Does the 79/80 RX7 have a different length from bell housing to shifter than the 81-85?

I set out to swap my transmission out the other day only to find that the shifter location, on the spare trany I have, is about 4 inches to far back. I tried to swap the tail shaft housing, but no go. I don't know why they wouldn't bolt together but they didn't.

After today's/yesterday's failure I REALLY want a newerish/rebuildable transmission, but I want to make sure what I'm gonna get is what I can use.

 

You have an FB tranny. The SAs shifter position is different than the FB.

There are threads on the forum that explain the mods necessary to switch the tailhousings, if I'm not mistaken.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...-trans-759963/

So... I have an "early model" SA, and I can't swap tail housings. poo poo

Oh well I'll just deal with the whine for a little while longer.

 

Crap! That sucks. Guess I'm out too if I need a swap. I wonder if there is a way to determine if an SA transmission is an "early SA" or a "later SA" by looking at the transmission itself.... Like, how can you tell if a seller just has a pile of parts and may not know the VIN of the SA the transmission came from?

 

https://www.rx7club.com/1st-generati...tions-1055149/

 

if i'm not mistaken, ALL 79-80 SA 4spd and 5spd gearboxes should bolt up fine in all 79-80 RX7's and "most" pre 78 older RX cars. In 81-85 the shifter was made remote and moved back almost 4in. There is a number of threads on how to use a 81-85 trans in an earlier car. The mod may even apply to fc gearboxes as well but I have no experience with them and couldn't tell you for sure

 

Well the tail shaft and shifter forks all look REALLY identical from the inside... I don't know what was hitting to keep the housing from working on the FB transmission, but it was enough to stop me.

I tried removing the speedo drive gear, and the oil trough. I thought about grinding down the forks, but said to hell with it. It looked like it was gonna rain and I didn't wanna ride the motorbike to work so I slaped it back together.

I'm gonna reply and then read the hyper link and itll probably answer all my querries.

 

when i put an 83 rx7 engine/tranny in an 808 i just shortened all necessary components 4" and worked out great.

 

79/80 SA transmissions are known as "smoothcase" trannies. These are all innerchanable with one another regardless and as the nickname implies, have a clean smooth exterior surface. The 81 and later FB units were cast with external ribbing for renforcing. The innerchanability issues are between the SA and FB units.

 

Banzai, show us a picture of these ribbed FB trannies. I want one.

 

I love this website because every day I look at it I have the chance to learn something new, something I read and then say to myself "I should print this out and save it because it's important information and I'll never remember it otherwise", and this is a perfect example. Thanks Banzai! A pic to print with it would be icing on the cake!