Alighty, with some adivce from all of you, I managed to get my automatic tranny unbolted, dropped, etc.

I am not wondering about something before I go any farther. The is a plate that sits between the engine and the bell housing to "seal" everything up. The one I removed has a large lower hole, of course so you can access the bolts connecting the flex plate to the torque converter.

My question is: is it alright to use the same plate with a standard? I know it will fit(obviously), but it leaves a big hole for crap to get at your clutch. Is this going to cause me any serious issues? Or will it just mean I might need to change/wash out my clutch more often...or until I find a nother plate. This is more of a DD than anything, but I do plan on taking it hunting next weekend(which is why I need this sorted out NOW).

 

Did it not have some sort of cover over the hole? If not I am sure it should have. The hole won't hurt anything if you don't pack it full of mud. What you can do is just cut a piece of sheet metal, etc. to a size a little larger and run some self tapping screws in. Make sure they don't contact anything. Maybe put a bead of sealant around it just to be extra sure. One thing you do NOT want to do is seal it up tight all around. There needs to be a way for water to get out of the bell housing if it gets in. At the bottom. Otherwise you will be replacing clutches from water damage.

 

That's about what I was expecting to hear. I've got a buddy with a machine shop, so I'll see if I can convince him to cut me a nice piece. I'll probably just RTV it into place, but put in a check valve at the bottom to let water out.

Hopefully it should be driveable by tommorow night. I think it's still going to take me a while to figure out what all the leads coming from the tranny are. Besides the speedo cable, I've got 4 connectors coming from the thing...3 prong minimum...too many wires