Continuing to prepare for the transmission removal, I took off most of the bell housing bolts, but left the top two. I also put in long bolts on the two sides of the bell housing. When I finally pull the transmission away from the flywheel housing, these long bolts will support the tranny and allow me to pull it straight back to disengage the input shaft from the clutch. See photo number 25 below.
Next is to loosened (not take off) the tranny cross member support bolts. In photo 26 below, you'll see an arrow pointing to one of the shims that keep the tranny centered and tight between the chassis rails. These shims are driven in from the top with the bolts in place, but loose. To take the shims out, I have to drive them up and out. See photos 27 and 28.
Looking around my stash piles, I found a couple of brackets that I'll use to attach a lifting chain to the sides of the transmission. See photos 29 and 30.
I don't have a cherry-picker style engine hoist, but I do have a Hoyer lift that can lift 450 pounds, so it'll do the trick. See photo 31. I made a boom attachment for it from a steel bar that used to be part of the original 1947 garage door mechanism in our house. Repurpose!!
Photo 32 was taken a moment before I tried to back the transmission away from the engine block. In photo 33, the tranny has disengaged from the block and is dangling from the lift and the long bolts. Safety first!
In pic 34, the transmission has been lowered to the ground and you can see the pressure plate still attached to the flywheel.
