Quick transmission and rear removal tips?

I don't have a whole lot of spare time these days, and I need to get the tranny and rear end out to take them in for a rebuild.

My problem is my exhaust pipe is welded end to end. Some said the pipe wasn't a big deal, but I'm wondering if it's possible to do it without removing the bell housing. I'm thinking the tranny is going to need to move a whole lot farther back onto the pipe to get out of the bell housing than if I were to remove it attached. Then angling it down and all that to slide it out. Could be NOT fun.

By no spare time I'm talking less than half a weekend day if it's not raining. I can't afford to noodle around and then have to go back to work with it all half out.
Any quickie tips would be great.

depending on who built your exhaust, it can be incredibly simple, or very very tough. It all depends on if they used your head when bending it around the tranny.

my exhaust is fully welded too and I had no trouble dropping the rear end and trans. you do not have to touch your bell housing to pull the trans. there are the 4 bolts holding them together and it slides out. I took the shifter assembly completely out of the trans before pulling it, and did not have clearance issues.

the rear end is pretty easy too, just disconnect the ABS wires to the sensors inside the trunk (under the carpet, going from the drivers side to the center front of the trunk), e brake cables, single brake line, torque struts, regular struts and control arms.

You may have to drop the downpipe so you can pull the exhaust down a few inches. This should give you just enough room to slide the tranny back to clear the input shaft from the bellhousing. Drain the fluid from the tranny to reduce the chance of it leaking out of the tailshaft. Remove the tranny mount at the rear too. It took me 2.5 hours to pull the tranny on my 87 on a lift cause of the exhaust being in the way.

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Tony Sceia -

HIS - Red 88 TC, Med Red with Raven Leather & every option, Walbro 255, 3" SS Downpipe with Magnaflow Dual SS 2.5 Cat Back system, 3-core Radiator, Star Stage 3 Clutch, Rebuilt T-5 Tranny, 4:10 rear, 140 MPH Speedo, New Paint, Headlights, Refinished Snowflakes & New Tires.

HERS - Blue 87 TC, fully loaded with every option, Gilies Valve, K & N Filter, 3-core Radiator...just needs a little body work & a new paint job.

87 TC - Bought as a Parts Car, & will remain a parts car now that I found the blue one.

I had to pull the t5 from my stang so many times that I finaly got the process down to 45 minutes to pull one and replace it. An auto id a different animal of course.

The pipe crosses over to the drivers side right at the tailshaft of the tranny. I'm not sure what you mean by "who's head they used"...No one bent a pipe over my head that I remember [Image: biggrin.gif]

Sounds like I may be able to whip it out fairly easily. Last time I did it, I had the stock exhaust so I just removed the whole thing.