Alright guys...
The day has finally come!
Weather dependent, (Its threatening to rain) i will start first thing tomorrow morning on removing my transmission, clutch and flywheel.
I bought the truck knowing 4th gear was gone. PO said that he assumed it was just the syncro's but upon draining the fluid out of the transmission, i found it was a silver metallic color and had metal shavings in it. 4th gear doesn't even make an attempt to work besides the VERY slight grind when trying to use that gear so i'm assuming the gear is stripped out all together.
So, i looked into having it rebuilt but it was going to cost just as much to do that with less of a warranty than just buying a new one. I also looked into rebuilding it myself but ended up chickening out since this is my daily driver besides my Harley and i cannot afford a bunch of downtime.
So...with all of that being said, the new transmission is from C&K auto parts and its a W56 5 speed. Then i'll be installing a pro clutch and 35lb flywheel bundle from LCE Performance. The kit came with the pilot bearing, throwout bearing, rear main seal gasket and everything i should need as far as that goes.

This is definitely going to be a learning experience for me so please bare with me whenever i come back with questions.
However, i've done a ton of research and watched plenty of videos on little tips and tricks to pulling them out and i don't foresee any issues. (famous last words)
Now...If there is anyone out there who has tackled this job or has any pointers on things i should look for when tearing down/installing everything else, PLEASE feel free to chime in.
I've got all of my torque specs written down and believe i have everything sitting on standby to do this job without having to run back and forth to the parts store except for some lithium grease, permatex and loctite which i will pick up first thing in the morning.

If you don't have any pointers, sit back and enjoy the ride with me. I'll try and provide as many detailed pictures and info as i can throughout the day tomorrow and hopefully, if nothing else, ill help someone else in the future with their project!

But once again, all advice, pointers and good vibes would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

I've done a couple trans swaps, in my opinion having a decent jack is a huge help. Whether it's a tranny jack, which has a plate on it that you can adjust the roll and pitch, or a regular floor jack with some blocks of wood. I've done it both ways, the key is being able to make some slight adjustments to the way it's sitting to help line things up.

Other than that, take it slow, enjoy it, and label things! My mistakes are always from trying to go too quickly.

 

I'm going to be working with an aluminum high rise floor jack. I had a transmission jack lined up but it ended up getting lend out and is unavailable now

Definitely going to be doing a lot of labeling and organizing though. In my previous engine rebuilds/repairs, its amazing how you can put things back together and find an extra bolt or two when you're done hopefully by the time the transmission is ready to go back in, ill have an extra hand to wiggle it into place. But ill be flying solo for the initial removal!

Lots of fun headed my way. Hopefully i stay dry!

 

Get the transmission jack. If you have to rent it, or buy it, you'll be glad you did. https://www.harborfreight.com/450-lb...ack-61232.html

I've removed a transmission using just a trolley jack (with the vehicle up on ramps and jack stands.) Never again.

 

Doesn't look like the work is going to get done today. It's been raining off and on all morning and i don't have a garage to do this under.
So, on the bright side, i'll have plenty of time to get my hands on a transmission jack.

Definitely a bummer because i was eager to get this started but oh well. Gives me another day or two to prepare i guess.

 

Only problem with the transmission jack in that link is that my truck has 7" of lift sitting on 35's and i don't think itll reach quite high enough to get to the transmission. I may have to air down the tires...idk.

 

Make sure to use a line up shaft when installing the clutch. Input shaft from the same type transmission would be the best choice I think for line up, but not everybody has a spare to use.

 

Thanks for the advice bud. The kit i bought came with a clutch alignment tool so it all went together pretty smooth.

OKAY. So i started working on the truck about one o'clock today because i had to hold off with some rain we had.
I had the transmission out about 3 o'oclock and on the work bench and then it started raining again. So i moved everything into the garage and did everything i could in there.
Finally i got tired of waiting around for the rain to slack up so i climbed under the truck and went to work on removing the old clutch and flywheel.
I went ahead and replaced the rear main seal while i was in there (which didn't look bad but figured id go ahead and get it over with while i had it torn down)
Once i got that put back together and waited for the permatex to cure, i torqued it down, put the new flywheel and clutch on, torqued to spec and was good to go!

I went ahead and put the bell housing on the new transmission and separated the transfer case from the old transmission.
The PO had apparently been in this transmission before because the gasket was black permatex. I do not have a gasket to put back in it, Nor did he apparently, so i'm going to use the permatex on it tomorrow whenever i assemble it.

Then about 7 o'clock, it finally stopped raining and my little (360lb monster) brother swung by the house to give me a hand installing the new tranny.
I explained to him how it was probably going to be a pain in the rear to get it to line up and everything to go together and to be patient and not snatch it around too much and let me know if he needed a break, etc. I then slid the transmission under the truck with a little square dolly and by the time i got on my creeper and slid under the truck, he already had it on the back of the engine and said "put those bolts in when you get a chance"
Definitely needed him on the removal
Nine o'clock rolls around and we have the transmission torqued to spec to the engine and all that is left is to install the transfer case, starter, drive shafts and cross member and we'll be set to go!

I didn't really get an opportunity to take pictures like i wanted to because i was working by myself the majority of the day and just didn't have a free clean hand. However, if anyone needs any info or advice, ill give all that i can!

My only question is (i have not researched it yet but will after this) does the transfer case and transmission use the same fluid or do they have separate fluid? Whenever i broke the transfer case apart it had pretty golden fluid in it but the transmission gear fluid is a silver metallic from all of the metal shavings. I was just wanting to make sure because i read that the transmission takes 2.5 quarts and i was curious if that included the transfer case or if i needed to find a way to fill it. (whenever i glanced with the flashlight, i didn't see a fill plug. Just a drain plug)
If they DO use the same fluid, i'll drain it before i install the new fluid.

Also, that black permatex says that you are to put bolts in finger tight, wait one hour, then torque to spec and let it sit for 24 hours before putting it in service.
I was thinking that if i had the transfer case installed by 10am or so, i would probably be ok to test drive the truck by tomorrow night but after reading that, i'm not so sure. Does anyone have any advice on this? Should i wait the 24 hours or is that just one of those grey area guidelines that's put on there? Any advice would be much appreciated. If i can't test drive it tomorrow night, its not the end of the world. But i'd like to if no one thinks it'll cause an issue.

Anyway! Everything went as expected and i'm happy to say i SHOULD (knock on wood) be done tomorrow. Hopefully before it gets too terribly hot! 113 heat index today so it was miserable

 

Personally, I would wait the 24 hours if I were using the Permatex black. If I need it to go right now, I spend a little bit more, and buy Permatex The Right Stuff.

 

The only reason i was using permatex black was because it said it was to be used it hot oily conditions and that's exactly where that would be used. Ill swing by the parts store in a few minutes and see what they have available.

 

I went to the parts store this morning and picked up the right stuff and first of all, holy crap that stuff sets fast! I was really impressed with it. Thanks for the recommendation!
Everything has been installed and i put about 50 miles on the truck today! Everything went together and just as good as i had hoped it would!

Went ahead and filled the transfer case with Lucas full synthetic heavy duty gear fluid and did the same for the transmission. It claimed to work with both GL-4 and GL-5 so i'm going to run it for 500 miles or so and swap out the fluid in the tranny.
The clutch is a LOT softer than i had expected it to be. Literally feels like 7lbs worth of difference from my stock clutch was. But all in all i'm very impressed and happy with how it turned out.

Sorry i didn't get the pictures and everything i had claimed i would. However, if anyone decides to tackle this in the future, feel free to contact me because i'm more than happy to help in any way i can!

Thanks for the help from you guys that chimed in