Installing my rebuilt 4.0 back in 4x4

[ChrisHelvey]

Hi everyone,
So, I pulled my 4.0 OHV from my '94 B4000 4x4 (no problems coming out.)
No problems with the rebuild either.

Now I'm trying to put it back in and I'm ready to pull my hair out.

There must be a trick I don't know about. Anyone who can give some pointers please do. Here's where I'm at:

Engine with the flywheel and clutch are on the engine hoist.
Manual 5spd tranny (Mazda) is still in the truck.
I can get the transmission male and clutch plate female parts to match, but the oil pan inevitably gets stuck on the frame.

I have tried jacking the transmission to different heights, tried getting a backward angle and then lowering the front, but it just won't go back far enough to sit down on the mounting block studs. It's like a half inch shy and won't budge even with a lot of jiggling.

There must be a trick, huh? A special cosmic shoe horn tool? What and how are the best places to attach a hoist?
Should I pull the transmission? (I don't want to because I'm working under a carport on gravel with some plywood and it's getting cold.)

Also, what's with that grey plate between the engine and transmission? It keeps falling out because it goes in from the bottom.

Should something else be jacked up to a height?
Should the engine be "level" as it goes back to mate or does it need to angle back in first?

Anything you know will be helpful. It's my first time installing an engine in a 4x4 Ranger.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Start two of the bellhousing bolts on each side to suck the motor against the tranny. The slave cylinder resists you from getting the tranny and engine tight together, being spring and hydraulically loaded out. Was that the problem your having? Its not going to want to sit in its mounts unless the motor and tranny are tight.

 

[ChrisHelvey]

Makes sense. That's probably it.

Thanks a bunch. I'll give it a try.

 

[ChrisHelvey]

Hey thanks for the tip. didn't even think of the clutch being under pressure. It would not go back far enough to sit on the mounting studs without pulling it together.

Easier said than done though. Various sized bolt lengths were needed and then others pulled out and shorter ones used in order to get the thing far enough together.

For future readers, the best bet is to get some bolts with thread all the way down the shaft, in a few reasonable lengths. The two side holes on the bellhousing go all the way through, so they can be used to pull the sides together.

It's still tricky to get them to line up well enough to make the threads catch because the oil pan gets in the way of the frame. So I had to jack up the tranny a bit an an angle and get the engine going in at a downward angle to meet. Once they were pulled together, there was enough forward clearance to let it down.

Chris