Engine/tranny install as a unit

I get the sweaty palms every time I have to lay under my Commando for any amount of time even though I have good strong jack stands and some backup insurance like extra stands or timber blocks. So that being said, rather than laying there with my tranny up on a jack and trying to wrestle it to match up with my 304 , I want to install it thru the front grill area as a unit . What is involved in removing my grill or if necessary the front clip to slide the combo into place to keep my time under the Jeep to a minimum? Any tips or shortcuts to the procedure would really help. Thanks, Bob

 

I know how you feel. I have never worked on a commando, but have done many transmission and engine removal installations on chevy blazers and suburbans in less than ideal conditions. I never had a concrete slab to work on until recently, so i would use 3/4 plywood to make a flat surface to roll jacks on.

I wouldn't think about doing that engine/transmission/transfer case through the grill if you have one of those fold up harbor fright type engine hoists. They are ok to use at half the rated load capacity on perfectly level concrete. Do not use them for anything other than engine alone and perfect conditions. They are really junk and unsafe for real work.

I have some extra 6x6's laying around just for this type of work. Always use jack stands and I always supplement with 6x6's. Chock the wheels. you can't really be too safe. What I do when I cannot use an engine hoist through the inside of the cab to pull the transmission up is to use a floor jack under the oil pan on automatics. you can do this on manuals with the transfer case installed too, but its neither easy or safe. I always have done this alone.

Engine gets a jack stand or a floor jack and a piece of wood under the pan and I get the transmission on a floor jack through brute force and then jack it up in the relative position tight up to the body so it can't really fall off and hurt me.

This is dumb by the way, but the only way to do it if you have no money, a broken transmission and you either walk to work or get fired. I would now buy a transmission jack from harbor freight and do it right, well as right as harbor fright can be.

If you have a manual transmission and ability to drop a chain or strap through the inside of the cab and lift with an engine hoist, by all means do that. Leave the transmission in gear, take off shift tower, use bolts from shift tower to install lifting eyes or bolts and attach sling or chain. lift into place and turn the output to align the splines into the splines of the clutch friction hub. Don't use bolts to pull the bell housing to the engine if there is any resistance to coming together.

I know other guys here have done this better than me, but this is basically how i do it. Oh, if you lay in ATF it will burn your skin.

 

It'd be a whole lot easier with a Jeepster, not as easy on a Commando but I guess it could be done if you're so inclined. Once you remove the grille then you'd have to remove the whole rad support. Not a particularly hard job just time consuming and probably some broken bolts.

 

Clip on a Commando should come off, just like on a Jeepster. Clip comes off my J-trucks. What's the hangup?

I would not hesitate to remove the clip and yank everything out the front. Use your hoist to lift the clip. Strap a 2x4 across the top of the clip if you worry about bending the core support.

 

So the engine is in and connected already?:? I wouldn't take off anything I did not have to. Automatic transmissions pop right in, but the standard shifts' clutch splines need to be aligned properly or you will struggle to no avail. I never wrestle with transmissions, they install like bolts do. A 3/8 bolt may fall into a 7/16 hole, but it won't tighten and by the same token, a 7/16 bolt will not fit into a 3/8 hole.

K.I.S.S!