New Shootout 2026 scramble!

[Dragon 3259]

How much of a pain is the trans to do I am about to replace mine it will be the first time for me

 

[CrackedDSM]

So this had to happen over last week.. out with the newly mounted trans. So happy about it ..

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Absolutely hate your guts.


But with love.



Also: dropping transmission actually isn’t that bad. Just take your time and go slow. Get a transmission jack, and a friend. With both of those it’s nice and smooth.

 

[Dragon 3259]

Sweet I was planning to do it at home but my buddy wants to go to his uncle's shop I just don't know if I can get the car over to it

Just found out the trans and back mount are fried so I ordered them now to play the waiting game

 

[Dusty Landrum]

Absolutely hate your guts.


But with love.



Also: dropping transmission actually isn’t that bad. Just take your time and go slow. Get a transmission jack, and a friend. With both of those it’s nice and smooth.

Oh trust me, I didn’t want to pull it . Long story I am going to post soon but had a mix up with the xfer case and diff being built by Tim Zimmer and now have to ship the trans to him too.

 

[Dusty Landrum]

Sweet I was planning to do it at home but my buddy wants to go to his uncle's shop I just don't know if I can get the car over to it

It’s actually surprisingly easy to do. Now I say that since a lot of my engine bay is wide open but to me the hardest part would be getting the starter off/disconnected and then the freaking axle on the passenger side gave me so much grief coming out.

Pro tip : tape a rag or towel to the front of the crank pulley because with the trans removed the engine is only held on the drivers side and will pivot down to allow the trans to slide out. Also be sure to have a second jack with a piece of soft wood under the oil pan to support the motor as well. OR buy an engine support that goes over the strut rails. If you have any questions reach out to me man.

 

[Dragon 3259]

Oh will do man my buddy who is going to be there has worked on a few different cars but I have no idea if he ever worked on a gen 2 DSM I know he rebuilt gen 3 tho

The only thing I am still needing to get is the metal door handles someone sent me a link to someone who makes them but I need to save up for it and I also need to find the auto lock parts that go on the locks. The powered switches I think inside the door I have no idea what they are called

 

[Dusty Landrum]

Made more progress with the engine bay harness. Takes a lot of work to get everything to correct length and location. Put it in the car, measure one thing, take it out… alter, put it in the car… rinse and repeat. But almost done and can loom everything maybe next week. Added the Hobbs switch and aem boost gauge to the loom too. Flex fuel sensor, AEM 5bar and SD also spliced in from ecutuning harness.

These are two separate harnesses btw.

 

[Dragon 3259]

Oh boy looks like you got yourself a bit of fun there I have a few small problems with my stuff I dread having to work on it

 

[saturn345]

Well, finally getting around to installing the engine and trans. Scooped up a 0mile shep built trans from back in the day that has sat on a shelf in the original bag for years and years. Got everything mounted on it and ready to get everything hung hopefully Sunday. More to come..


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That’s my old new stock shep built trans. That I sold rob fig couple months ago.
Got tired of it laying in my attic. And knew I was never going to swap my low mileage gst to gsx ever. I asked Rob first if he wanted it. I am like hour from him.

 

[CrackedDSM]

That’s my old new stock shep built trans. That I sold rob fig couple months ago.
Got tired of it laying in my attic. And knew I was never going to swap my low mileage gst to gsx ever. I asked Rob first if he wanted it. I am like hour from him.

If you have any new old stock 1g awd trans then hit me up first. I call dibs.

 

[saturn345]

If you have any new old stock 1g awd trans then hit me up first. I call dibs.

I wish i did. But all I have is complete auto swap laying around for 2g
No more manual trans extras anymore

 

[Dusty Landrum]

That’s my old new stock shep built trans. That I sold rob fig couple months ago.
Got tired of it laying in my attic. And knew I was never going to swap my low mileage gst to gsx ever. I asked Rob first if he wanted it. I am like hour from him.

Just the man I had questions for then .. check your PMs.

If you have any new old stock 1g awd trans then hit me up first. I call dibs.

