(TRANSMISSION) TII tranny in FB > Notching the tunnel
 

So you're installing a TII tranny in your FB... You've got the engine and transmission mated and sitting in the car, but when you raise the transmission you find to your dismay that the tailshaft housing won't clear the hole in the transmission tunnel! What to do?!

So you cruise RX7club looking for a solution, and everyone and their mom sais you need to remove the original tranny's tailshaft housing and modify it. They say you need to measure, cut, and drill the shift-rod as well as cut and file the linkage-tube. All well and good if you've got both transmissions and a drill press on hand. But what if you've already sold your stock tranny for beer money? Easy... Notch the tunnel!

Nothing seems to raise the ire of purists like this mod. I'm not entirely sure why but every time I mention notching the tunnel as an alternative to disassembling and modifying the tailshaft housing, people get very upset.

Yes it moves the shifter location aft about an inch, but it does not affect the operation of the shifter/transmission one bit. If this is something you can live with your car will be running 3 hours sooner. Believe it or not, most would not be able to tell the difference when sitting behind the wheel.

http://www.bfhracing.org/duck/shifter2.jpg

I outlined the area I cut out. This still needs a little cleanup with a file, but it only took about 5 minutes with a cutting wheel and it was done! This was done in an '85 GSL-SE with an REW/TII tranny. I've also used an S4 TII 13Bt/TII tranny with this exact same notch.

http://www.bfhracing.org/duck/shifter1.jpg

Here's the placement of the shifter without the boots installed. You do not need to modify the shift boot at all, and once you've put the boot and trim back on it looks normal... You can't see the notch at all!

Footnote: This is not a fix for using the wrong front crossmember. If your car came with a 12a and you installed a 13b without going to the -SE front member then this will not help you!