Transmission Swap

[87mj]

I have a 5/71 which originally came with the Type A 4 speed.  Sometime in its life, it was swapped with the type B transmission. 

Series 1 and early series 2 cars had the rear diff in a location closer to the front of the car. When the transmission was swapped, did that also require a shorter driveshaft?  Do you think my rear diff is now in the same location as a '72 ? 

I would like to replace my rear diff mount bushing but they are NLA for a 71.  I will need to use a '72 mount bushing which I think it requires a different bracket around my diff.  My hope is that has already been done. Anyone think the bracket has already been swapped and diff is already moved to the '72 position?

Thanks

Edited April 24, 2017 by 87mj

[Namerow]

My '70 has had the same 'B'-for-'A' swap performed by a PO.  It will be hard to tell (with certainty) what may have been done on your car unless you post a few pictures. You don't need to put the car up on a hoist (although that would be good).  Just lie down on the garage floor and take a picture of the back of the differential (esp. the bracket that runs side-to-side and sits at the bottom of the diff's rear cover).  It will also help if you can put one side the car up on a jack, remove the wheel, and then take a photo of the moustache bar where it mounts to the underside of the car.

Eventually, it will also be interesting to see what's been done to your car to accommodate the altered fore-aft location of the gearshift lever where it comes up out of the console opening.  The 'B' places the shift lever further forward and may have required notching of the opening in the transmission tunnel to allow 1st and 3rd gear to be selected.  It may also have forced some mods to the opening in the plastic console and to the lever itself (so that the lever doesn't bang into the console opening and the shift knob doesn't come too close to the instrument panel when 1st or 3rd gear is selected).

[Zed Head]

You can look at the angle of the half shafts to the wheels and tell if the diff is still forward or has been moved back.  The shafts will be at a 90 degree angle if the diff has been moved back, but will have an obvious forward tilt if the diff is in the forward position.  Or you can measure the propeller shaft.  As I understand it, the A and B transmissions used the same length propeller shaft.  But the forward mounted diff used a shorter drive shaft.

[HappyZ]

My 7/71 also had the Type A to Type B swap.  I recently purchased the car and discovered it yesterday.  The person did a real bad job on the install.  They just bent up the transmission tunnel and cut some of the center console.  No rubber boot covers, and only duck tape to seal the hole.

If I try to sort it out right, do I need to actually find a Type B center console, of keep the original?  If I cut away 3/4" at the front of the shifter hole, can I then use at later rubber shift boot?  Do I need the metal ring too?

Any advice and pics of the interior side of the shifter will be helpful.

Edited March 11, 2019 by wadelester

[Zed Head]

Depends on what you mean by "sort it out right".  There is no 7/71 Type B console.

There are other ways to get the Type B to work with all of the original Type A parts.  The most effective seems to be bending the shift lever.

[HappyZ]

It does have the "S" type shifter handle.

Here are my thoughts on sorting things out:

Either I replace the transmission back to an A style OR I correct the interior.
If I choose the latter, then how do make things somewhat correct?
The previous owner bent up the front of the hole in the transmission cover.  He only bent it about one half inch, so the S-Shift lever still hits the front of the hole.  He also cut away a small portion of the center console where the boot comes through.  He never added a rubber boot, and just left the leather boot dangling.
If I cut about 3/4 from the front of the shifter hole, will the latter (B type) rubber boot fit the entire hole?  If so, do I then incorporate the boot ring used with the later 240Zs?  When done, does it look ok?  Could I actually purchase and install the later center console (if I can find one)?
If I replace the trans back to A Type,  then all should be well.  Are there significant differences between the A and B Type?

Lastly,
What would you do?  I think this car has good bones and I’d like to make it a really nice driver, so my instinct is to put it back to original A-type.
 

[Zed Head]

Looks like you pasted questions from another forum in to this one.  Looks like you'd like to restore it to a Type A transmission.

By "bend" I meant heat the lever using a torch and bend to a shape that doesn't require any metal cutting.  Many possibilities. 

Here's a couple of old threads on it that are pretty good.

 

[87mj]

I have heard a lot of negative comments about the Type A transmission but I wont be able to personally comment about that for at least another couple of years until I finish another car. But most seem to say it feels very sloppy compared the later b. My tunnel was also botched.

Regarding my '71 which has the transmission swap, it shifts too nicely to consider putting a different transmission back in it. So I decided to leave the "wrong" transmission in it.  As a temporary work around, I did exactly as you suggested.  I installed a type b console (8/71+ IIRC) which also meant I installed the later choke.  The car looks kind of goofy since it has the vertical defroster with the series 2 console.  A previous owner also installed a series 2 radio so the car is wrong on many fronts.

Eventually, I plan to cut and weld a shifter and move it back a couple inches.  Then install the original console back in it with the correct radio.

[HappyZ]

Thank you all for your advice.  Since my transmission tunnel is only bent up and my original console is already trimmed, I'm going to alter the shifter handle with sharper angles.  I won't be doing any more damage and I can use the original style rubber boot.

Thanks Again.

[HappyZ]

So I have my center council out.  Upon inspection, I can't see how an outer boot from an A or B type will fit.  I don't have a B type boot yet, but for sure an A type boot won't fit; there's not enough room between the shift handle and the trimmed tunnel.  Have any of you fitted a B Type boot?  If so, I'll order one.