transaxle questions

[larrym]

i need a sideshifter for reassembling my '72 to 2.0 conversion, and since it's a cold rainy day I decided to clean up & go thru the 5 transaxles that I have accumulated: 4 of them have various problems; maybe some of you guys have seen these & can give me a clue as to the extent of damage & whether they are wortwhile to spend time on:

TWo have actually been in cars that I drove. (1) clashes into second, otherwise drives o.k, (2) will not engage second at all but otherwise drives o.k.

THREE have never been driven & were extracted from junkers: (3) was incredibly greasy, engages all gears properly but has loose plate where shift selector enters, & has flakes of brass (as big as 3/16) at bottom around drain plug; (i am thinking that maybe a reseal & flush might be all it needs??) (4) engages all gears but seems to have no detent between 1-R; evidence that rear plate has been removed & resealed with orange silicon.

I also have a perfect 72 tailshifter: what's the extent of the conversion job if i decide to convert it to a shideshifter using one of the others as a donor?

(no, i'm not a transaxle guy; my one 914 knowledge weakness, but that may be about to change)

[scotty914]

well the poor mans way ( mine ) would be to use the syncros and other parts out of the tail shifter to fix the best side shifter

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

Larry, it sounds like the first one needs synchros--definitely 2nd gear, and "as long as you're in there..." The second one may need 2nd gear teeth or at least sliders and such.

The never-driven ones are real unknowns. That third could be a winner, as a reseal & flush would be cheaper than the 2nd-gear synchro job. But I'd be a bit leery of all the brass in the bottom; sounds like it has real synchro problems as well.

The other sounds a bit hacked-upon by previous owners. A real crap-shoot, in other words.

Tailshift to sideshift isn't that bad. You can even use the tailshifter's tranny case if you're so inclined. You have to swap over the side-shifter console, and the shift forks and related stuff.

Don't go switching the mainshafts (pinion shafts) around. They're matched to the ring gears and cases, and it is often a major pain to try to get the gears "happy" with each other if you swap them around.

--DD

[davidl]

I like tranny's!

The easiest job should be to change a good tail to side shift, as our fave guru says.

The brass lumps are most likely the smashed bits of one of the bearing cages ( the only other brass component is the speedo drive worm fitted into the big stretch bolt on the back end of the pinion shaft).

If you are not confident, bear in mind the cost of the parts you can ruin finding out how to do them right!

I personally would not open a trans without replacing all the synchros, and checking the bearings, but this means a full strip.

Probably take about twice as long as just changing the selector assembly.

Kind Regards
David Leopold

[john walker's workshop]

they're probably one of the easiest transmissions in the world to rebuild. there's plenty of info if you search the archives. you could have one torn down in 1/2 hour. there's a good thread on the 911 board now about disassembling 915 shafts. ("should i replace these syncro teeth ?", or something to that effect). pretty much the same thing as a 901. you may have enough parts between the 5 trannys to really keep the cost down.