Here is the new bolt and hex nut placed in the spot where the cage nut was:



A picture with the 21mm wrench on the hex nut (which will be needed to hold the nut while torqueing the bolt):



There is room for the wrench. Even when the cradle is placed in position, there should be no problem fitting the wrench in there.

 

Back to the transmission.

I replaced the slave cylinder on the new trans just in case, since it was sitting for a long time at the junkyard.

Here is a picture of the old slave cylinder:


The new slave cylinder mounted on the transmission:


And I also replaced the two axle seals. The seals have a raised dome, so you can't just used a flat drift to pound them in. I found that a piece of 2" diameter steel water pipe fit perfectly.

A new seal installed on the trans:

 

cry of delight!
titanic efforts, you are just a hero of labor!
you can eliminate other damages and breakdowns, you still took apart half the car. Good reason not to go there twice.

 

We got everything back together yesterday.

Enough no-seize on the cradle bolts to look like we were frosting a cake.

Added the 1.9 quarts of Dexron VI to the trans and bled the clutch.

74 lb-ft + 180 degrees is a LOT of torque (on the cradle bolts). Interestingly, the flange nut (that replaced the broken cage nut) didn't try to rotate much as I tightened the bolt. I was afraid the wrench holding the nut would end up jammed tightly against some body or steering rack part, but no problems.

The car is much easier to drive with 2nd and 3rd gear available

Everything seems to be working well and the car drives very well.

Now I want to disassemble the old trans to see why 2nd and 3rd failed.

Steve

 

Awesome job! Thanks for the thread.

And..
You get another attaboy from me. This stuff can be really educational.

 

Great job, thanks for the update.
We’ll need pictures when you gut the old transmission , please.