Use the guts of a tailshift in a side shift?
 

I think the answer is it is fine, but is there any difference, besides the shifting mechanism, that would stop me from taking the gear stack out of a tailshift trany, and installing it into my sideshifter?

Tolerance stack. The gear sets and bearings (I think?) are shimmed specifically for the ring and pinion engagement. You can't really swap the pinion gear (on the end of the countershaft) without swapping the ring gear. And that means re-setting the engagement depth and other stuff as well, which requires some interesting jigs and such.

You can swap individual gearsets, but not the whole stack. (Remember that 2nd gear is part of the mainshaft and cannot be removed!)

You can swap the shift rails and forks and such from the side-shifter into the tail-shifter. If the rest of the TS box is fine, then that may be a decent option.

--DD

Yep, forgot about the tolerance. Guess I will try the whole transmission

actually this was regularly done back in the old days ('70s)when folks were updating to sideshifters but the new transaxles were scarce to find & very expensive

I was in Oregon then, and knew several guys who had done it in the Portland area

you have to be a goood transaxle mechanic & have all the tools ;)

I have some old articles about doing this from the 914 Twin Trunks publication that preceded the internet, and from the old 914-6 Owner's Assn publication

and you might alsio find articles on the old 914club site by using the wayback machine, or maybe the 914world guys have posted them somewhere

yrs back I downloaded most of the tech articles, and still have 'em

It's a lot easier & cheaper just to swap the trans & the shifter if you can find a decent whole trans

(I have 2 complete sets of shifter & linkage if you need one)

- all depends on your budget

.

Take the necessary side shifter parts (forks, rails, console with studs, and nose cover) and put them into the tail shifter trans. As long as you take CAREFUL note of the number and thickness of the paper gaskets between the case and the intermediate plate you should be fine. Some care is needed to set up the forks and rails, but the necessary fixture and gauge are readily available.

The Cap'n

That is likely what. I will do. Although I need to dissemble both transmissions first, and make sure the replacement, is better than the old one.