off topic chevelle (race car). I am frequently taking out the trans. Getting it down is no big deal . Its the going up. I get the tranny under the car with a creeper or a piece of sheet metal to slide it. I have one of those wheel chocks you see at any loading dock for the back. Then I put a couple pins through two bellhousing holes. Place a 4x4 under those pins and raise that with a bottle jack. When I have the trans high enough I just slide the floor jack underneath. Might sound like a pain in the ass ,but when you get it down it is rather easy.