Some cars are a real pain to drop the transmission! Not sure I've ever had one as hard to do as my Austin g***er, and I did it to myself! I built my trans tunnel very close so I wouldn't lose any more room than I already did when I set the firewall back. I lost a tooth on my flexplate, and screwed up the starter, so was forced to drop the trans, or at least pull it back to get to the bolts. The problem with my close tolerances on the trans tunnel was I couldn't get at most of the bolts in the bell housing. I had to pull the carpet back and after careful measurement I drilled a small pilot hole in the floor at each mark and then looked at the engine side to see how close I was to each bolt and then used a holesaw to cut a hole at each bolt. I removed all the bolts and with my trans jack under the transmission I was able to slide it back a couple inches and remove the flexplate and install the new flexplate. Once I got the trans back in place I put knockout seals in each hole, so if I ever have to drop the trans again I can remove them and access the bolts easier.
The Jalopy Journal
