4 Speed tranny questions

[Chryco Psycho]

 

[gzig5]

The tabs have 2 holes in them for the rods to go into. One hole is in the normal place and the other hole is closer resulting in less throw. It's a great mod.

Ok, I did see some pics of the tabs with two holes, but they weren't described as the ULTRA RARE TA ONLY version so I figured it was just a design variation.   Thanks.

[GoMangoBoys]

Does anyone have any experience with turning down the front bearing retainer to fit the bell housing?  I have a friend that is a hobby machinist that can put it is his lathe and make it smaller.  It looked to me like it may be getting close to the bolts to make it small enough to fit the bell housing opening.

[Chryco Psycho]

My friend had a lathe at the pool hall where he worked to make cues , we just used that to turn them down , I probably did 20 of them with all the conversions I did  , it works just fine 

[YellowThumper]

Jumping in on mine for this as well. Mostly to allow better highway driving. Willing to sacrifice some of the gearing range so I can quit staring at the tach during the miles of driving.

[gzig5]

 

Does anyone have any experience with turning down the front bearing retainer to fit the bell housing?  I have a friend that is a hobby machinist that can put it is his lathe and make it smaller.  It looked to me like it may be getting close to the bolts to make it small enough to fit the bell housing opening.

You should be able to go into the bolt counter bores and turn down the heads of the bolts or use cap screw if you have to.  If you had room you could just redrill the hole pattern on a smaller circle but I bet they made it the size they did for a reason.  I wish I had held on to the Rockwell 14" lathe I used to have, it would've been perfect for jobs like this or flywheel and brake parts. The 10" machine I use now is a little tight on how much it will swing.

[YellowThumper]

IIRC when bearing come is turned down it will partially break into the bolt holes. Bolts can remain untouched. Just hand grind 4 clearance notches into bell housing diameter to clear them. Simple dremel job in 4 places.
An item not being discussed if going the other way and boring out the bell housing. The larger diameter hole will break into the mounting bolts for the bracket that holds clutch pivot fork in place. Semi simple fix by welding on a mounting tab on opposite side and thread tapping bell housing for new location.

[gzig5]

An item not being discussed if going the other way and boring out the bell housing. The larger diameter hole will break into the mounting bolts for the bracket that holds clutch pivot fork in place. Semi simple fix by welding on a mounting tab on opposite side and thread tapping bell housing for new location.

I think I remember seeing this in my bellhousing and is why I mentioned I would go the other way and turn the bearing down.  For me, just another check in the column of a hydraulic throwout bearing, which won't use the fork.

[YellowThumper]

Here is a follow up for thread because I have both versions readily available.
I chose to purchase larger opening bell housing.
Larger opening in bell housing is appears to be clearance for 4-5/16 (4.313) diameter. Rough with calipers is 4.330.
Bolt circle for bolts on trans appears to be 4-3/16 (4.19).
This would leave only 1/16 (.063) past their centers remaining to capture bolts. Not something I would trust.
Possibly if front nose AND bellhousing were bolted on at same time and both had same shoulder height for bolt head to tighten on.
Pics also of the fork hinge plate mounting differences.
Their respective locations are the same. Only bolt mounting is different.

[Chryco Psycho]

The retainer can be turned down to the 4.80 size Only  ,   Not the 4.35 size , you need the bellhousing with a 4.80 diameter hole .
  Milling the front retainer down to 4.80 you will not get close to the bolts & there is no need to clearance the hole for the bolt heads  .
There is No Way to mate the OD with the 308 front brg into a 4.35 belhousing , don't even try !!
The 4.35 used the smaller 307 front brg & uses a smaller bolt pattern so the retainer & case are different  , the 4.80 & 5.125 use the 308 larger front brg FYI

I want to be sure you see this post @GoMangoBoys

[YellowThumper]