Okay, I will start this off saying I really, really didn't want to do this. I rarely start threads but I am beyond baffled and zooming passed frustrated into the realm of shear pissed off.

The reason I am trying to swap transmissions is my 2nd gear synchro is worn out and I needed a new clutch (badly) so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. The procedure is supposed to be pretty straightforward. Remove the tailshaft housings from both the new and old trans, remove the shift fingers, and swap them. Swap the tailshaft housings and reinstall. Simple right? HAHA, I thought so too. For some reason the finger for 5th/reverse is sitting about 3 or 4 mm higher than the other two fingers. Ths is not supposed to happen. Check Peejay's website where he did the exact same thing I am trying to pull off now, only with a bit of actual success.

http://www.geocities.com/izzmus/trans/trans.html

What I am looking for now is suggestions other than buying yet another transmission. I was thinking maybe remove that finger, weld the hole shut and redrill in the proper location. My worry is welding the hardened steel, as well as redrilling the hole and making sure it is straight and in the right location.

Now, I have searched. Boy did I ever search. The best I found was Peejay's website, and if I didn't have the only fucked up SA trans in the world it would have gone just as his did. Other than that I only found threads regarding interchangeability, most involving TII trans into 1st gens. I clearly don't need those.

Pics will be up very shortly, just need to go snap a few.

 

Here's some pics showing the difference in height of the 5th/reverse gear finger. It's the longest of the 3 fingers. Two show the shift rod and why this is a problem. With the 5th/reverse finger sitting higher than the rest it is difficult/impossible to shift from 4th to 5th or from any gear into reverse.

 

These last 3 show the original SA 5th/reverse finger at the height it should be. Note how it lines up properly with the 1-4 fingers. I can reinstall the original trans, but that is being saved as a last resort, since that means putting a trans with a worn synchro in instead of using one with half the mileage that has a much higher probability of being in good shape.

 

Got your pm however I'm sorry to say that I cannot help on this one. I have never found that thread that details the swap over of this procedure.

 

Ok thanks Doc.

I've since purchased another FB chassis trans and have a buyer for the SA trans. The FB trans is also for sale in the Canadian classifieds section.