Transmission swap??
 

On a scale from 1-10 what would you rate a transmission swap on a 1997 riviera.

The car I just bought doesn't have first gear operating properly, I thought it was a plugged cat but thinking otherwise now that the new cat is on, still not right.

I'm not shy at tackling almost anything.

My guess would be remove engineer trans and front drivetrain from below (lifting car off that is). Could one do this with a fork lift and some lifting straps once disconnected?

Also anyone have a how to?

It would be easier to lift both engine and trans out together. Then set on the floor to separate.

We do have writeups in the Techinfo section, but its based off of the Bonneville. Still, same engine and trans, but some mounting brackets are different between Buick's, Pontiac's and Old's.

Read the write up, thanks

Definitely not the 700R4 swap I did on the Electra Wagon we used to have ;)

Uh, no its not LOL. IMO, I'd rather pull a 3800/4T60-E out then drop a 4L60-E out of an S10.

OK....

The car I just bought doesn't have first gear operating properly, I thought it was a plugged cat but thinking otherwise now that the new cat is on, still not right.

So now we want to pull the engine/tranny?

Maybe, just maybe, you should try a little diagnosis first....

I will, just asking about the worst case scinerio first.

With your witty response, what would you suggest, and in what order?

Easy to throw out bad (or no) advise online.

Fluid level is fine and looks in good shape.

Just back from a drive.
- confirmed no first gear, neither when it's shifting by itself or when manually moving it through the gear selector
- all other shift points seam to be fine and firm smooth transitions

Where to go from here? Suggestions?

Just an FYI found this diagnostic / repair on YouTube for checking shift solenoid on the 4T65E.

Well I'm on the backside of a transmission swap, fluids and reinstall the belt and I should be all set.

With the solinoid failures you get a CEL which I did not have, so instead of spending 300-500 dollars to have a transmission shop tell me I need a rebuild for mucho $$. I found a low mileage transmission out of a 1997 Park Avenue.

This car has the full undercarriage / frame so had to drop out the engine trans and front drive train as one piece.

Sounds very intimidating and once you get over the "scare" factor its not that bad of a job with the right tools and the time to do it.