Turns out this trans is not the one he sold to Rob. Different ratio.. was hoping to get more info on it but it is not his. @twicks69 is going to go through this one and get me all sorted out though.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Sweet hope its great news

 

[Dusty Landrum]

Sweet hope its great news

Turns out it was AMAZING news. It truly is a built trans and even has the ultra rare Kaaz center clutch type diff. Evo3 rails and gears and tons of other goodies. I did go ahead and get a Quaife front diff installed as well as the boosting 300m output shaft too. So now I should have full lock up and amazing rear power too. Rob really came through with the trans and so did Tim with the build. So freaking happy.

 

[Dusty Landrum]

So major update on the build, some very good, some very bad haha. I will start with the bad, or just pain in the ass I guess..

Had to pull the motor again to fix a scratch we made hanging the engine. Way easier to pull second time around and got the scratch sanded/prepped for paint.

Also FINALLY got the rear sanded down to metal and going to paint at the same time I do the engine bay scratch..

Now for the really good update. Water pipe and thermo housing finally arrived from Raven Fab and got the water pipe cerakoted

Also, Tim came through with the rest of the drivetrain too and finally got the xfer case built. Gears took 9 months from liberty gears to finish. But can’t freaking wait to run these. Rear diff is Evo 8/9 lsd with upgraded weir clutch disks and FAB caps with cover.

More to come soon!!! Finally getting caught up on wiring!!

 

[Pjj]

Turns out it was AMAZING news. It truly is a built trans and even has the ultra rare Kaaz center clutch type diff. Evo3 rails and gears and tons of other goodies. I did go ahead and get a Quaife front diff installed as well as the boosting 300m output shaft too. So now I should have full lock up and amazing rear power too. Rob really came through with the trans and so did Tim with the build. So freaking happy.

post up some pics of the trans if you got any torn apart, you get lucky with a 4 spider centre diff or welded?

 

[Dusty Landrum]

post up some pics of the trans if you got any torn apart, you get lucky with a 4 spider centre diff or welded?

So its neither. I actually originally sent it to Tim because I was afraid it did have a welded center diff, which is opposite of my build plans. When he got it opened up it turns out the center diff is a super old school Kaaz center diff that is a clutch type. Apparently it is super rare even back in the day. I do have pics of it open I will try to post soon.

 

[Pjj]

So its neither. I actually originally sent it to Tim because I was afraid it did have a welded center diff, which is opposite of my build plans. When he got it opened up it turns out the center diff is a super old school Kaaz center diff that is a clutch type. Apparently it is super rare even back in the day. I do have pics of it open I will try to post soon.

i read your post too fast. my apologizes, good score!!

 

[92AWDHX40]

Looks good man im looking forward to seeing it Mines will be there im really excited.

 

[Dusty Landrum]

Finally got the trans back and it was even more built than I had originally though. Figured while I was at it though might at well throw a 300m shaft and upgraded front lsd. Now it’s as built as it could be internals wise before going dog box. Waiting on dss axles which are being built now and then the entire drivetrain will be ready to go in.

Also finished up the custom harness for the engine bay. Had one connector break while de-pinning so waiting on that from stm. Getting there slowly but surely.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Keep at it im looking forward to seeing ot in person

 

[Dusty Landrum]

Keep at it im looking forward to seeing ot in person

Heck yeah man. Bought my racer tickets and everything so officially entered into shootout as a racer for the first time. Pumped about it too!!

 

[Dusty Landrum]

Got some time in the garage today and got the trans mounted back in. Also ran the main tucked wire harness and got everything finalized besides the trans connections. Next will be mounting the xfer case and rear diff!!

For anyone wondering. This turned out to be waaay easier than mounting the engine/trans mated up together. Doing the engine first, then the trans separate was still a pain but easier. I have a few tips and tricks if anyone wants to reach out while reading this.

 

[92AWDHX40]

Nice I've done it both ways, looks good man I'm still working on mine closer than last year though.

 

[Justin DuBois]

The fastest pull and replace I ever did was on a lift with a hoist. Raise and lower the car as needed to remove everything in the way until L & R motor mounts are left, then just off ground, hang the engine on the hoist, unbolt the motor mounts, and lower the engine to the floor.

Raise the car away from the motor, mark the spot on the floor, slide or lift the trans/engine combo out of the way, and then execute the reverse using the marks on the floor to position the setup so nothing gets crushed when you bring the car back down over it.

After this, every other method seems awful