I had asked about the transfer case interchangeability because of an issue my son was having shifting. The description matched one that a guy was having exactly and he said after replacing the clutch and rebuilding the transmission in the end the issue was the transfer case - didn't make a lot of sense but I thought I would keep my options open.

This truck was parked for two years and saw very little use the 4 years before that. When we brought it home it shifted well and the power train appeared strong. Son drove it for two weeks to and from school and complained it wasn't shifting right - I assumed it was a new to manual driver. I checked it and the truck appears to have issues down shifting while coming to a stop sign and shifting into reverse - even from a dead stop. It has the grinding sound but it different (just the Mazda transmission?) than I am used to hearing in a manual that is grinding into gear. Got underneath it to check the possibility of the slave cylinder having some air (or failing) and bled it. No obvious issue with air. Pulled the rubber inspection cover to look for a rat nest but everything appeared normal.

Then I realized the transmission was separating from the engine on the left side pushing everything out of alignment. Closer inspection - the bolts are missing that hold the bellhousing to engine block. I am assuming this could cause a bunch of issues and that the bolt backed out during the two weeks my son has been driving it. Spent an hour searching for these bolts and only found some after market (ARP 154-0901). There are two holes on the left (drivers) side of the transmission. One is a blind hole that I assume is threaded and the other is open on the engine side - is it threaded too?


I am assuming with the transmission tilting like that I am getting binding issues with the clutch not fully disengaging or other issues. Truck is parked until the bolts show up.

 

Pull a bolt from other side and match it up

You need all 4 bolts tight or trans isnt going to shift well since the clutch will be partially engaged
Hopefully you didnt damage the input shaft bearing.

 

Isn't it 6 bolts total?

 

Also check the clutch master mounting. Firewall flex was common on '80s trucks and not impossible on newer ones. Check linkage for slop and alignment. But that missing bolt deal--might be a first here....

 

Wrong bolts. I had no idea they would be so hard to find. No auto parts store (NAPA, Car Quest,ORiely's Ect...) have a way of looking up these specific bolts. Anyone know if Ford switched these to metric bolts by 1993?

 

You driving a '52 Packard?
Old Ford bellhousing bolts were always 7/16-14 coarse thread
Factory ones had a built in washer on the old ones

 

pull one from the other side and go to the hardware store. Shouldn’t be hard to find one. Just get grade 8 or better. Heck, a grade 5 would probably be fine as well.