Final Assembly

You can rent an engine hoist at a local equipment rental store. I would suggest you rent or buy an engine leveler to go with it. I thought I could get away with not doing it and it was a pain in the ass to get the engine back in. Make sure you have someone to help you because you need someone to slowly lower the engine while the other person guides it in. When you get the mounts lined up put the bolts in  and tighten them down. Since I did not have a leveler the engine kept going in crooked and the mounts wouldn't line up so I had to get them as close as possible and literally get up on the car and stand on the mount closest to the passenger compartment to get the holes to line up. I used a jack on the mount closest to the radiator to get those holes to line up. The mount on the front of the engine was lined up by that point so I put the bolt back in. The larger mount bolt on the front of the engine needs to to torqued to 80 ft lbs while the 2 side bolts need to be torqued to 40 ft lbs. Remember that water pipe that goes from the water pump to the water neck attached to the transmission, now is the time to put some gasket sealer around the o-ring and put it in. Next is the transmission. To make it easier for the output shaft to slide into the clutch disc use a small amount of grease on the end of the output shaft, and I do mean a small amount because the grease can make it's way up to the clutch and cause it to slip on the flywheel. You will need to remove the mount from the transmission or you will never get it in place. You can use the hoist to lower it in but it only weighs about 70 lbs, so all you need is someone to help you put a jack under it and raise it up through the bottom. Just jack the car up enough to slide the transmission under the engine compartment facing the right direction. Then lower the car almost all the way down. If you are strong enough, pick the transmission up enough to get the jack under the transmission. Note: Only choose not to use a hoist if you are not strong enough to lift the transmission several times ( I am pretty strong and I was dog tired after only lifting the transmission about 4 times because unless the base of the jack is wide enough the trans will slide off of it) After the transmission is high enough have your helper put a 1/2 drive breaker bar in the crankshaft pulley bolt and nudge the crankshaft in a clockwise direction. All you are doing is trying to line up the teeth on the clutch plate with the splines on the output shaft of the trans, so it doesn't take much turning to get it to line up. Once the crankshaft has been nudged enough the transmission will slide nicely into place and you can thread the bolts in. There are 4 bolts on top of the transmission, one on the left side of the engine that must be accessed through a hole in the motor mount closest to the radiator, and one on the right side of the engine near the location for the clutch slave cylinder. All 6 bolts must be torqued to 80 ft lbs. There are 4 other bolts that connect the transmission stays that are located at the bottom of the engine. These things did not line up for me and there was no way of fixing that issue without unbolting the motor mounts from the engine so I left them unbolted, the 6 main bolts will keep the transmission and engine together so there shouldn't be a problem if the stays are not bolted up. Next are the axles. The driver's side axle is held in place by the carrier bearing backet that bolts to the engine. I lost the bolts to the bracket, so if this happens to you go to Advance Auto and ask for a course threaded class 8 M10 bolt. Grease both ends of the axle and slide one end into the transmission then the other end through the splines in the hub and bolt the strut bracket back on the hub. Crawl under the car and put the 2 bolts in the carrier bearing bracket and tighten them to 30 ft lbs. Make sure to use lock washers you do not want those to come out when you are driving the car or the drivers axle will fly apart. The passenger side axle will have to be hammered in because of the spring clip on the end of the shaft. Slide the axle in as far as you can and take a rubber mallet and hit in until you feel it give way and hit it once more to make sure it is all the way in. A rubber mallet does not have as much driving force as a regular hammer so you will need to swing that rubber mallet pretty hard. DO NOT USE A REGULAR HAMMER BECAUSE YOU CAN DAMAGE THE THREADED END OF THE SHAFT AND YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PUT ON THE AXLE BOLT. Slide the axle through the hub and bolt back up the strut bracket. Note: The strut bracket bolts need to be torqued to 60 ft. lbs. Put your front wheels back on and that is it for the hard stuff. Next bolt the transmission mount back on and tighten the 3 bolts on the transmission to 80 ft lbs. The big bolt the goes through the mount also needs to be tightened to 80 ft lbs. Bolt the starter back on, tighten the bolts to 25 ft lbs.Next is the intake plenum. put some gasket sealer on both sides of the gasket and put it in place, then put the plenum on and tighten it to the 14 ft lbs. Reconnect all electrical wires, fuel lines (be careful not to over tighten or you will strip out the aluminum fuel rail), coolant lines, intake piping, power steering lines, throttle cable, and exhaust pipes (30 ft pounds, those bolts are M12 with a 1.25mm thread depth just in case you want to buy more from Lowe's) Turn your crankshaft so that it is 5 degrees BTDC of the compression stroke and drop the distributor in with it pointing towards the number 1 firing position (use the cap as a reference). Put spark plugs in and connect the wires. Connect the coil wire. Bleed the clutch lines ( the best way to do that is to buy a brake bleeder vacuum pump from Harbor Freight Tools for $30, it is much faster than having someone push the clutch several times). Bolt the battery tray in. Reconnect the shifter cables and use cotter pins to secure them. Reattach the cable to the speed sensor on the trans. Reattach the speed-o-meter cable. Reattach the wires to the starter, alt, oil pressure switch, oil pressure sender ( if you break the wire to the sender it is grouped with the A/C lines and it is a yellow wire with a red stripe), and A/C wires. At this point the engine should be ready to fire up. Make sure you refill the anti-freeze, engine oil (if you haven't already), power steering fluid, and trans fluid to recommended level. If you want to prime the oil pump by letting the starter crank the engine do not waste you time and battery. I did this for about 20 minutes and all it did was over heat the starter and kill the battery. Start the engine (pay attention to the oil pressure gauge if it doesn't start to climb in the first 5-10 seconds then shut the engine off if it does then leave the engine running), adjust the distributor to smooth out the idle, adjust your idle screw so that it idles at 700 rpm. Check for leaks by looking under the car and around the engine. If the engine smokes a little do not be alarmed because it takes a little time before all the gaskets will get their proper seal. Let the engine warm up, pay close attention to the thermometer to make sure it doesn't over heat. Let the engine run for about 30 minutes then take it for a test drive. DO NOT drive it like you stole it but at the same time DO NOT baby it either. Running it kind of hard helps the piston rings and valve seats set faster, and the added engine warmth will help the gaskets set faster. HAPPY CRUISING and remember to change the oil after the first 100 and 1000 miles before you go back to the regular interval. The initial break in leaves a lot of metal in your oil from the rings and bearings and that buildup can clog your oil lines and cause your motor to lock up.