As y'all may remember, I decided to get into my transmission swap almost two weeks ago, as the M41 in my car was full of rocks, and all I had on hand to replace it was a M410 from a 1800e... A few things I learned, but mostly a bunch of things I neglected to remember about such a project...

A) Getting the old one out.

1) If the weather is nice on a Saturday morning in the Colorado mountains, it might not be the next day. Didn't get it done (barely started) that saturday, and it snowed 7" the next day. 2 more snowstorms ensued before I got it done, and the weather never got above freezing.

2) Best to check things that shouldn't need checked. Case in point...make sure the fella that installed the new muffler system didn't weld that damn bracket off the side of the tranny mount to the exhaust system. If he did, you might need a hacksaw. I did.

3) Tight bell housing bolts. After fighting the top two bellhousing bolts both from underneath the car, and under the hood to no avail, I descovered that with just the right socket, just the right extension, just the right breaker bar, you can get them from teh comfort of the passenger seat through the gearshift hole. Barely. Of course, that ain't gonna work if with a '72 or later car.

B) Transmisison out, things to do/check before installation...

1) Of course, first thing I had to do was take the cover off the old box to see what was wrong. Felt to me like there's a bearing inside the 3rd gear that that went away. It sorta just wobbled around on there. I think I've got a spare that I neglected to put in. Lesson learned.

2) M41 wobble stick covers do fit fine on teh M410. But there is a difference... The selector rod retaining springs are in a different place on the M410, and the covers for them transmission have a slightly different casting allowing for 3 shallow holes at the very front to accept them springs. Oddly enough, one of my wobble stick tops did have these holes, which leads me to believe that Volvo either did put, or intended to put M410s into wobble stick cars...specifically I would think '71 142e models.

3) Totally disregard that previous post about rotating the transmission mount... the bracket that holds it to the transmission is narrower on the M41, and won't fit the M410. And that bracket is integral with the mount for the M410... I knew that, and should have remembered. In went a used 164 mount.

C) Installation

1) Them M410s is heavy sucker. I enlisted the assistance of a friend to lift the front from inside the car with a rope, and I lifted the back and got the thing on a jack so I could get it the rest of the way alone.

2) That damn top starter bolt... the one that has to be through the bellhousing before you put the transmission in...otherwise it won't clear the tunnel. Well, that was being a hassle, so I left it out to be dealt with later. Probably go with a peice of all-thread and nuts on both sides. Not sure yet.

3) Its a real pain to get all all them spring loaded parts bolted in when its 10 degrees F outside and you can't feel your fingers.

But alas, I got it all buttoned up about 9 yesterday morning. Took it for a quick shakedown run, but coudln't do much testing as again there were about 6" of snow on the road. But the box works fine, seems quiet for a M410. Especially compared to the rock-grinding sounds of the one I took out. The shifter feels a little more clunky than the old box, but that was to be expected. It does shift fine through all the gears. Havn't hooked the OD up yet... that can wait 'till the snow's gone.

Thanks again for the help!
-Matt
'70 145s now with a M410