thebankerstoy Wrote:Modern aftermarket "one size fits all" technology usually equals a Wes Craven nightmare. How bad was this OD unit to adapt to your factory 4 speed Mike?
Richard
Actually, not that bad to be honest. There were some snags, but nowhere near as bad as I thought.
First thing that caught me off guard was having to pull the trans. All the install articles I've seen/read show automatics being done. That's just a matter of pop the snap ring, remove the tail shaft, swap some parts and back together it goes. Can't do that with a 4 speed. The snap ring is accessible only after removing the tailshaft. I read where the small bearing retainer tailshafts may be able to access the snap ring while still in the car, but the new housing is patterned after the larger bearing housing, so it's access is on the top.
The big snag came when I went to assemble the tailshaft, first gear was hanging on the bearing retainer. The retainer sent was flat on top, the stock housing had a taper to it. Spoke to GV, and from what they are finding out is over the years, the design of first gear changed (whether due to different suppliers or whatever). They asked for some measurements, and said they'd send me a new tailshaft. Week later it showed up. You can see the difference here.
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The other snag was the trans crossmember. The tailshaft housing is based on a B/E tailshaft with the trans mount more forward than earlier years. This means if you have 66-69 4 speed car, you'll have to get a trans crossmember from 66-70 auto car (70 manual will work also).
7990]
Since I did a 4 speed conversion, I still had the old crossmember laying around and was able to use that.
Other than the fact I lost the 3-4 synchro spring when re-assembling the synchro, it wasn't bad at all. (I don't know what I cursed more at, the spring flying or the ball bearing constantly falling out of the shift cover when replacing the seals).
The best part of it was the customer support from Gear Vendors. They called back to see if the new housing arrived, and called to make sure it fit ok. They asked if I could send them my housing so they can pattern the bearing retainer from it for new shipments.
![[Image: NoES2010_1.jpeg]](http://ihorror.com/wp-content/uploads/NoES2010_1.jpeg)