MattL

Yep! That was me. I don’t see a shift platform on your transmission, which leaves the inferior screwdriver-through-the-selector-bushing route. But since you’re already taking it to a pro, you might as well have them test shift it themselves. Then, when you get blunt’s kit, you can fit up the shifter and do one last test before mounting.

You’re not kidding! I had just put a cutting wheel on the grinder when I tested out the shifting!

Wow, Vince, that is quite an offer, and I will gladly take you up on it! I’ll send you a PM. Thank you!

Thanks, @Buckeye. I’ll read through all of that. I reluctantly agree that it looks like taking that front plate off is the next step toward solving this. I really hope I can get the output flange off. I think I’ll probably reinstall the 4-speed in the meantime. Can’t keep not driving the car, but 5-speed glory felt so close I could taste it! Oh well. Driving it, working on it, getting temporarily bummed by its minor setbacks: it’s all gravy. The car is a beautiful reminder of how fortunate I am, even when it’s a pain it the ass.

@Buckeye After a few dozen more light whacks with the dead blow, the box wrench did loosen the bolt. After about a quarter turn of the bolt, there was a light metallic snap, which I assumed was a detent spring or something. At that point, I tried the shifter again. Now it only shifts up into 3rd and down into 4th. It’ll still press to the right towards 5th, but won’t travel up the gate to go into gear. And now it won’t even go left towards 1st and 2nd, let alone reverse. Continued backing the bolt out 2, then 3 turns, then removed completely. Put it back in while in neutral, then tightened to snug. No change at any stage. Ugh.

That's some awesome response time, @resra. Thanks for the reply and offers to help. You continue to be a great seller to deal with.

@Buckeye That bolt won't budge, unfortunately. The head edges started to deform, so I don't want to keep at it. I put some PB Blaster on it to soak, and I'll give it another try in a bit. @zinz Thanks, Ed. I'll give that a read today. @kbmb02 I purchased it dropped and repaired, but "fully functional." So, I was not expecting any issues. And it was sold by @resra, who has an excellent reputation (and was great to deal with). I don't think there's any way he would have shipped it if he knew it didn't have reverse or 5th. Still, I don't know what I could have done to bugger it up. It's been sitting in my garage, in its original (well-packed) shipping container since it arrived many months ago. I didn't do anything but take the box lid off to verify there was a transmission in there. (It looked beautiful, by the way: see pictures higher up in the thread.) I only unpacked it a few weeks ago when I had all the other parts ready for the conversion, and I've treated it really gingerly whenever I've moved it. I did screw up the drain plug threads somehow while it was strapped to the jack, and then took it down to my local transmission guy to rebuild the threads. To be safe, I did all the loading, unloading, and carrying, both to and from. Incidentally, we couldn't get the output flange unbolted, but I don't see how that would be related.

Hey @Buckeye! Thanks for the tip! I’ll try it tomorrow morning.

Well, that wasn’t it. 18mm. Any other possibilities, or am I sunk?

Thanks, @tahoedon!

I’ve removed the shift platform to eliminate its orientation from the equation. I then gave it a try with the help of a screwdriver through the selector pivot. No dice. I found posts that said bolt placement may be an explanation, but I couldn’t find clarification as to which rear 1 o’clock bolt would be the culprit. Could somebody mark up the photo below to indicate? Thanks in advance.

Okay, back to FAQ well. I dry-fit the shifter assembly while the transmission is on the jack in order to run through the gears. 1-4 seem to work fine, but I can’t seem to get into reverse or fifth. Is there a trick to doing so? I would be super bummed if this thing turned out to be shot.

Thanks! My cheesy Harbor Freight slide caliper shows both bearings at a hair under 21mm, but I’ll take it easy just in case.

Thanks, Mike. Will do. On the new bearing, one end is tapered (bottom in the pic above). Do you know whether that should face the crank or the transmission?

I'm replacing my pilot bearing in the process of the (very deliberate) 5-speed swap on my '76. I took the old one out with the bread trick, which was very cool. But it's shorter than the replacement. Same diameter, but quite a bit shorter. That's okay, right? RIGHT?

