Ford Thunderbird Forum

Please let me introduce myself. My name is Ralph and I am new to this forum. As you can see I am the owner of a 1979 Ford T-Bird, and a 1974 MG Midget. I have never taken my cars to the dealership or garage for repair. I have always done the job myself. But this job on the T-Bird transmission got me a little scared. It's not the technical aspect, but the safety aspect. I am afraid of being crushed.

I want to remove the transmission on this car myself. I am thinking about using cribbing blocks. Has anyone out there ever raised a T-Bird of this weight using cribbing blocks? I am unsure if it would be safe since the car would be about 3 feet off the ground. Does anyone know how high I would need to raise the car to get the transmission out? Would it be safer to place the cribbing blocks under the frame of the car? If I place the cribbing blocks under the wheels with anti-roll blocking support, would that be safe? My cribbing blocks would be made of wood not concrete blocks. What would be a good dimension for the cribbing blocks? Jack stands sound like the obvious solution but I can't find any that are tall enough. Should I even attempt this job, or is it just too dangerous?

I think the car is leaking fluid because of a bad input shaft seal. It's a nice car valued around $2100 dollars, but if I have the car repaired professionally, the cost of the repair might exceed the value of the car.

Please any advice will be appreciated.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2016-08-25 03:07 PM by rosmitley.