OK first gen trannys
are there any diffs were the shifter is located I have a person that has a (triumph)british car with a 12a/5spd. I sold him a tranny and the shifter is about 6in farther back than his WHAT IS the prob ?
I think it was a 13b GSLse tranny but not sure. I dont see the prob with switching a 12a to a 13b tranny.
but I was thinking it might be he has a 12a out of a RX2,3,4 and it is way different than a first gen WHAT DO YA THINK ........??????????????

randy

 

I know the shifter location is different in '79 to ~82 than the other ~83 to '85. It's like a few inches. Just because the way the cars are made I would ASUME that the Rx2,3,4 shifter would be closer to the bellhousing than the rx-7's. The owner of the Triump SHOULD know where his drivetrain came from.

 

There are two 1st-gen shifter locations.

The SA ('79-80) has the shifter integral with the transmission.

The FB ('81-85) has the shifter mounted on a pedestal, about 4 1/2" further rearward.

Other than shifter position, the transmissions are interchangeable. Some floor cutting is required to put an FB trans in an SA. I'm going to find out how much is involved with putting an SA trans in an FB... looks like the floor won't need to be hacked but there'll be interference with the ashtray ('85).

The RX-2/3/4/5 transmission, despite being a different design (the Turbo II trans is a version of it), has the same mounting points and the same shifter location as the SA transmission. It's directly interchangeable with the '79-80 RX-7 transmission provided that it's not one of the early top mount starter models.

 

What peejay said. The shifter was moved back to accomidate "bigger" people. Isn't the drive shaft different as well. There is a difference in size in the rear flange to pinion. The splines in the xmissions are the same. The pinion flange can changed to accomidate.

 

on mazdatrix's website they spell that out really well on there... i think its in the tech or faq's?

 

The shifter position changed for '82. Position for '79 to '81 r the same. I put an '83 tranny in my car and did the modificatioin to move the shifter back up cause I didn't want to cut the floor.

 

It wasn't '82, it was '81. Trust me. '81 and '82 were identical.

Incidentally this is why you can't find a short shifter for '79-80 cars. They won't bother making a new shifter just for the '79-80 cars and it's *completely* different from the '81-85 shifter.

The output splines are the same for *all* N/A trannies.
The pinion gear splines in the differential are the same for all Mazda 7" rearends. The yoke that bolts on to the pinion gear, that the driveshaft bolts to, does have different bolt patterns, the splits are '79-82, '83-85, and '86-91.

 

peejay, you can put a a 79-80 trans in a 81-85 car if you use the tailhousing from 81-85. swaps right on over.

otherwise gotta cut the tranny tunnel forward and interior is all messed up.

-bp-

 

This is something I copied and pasted to my ever growing Word doc file of known Mazda RX-7 facts.


All North American spec Mazda rotary manual transmissions from 1974 through 1991 are the same length (~32") from the tip of the input shaft to the tip of the output shaft, with the possible exception of the 1974 RX-2, which may be around 40 mm shorter. Bell housing and input shaft were shortened for 1993-up models.

All Mazda rotaries from US model year 1974 on are equipped with the same bolt pattern. All such transmissions can be bolted to all such engines. The larger-clutch/flywheel assembly used on turbo models will prevent NA transmissions from being installed, but with no flywheel installed, an NA transmission will bolt up.

 

You can't swap tailhousings from a '81-85 trans onto an SA trans unless the trans was made after May '80. The shift rod setup inside the trans is different before that and the transmissions are incompatible. speedturn on mazspeed just confirmed this to his dismay.

besides, the main reason to switch to the '79-80 trans is the superior shifter position! it's like shifting a shifter instead of flopping a light switch.