Remove the transmission tunnel aluminum, then remove the shifter. Put it on the highest jack stands that you can. Remove the driveshaft and the trans support bracket. Put a floor jack under the front edge of the bellhousing so that the back of the engine, and trans, tilts up a little. There are two ways to support the trans: 1. Get a trans scissors jack from Harbor freight for $70, wiggle out the t5 onto the jack. This works best if you have two people. Or, 2: position your engine lift over the trans tunnel, and suspend the trans through the top of the tunnel with lifting straps. Wiggle out the trans as you lift up with the lift, going back and forth a little at a time until it is free. You can do it alone, I did. It is a PIA but it is doable without taking out the engine or bellhousing. Good luck.

 

I have done this many times with my roadster, the coupe should be pretty much the same. As noclot said put it up on the highest jackstands you have. Do everything noclot said, but I did not have to remove the trans tunnel aluminum. When sliding the trans out of the bellhousing rotate it 90 degrees to the drivers side so the shifter opening points to the drivers side. Slide the trans as far back as you can, wiggling it back towards the rear axle. Put a jack under it and pull the input shaft down as you slide it forward, resting it on the jack as you slowly lower it. You may or may not have to remove the bellhousing to get the input shaft to clear. I've had to do it both ways on the same car, it depends on how far back you can get the trans and the angle it comes out at. Removing it is no big deal, takes an additional 10 minutes. I have done this so much that I timed it the last time and it took me an hour and a half, including putting the car up on jackstands. By the way my roadster is a MKii and it does not have a removable trans mount tube, just like my coupe I'm building. I had multiple trans failures a couple years ago so I got really good in pulling it, four times in the same summer. The last time a new T5 went in from Forte. No problems since. One item of note that you can scratch up the frame so put some cardboard between it and the trans, blankets can wad up and make it difficult to get the trans out. Also be careful you don't get your fingers pinched between the trans and frame, I know from experience and it hurts! HTH!

 

In anticipation of these replies I did start n the project yesterday and did pretty much what you guys have described. However so far I can't get the angle to get the old trans out. Might have to remove the bell housing which I was trying to avoid. :frown2:
Thanks for the input, I'll let you guys know how I do.

John

 

We pulled the trans out of a MK3 a couple weeks ago and learned that the '94+ trans have a longer input shaft & deeper bellhousing. We could not remove the trans without removing the bellhousing first.
(If there is a way, please let us know before we re-install it)

 

I've done it three times, without removing the tunnel aluminum nor the bellhousing. I did drain it and remove the shifter fully.

I am coupe 258 (grey body) so not sure if there were any changes to the frame subsequently. I do not have a removable trans mount.

The trick was to rotate the T5 90 degrees and elevate to the side that the bottom has been turned towards. Get that as high as possible and slide it to the rear, so that the front shaft clears the bellhousing. Then pull the front shaft to the opposite side as much as possible and it sort of tips down through the opening.

Dont depress the clutch while the tranny is dis-engaged as you would then have t realign your clutch plate.

Putting in a new TKO 600 and new bellhousing was much more difficult. I dont have a trans lift, but did have a second pair of hands. We tried for about 3 hours, and almost gave up . Tried one last time and it worked, only to have the shift sliders come out of alignment so the TKO wouldnt shift. Luckily, pulled off the cover plate and was able to use a long screwdriver from the shifter hole in the tunnel to push them back in place. Not sure I could do that again.

Regards, Mike

 

The key, in my one experience, was to tilt the transmission and engine up to clear the rear supports. One the driveshaft and turns support are out, the engine tails easily on the polyurethane mounts. Just take your time and you will get it.