3.0L engine swap

[Farrar]

The car will be test-driven soon, despite many difficulties arising along the way to roadworthiness.

Bill welded the transmission mount back together (off the car, which is the only proper way to do it) and re-installed it. The fasteners were rusted and had to be ground away -- probably why the previous owner tried (and failed) to weld the mount while it was still on the car: the mount is installed in two pieces, and then fastened together, so rusted-up fasteners make removal impossible without cutting and/or grinding. Once the mount was off the car (in more pieces than planned), Bill ground the nut off of the bolt, then got to welding - including doing a proper weld where a previous owner had done an improper one. He also noticed a couple of welds that were only done on one side, and welded them on the other side for reinforcement.

RepairedTransmissionMount1.jpgRepairedTransmissionMount2.jpg

As for the shifter cable ... Well, moving the lever inside the car was moving the cable's outer sheath, not the cable; the transmission itself remained in "Park."

The cable disappears inside the transmission. Dropping the pan exposed it somewhat, but it looks like disconnecting/connecting the cable requires further disassembly of the transmission. I don't think Bill has ever messed with a Renault 4141 before: both of his DeLoreans are manual shift. And I have never done anything to any automatic transmission apart from change the fluid.

<TMI> I know that it was rebuilt while in the previous owner's possession, probably due to overheating: the computer governor was also replaced at that time. For extra security against that happening again, I installed one of Jeff Angwin's governors in 2010 when my NOS one started acting the tiniest bit flaky, and it has shifted fine ever since. </TMI>

Bill was able to jam the outer sheath into the fitting where it screws into the transmission. The console selector is now working normally.

Exhaust is installed, as are axles (Bill replaced a torn CV boot). Once the torque converter seal is replaced, road testing can commence.

[Rich_NYS]

Pics of the exhaust, please...!

[Farrar]

Pics of the exhaust, please...!

Road testing first, I think.

[Farrar]

For those not already subscribed to Bill on YouTube, here is some more informative video re: this engine installation.

Part One of ignition:

[Farrar]

And here is Part Two of the ignition explanation.

[Farrar]

As for the shifter cable ...
[snip]
Bill was able to jam the outer sheath into the fitting where it screws into the transmission. The console selector is now working normally.

This repair didn't last long. Bill was able to get the car into gear and adjust the idle speed to account for torque converter load. However, the cable stopped working again before Bill could do a test drive.

I think Bill must have seen all of Rich_NYS's comments asking about exhaust because he made this video.
The video also contains information about the shift cable problem.

[Rich_NYS]

Awesome, that's gonna be a mean machine.....

[Farrar]

Awesome, that's gonna be a mean machine.....

What do you mean by "mean?"

[Farrar]

The automatic transmission cannot be removed with the shift cable still attached. For some reason, this important information is not in the Workshop Manual; I suppose the authors assumed that any mechanic would be pulling the engine and transmission as a unit before doing any work, the reverse of how they were installed at the factory.

You can't simply unscrew the shift cable assembly ( P/N 100558 ) from the transmission without doing a little finagling first: After disconnecting the cable from the bellcrank, pull it all the way towards "Park." At this point, the fitting that is attached to the shift mechanism inside the transmission rests inside a small passage tube. If the inner cable is not pulled all the way forward as described, the internal fitting will fall down inside the transmission, and you'll have to disassemble the transmission to collect it. Since dropping the transmission requires disassembly of pretty much the entire rear of the car, you've probably already had a bad day by then, and that would make it a lot worse.

[DMCMW Dave]

The automatic transmission cannot be removed with the shift cable still attached. .

Actually it can - if you use some care. Most places are not careful and end up kinking or breaking it.