Taking the Hurst Shifter off the Transmission

We took the Hurst Shifter off the transmission today.

Draining the Transmission Fluid

The transmission drain plug on my three speed manual transmission is in the middle of the bottom of the transmission. 

This is a 5/8 inch square head bolt. My 5/8 inch wrench couldn't get enough tourque on it though but a 17mm socket fit the end of this bolt allowing me to use my father in law's long socket bar on it.

I am not sure what transmission fluid is supposed to look or smell like, but this stuff looks grumpy and smells nasty.

 

 

Removing the Z bar

Apparently the real name for the clutch pivot brace thing that goes between the engine and the side wall of the engine bay and transfers movement from the clutch into the transmission is a Z bar. Who knew? (Well apparently a lot of people do because I was able to find the name with only a few minutes of googling.)

It's the brace in the bottom left of this picture. Apparently I failed to get a good before picture. 

I started by removing this spring and the cotter pin that connects the clutch pedal rod to this Z bar. 

I then pulled that rod out and removed the bushing. 

There is also a spring and cotter pin assembly that connects the bottom of the Z bar to another bar that connects to the transmission. (I again failed to get a picture of this.)

This bolt goes into the engine end of the Z bar and screws into the engine with a 3/4 End box wrench. 

It looks like rust has taken the place of a bushing on this end. Ugh.

It's out now which just leaves the accelerator linkage and two engine mounts connecting the engine to the car in the engine bay.

I plan to pull the transmission with the engine, so I still need to pull the driveshaft, pull the shifter, and loosen the transmission crossmember before I can pull the engine. I also plan to drain the oil and transmission fluid just to avoid as much mess as I can.