Currently, I've been sidetracked with the nasty job of swapping out the 5-speed in my Pathfinder. It's been slowly grinding itself into oblivion, and over the last couple of months it's got really bad. I don't have a lot of pictures, but here's one of the magnetized drain plug:
It sure is purty. But that's pretty good evidence that most of the bearings inside the transmission are grinding away. It was just a matter of time before one or more of the bearings just plain let go, and I'd be stranded.
You wouldn't believe how tough it was to find a decent donor transmission in the junkyards. There were plenty of automatics, but few 5-speeds. And the ones I did find had as many or more miles than mine (225,000). But I got lucky, and found a 1996 Pathfinder with only 130,000 on the clock. It had been smashed up on the front pretty bad.
Just to note; Any V-6 Hardbody or Pathfinder was a valid donor. Most of the parts on these vehicles are completely interchangeable, although the 4-banger powertrains don't interchange with the V-6 stuff. There are literally bazillions of VG series engines out there. The donor I found was the first year of the unit-body pathfinders, with the VG33E. Later VQ series engines aren't interchangeable with the earlier stuff. I've also heard that the 5-speeds in the 80's/90's 300Z's will also interchange directly, but I'm not 100% sure about that.
Anyhoo, getting the tranny out of the donor at the junkyard took about 5 or 6 hours. It was rotten, and you only have what tools you can carry, so it's extra tough when you don't have something you need. Plus, having the front end smashed in really made it tough to get to a couple of bolts that go in backwards, from the engine side into the bell housing. The worst part was breaking the bolts loose on the drivelines. They just didn't want to let go, and there was almost no room in there.
I figured removal and replacement on my vehicle would be straightforward, and easy. But it's been nothing of the sort. There are a ton of parts in the way, including 2 cross members, and the torsion bars for the front suspension. You also have to pull a section of the exhaust out (Y-pipe). The transfer case will not come out with the torsion bars/crossmember in the way. Period. The transmission is heavy, but manageable. The transfer case is something else entirely. It's gotta weigh a lot more than the transmission, and is just almost impossible to wrestle around. I ended up buying a low-lift transmission jack from Harbor Freight. There's no way this is a one-man job without one.
Anyway, at the present time, I have a new clutch installed, the replacement transmission and old transfer case back in the truck. I still have to bolt up the clutch slave cylinder, re-index the torsion bars (which I've never done before), reinstall the crossmembers, and front/rear drivelines. Then re-fill the transfer case with some nice GL-5, and refill the trans with GL-4 (the detergents/solvents in GL-5 will eat the synchros). None of which is too tough, except for the exhaust. I had to cut one of the bolts loose, and I'll have to drill that out and replace the bolt. Unless I get mad, and just weld the bastard. I expect to have it all done later tonight, unless I did something horribly wrong.
Then we'll see how many more miles I can squeeze out of the Pathfinder. . . It really needs a bath inside and out, too. Sure, at 225,000 miles, I could kidney car it, but I think it has a lot more left in it. And it's been hands-down the best overall vehicle I've ever owned. You always hate to loose the good ones.
On the Camaro front, I still need to order the passenger quarter panel and roof panel. Money's in the bank, so it's just coming down to my lack of gumption. But with the weather turning nice again, I expect to be back in full swing in no time. I can move the Pathfinder out of the garage for the spring and summer, then spread out and get cracking again.
I did do some more web-searching for 4200 Vortec engines. They can be had used for about $1500 at the most (some significantly less than that). I'd still rather have a complete donor vehicle, but that just may not be practical. If I run across one, I'll snatch it up, though. Sure would be nice to have the engine, transmission, computer and wiring harness all together all intact. But I got a long ways to go before I have to worry about that. . .
Hopefully I won't go so long without an update next time. Sorry to keep you waiting.
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