ok my 83 gsl has a shot motor and a junk tranny. i know where i can get a 13b with a fc tranny out of an 88 for real cheap. if i take my old engine and trans out and replace it with the one from the fc will my 83 lsd rearend be compatible if i use the fc driveshaft? or am i better off using the fc rearend? i have lots of questions on this. or what would be better? should i put in the 13b and find an fb trans? what would be the better combo? is an 88 fc rearend better than an fb's rearend? what would have a better ratio? any coment and or sugestion would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
micah

 

um..im no expert, but this may help, the fb tranny will bolt up to a n/a fc, and should hold as long as you dont do a bunch of modding. i would expect that the fc diff is better, but i dont know if it would fit.....if you go with the fc tranny, you will need a custom drive shaft....there...if im wrong, im sure the gurus will correct me.

 

thanks, i was told that i could put in a fc tranny to a 83 lsd rearend but i would have to use the fc driveshaft. thats why i need to know from the guys who know there stuff. i need to know the best combo to make it work. wether it be the stock rearend or the fc rearend.

 

yes, custom driveshaft would be needed. there really is no difference in your tranny and that n/a fc tranny. so keep yours and save some hassle.

 

are the tail housings of the trannys interchangeable? i heard that you can take the case and just swap the internal stuff. is that true?

 

*ASSUMING THE FC IS A NON TURBO*

The FC trans is a bolt-in. You unbolt the tailhousing/shifter assembly from the FB trans and bolt it to the FC trans, and then it fits like stock. No modification required. You continue using your FB driveshaft - there is no way the FC driveshaft will work.

The FC rear will not work without so much work that it doesn't make any sense to do so. It's the same rear, really, except the pinion gear has a longer shaft, so gearsets are much harder/more expensive to come by, as opposed to the 1st-gen which uses a "standard" 7" rear shared with many other Mazda (and some non-Mazda!) products.

 

I thought the tranny mount was different. Maybe you only need a custom mount when going with a T2 tranny.

 

The tranny mount IS different. That is why you use the FB tailhousing.

You can't swap the tailhousing onto the Turbo trans, which is why you need to adapt.

 

As I understand it, non-turbo FC trannies are nearly identical to FB ones, but they're a lot worse for the wear because the FCs are heavier and the engines make more power.

 

wow thats good info that is what i was looking for
thanks. so all as i have to do is switch the tail housing

 

yeah ... what peejay said
just switch the tail housing.

 

FB's ALL THE WAY