Bolting up a 265 5-speed

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cpeavey

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I finally installed my 5-speed transmission yesterday. I installed the bell housing first, then mounted the transmission to the bell housing. Everything went together well, with one exception.

What's the trick for tightening the upper left mounting nut, the one above the slave cylinder? Unlike the 4-speed, the case on this unit, a 265/6 from 1985, bulges out right behind the nut, so the stud and nut are effectively recessed and I can't get a 1/2-inch drive socket fully on it. I get very limited access with a 12-pt box wrench due to the close proximity of the tunnel wall, and the shape of the case. Is there some special $$$BMW wrench required to do this right?

Charlie Peavey
 
I had to use a S-wrench due to trans tunnel clearances. It really made me wish I had a ratcheting set, as it took many, many teeny turns to tighten sufficiently.
 
I use a 19mm "Crowfoot" with a 3/8 drive. But when installing, I also do NOT tighten/ torque that upper left nut as much as the other three trans/bellhousing nuts. The first time I tried to remove the upper left nut (which was probably the first time it had been removed since the factory) it took many hours because it was torqued down so tightly. Now I can drop the whole trans when necessary in less than an hour.

I have remove the trans a few times since that first time and have never found that upper left nut as difficult to remove.
 
Purpose built wrench

I cut the box end off a 19mm wrench and had it welded onto the side of a piece of flat bar stock about a foot long. Very handy for this and many other hard to reach spots such as the flex disc. Had the welder do the same with the 17mm end. Cost about $5 for the weld.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions!

I ordered an S-wrench based on the first one. I mail-ordered because I couldn't find anything locally except ratcheting types, and I am pretty sure those are too bulky to fit within the very close confines of the case around this nut. The wrench hasn't arrived yet.

For the same reason, I initially considered a crow-foot but I was afraid the usual pattern won't fit in the space allowed. JR, what brand is your crow-foot, and can you get it all the way onto the nut?

It seems to me that modern tools have generally gotten more crude. I have some old, inherited wrenches that are slimmer and more elegant, with thinner walls and jaws than anything I see today. Manufacturers seem to achieve strength by adding material, not with either careful design or with higher quality steel.

I think I'll hunt around for a welder who would work with me to modify a box wrench in case the S-wrench doesn't work out.

With all of the innovative approaches you guys have worked out, I'm surprised I didn''t find any discussion of this challenging aspect of the project in any of the transmission upgrade how-tos. Carl Nelson's famous writeup could benefit from some updates/corrections/additional details.

Charlie
 
Charlie; I just checked and my crowfoot and it is a "Proto" brand with a 3/8 drive. It has to be about 20 years old when I first removed the Getrag trans. However, I do see where I had ground down one of the ears on the crowfoot for better clearance on the trans case. That 19mm nut was a bear to remove but that was well before I had discoverd PB Blaster penetrant. Another thing! I just noticed that the Proto crowfoot is actually a 3/4" size and not 19mm! Wow! I got that 19mm nut off even with a little extra play in the slightly bigger 3/4" crowfoot. So I still think the crowfoot with a 3/8 drive ratchet will do the job with the available clearance.
 
Solved

JR,

Still impatiently waiting for the s-wrench I ordered online, I went to Sears for a crowfoot, the only local store I could find that carried any. I had to buy an entire set of 10 (individual ones available only by online order), but the 19mm crowfoot on a 3/8-in drive did the trick! One advantage to the crowfoot is that I could use a torque wrench with it.
 
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