i HAVE A 1983 300SD THAT NEEDS THE ENGINE REMOVED TO REPLACE WITH A DONOR I HAVE ALL DISCONNECTTED THE MOTOR MOUNTS AND ALL THE TRANNY BOLTS LOOSENED EVEN THE TOP ONES. qUESTION IS CAN I REMOVE FLEX PLATE AT BACK OF TRANNY AND BE ABLE TO SEPARATE THE TRANNY FROM ENGINE. iF SO WHAT IS THE BEST WAY OR DO i NEED TO PUT BACK IN THE TRANNY BOLTS AND PULL THE TRANNY AND ENGINE AS A WHOLE THANKS.

Since you have to bellhousing bolts removed already. You should be able to pull the motor without the transmission. When I pulled the motors from the 300D donor vehicle and the recipient, I pulled them with the torque converter still attached. On the 300SD you should make sure the motor will be able to go forward at least 6 inches to clear the transmission if you decide to go that route. Also, there is a plastic pin on the driver side transmission torque converter housing that will keep the torque converter in place. You will have to remove it before you slide the engine forward.

If you decide on disconnecting the flex plate, there is a hole covered by a black plastic covering at the bottom of the bellhousing that you will have access to 6 bolts - Two pairs of bolts at the 2, 6, and 10 o’clock positions. Remove these bolts and you can lift the engine almost straight up.

When installing the motor, I suggest keep the torque converter on the transmission with two of the bolt holes at 6 o’clock position and flex plate on the motor again with 2 of the bolt holes at the 6 o’clock position. Once the bellhousing plate is bolted to the transmission, you can easily reinstall the flex plate bolts to the torque converter if you lined it up correctly.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

pull it with the tranny