For any still following my progress on this: the plug is in the hole and all is right with the world. I had considered taking a thread file to the hole myself, but the prospect of getting chips in the inner workings gave me pause. So, I took it to my local transmission guys. They took the same general approach, gave it a flush, replaced the seals (except the rear seal, because the flange wasn't budging), and filled it with Redline MTL. Relieved, I gave them a good tip. So, now I'm on to next steps. With the flywheel off, I could see that I have a needle-type pilot bearing, so I ordered one from Blunt. As I wait for that to arrive, I'm getting other stuff prepped. I had had Top End lighten a new (to me) 215mm flywheel a few weeks back, and it's been sitting in a box, looking nice and shiny and pretty. With the old flywheel off, I had a chance to compare the two, and there's definitely a noticeable difference in weight. And it looks like most of the reduction in the new one's mass was towards the outer diameter. So, I expect to feel it when I get the car back on the road. Can't wait. I started to dry-fit the 245 today. Was pleased to see that -- turned on its side -- the unit just fits under the car on the Harbor Freight tranny jack. Once in the tunnel, I just had to then pull it upright. I Had to pound the driver-side tunnel in a bit for the clutch slave, as expected. And there's some heat shield on the passenger side that will need to be trimmed back a bit for the new bracket. Other than that, though, it seems like I'm in pretty good shape from a "making room" standpoint. I have some square aluminum tubing and some angle iron, and I thought about doing the original-to-center-bearing-bracket supports thing. At least to help get things aligned and drilled. But with the tranny jack at my disposal, it seems like that would just be adding unnecessary work to the process. Onward and upward! Or rather sideways, then over, then upward, then tilted back, then forward, then tilted forward, then wiggled side-to-side, then...

Hi @resra! There was only a little in there: about half a pint. And since this is the very first time I've even seen transmission oil, I can't offer any kind of subjective evaluation. To me, it looked pretty similar to regular ol' motor oil: semi-transparent and yellowish brown. It was pretty glittery, but I put that down to it being the dregs of the oil.

Thanks for that, Ray! I appreciate the encouraging words!

Yeah, the fault is mine. @resra sold me a nice repaired unit, and aside from the bell housing damage from a drop (which was thoroughly repaired), the thing was in fantastic shape. And he gave me a great deal on it. Definitely don't want to lay any of this at his feet. I was able to get the plug out for draining, without any issues. Not sure how I screwed up putting it back in, but I sure did. Wow.

Thanks, M2M3. I started the plug by hand, and I had the wrench hinged to about 45 degrees at the head to limit the torque I was putting on it. But when the plug only went in about halfway, I leaned on it before I knew what I was doing. Yeah, very stupid move on my part. I'm sick about it.

Got the 4-speed out, and should’ve called it a day. But no, I had to keep going. Drained the 5-speed, then proceeded to cross-thread the plug while replacing. That’s the f$&@ed up plug on the left and the 4-speed plug on the right. And then a pic of the hole showing the damage I’ve wrought. And then a pic of King Doofus. That’s me. No pretender shall ever take my crown. Any suggestions here, other than giving up and hiring a pro? Tap? Haven’t used one in about 15 years, but what the Hell.

Out with the old.

As part of this project, I'm also replacing my rusted-out manifold and downpipe. All the nuts are rusted solid to the studs on the manifold, so that's another thing I should've ordered to begin with. And I need to grind some of the repair weld on the transmission in order for the slave cylinder to fit with the bleed nipple down. So, it's finally time to get an angle grinder... I had an idea for a new Marvel Supervillain called "The Scope Creep." Nobody knows where he came from, but he gets bigger and bigger due to his insatiable hunger for money. He terrorizes the city, interrupting the existing plans of law-abiding citizens with his Rust Ray and Christmas Light Lasso.

No doubt about it. But the argument against the cantilever bracket here is more compelling than I’ve seen elsewhere. I sure feel I’ve been saved from a very poor decision.