Ok, I know a lot of you wish you could just drop in the T2 transmission without having to change the rear end. Please note, this is a series 4 LSD in a '89 GXL, if that makes a difference, then thats why it worked.
A lot of the problems people ran into were the NA driveshafts being too long. Well anyway, I said what the hell and tried a automatic driveshaft, and behold; the yolk fit and the bolts lined up with NA rear end, I figured my luck would run short and I would end up a few inches short when it was installed in the car, so I bolted in the driveshaft, and bolted back in the transmission, and everything fit without a hitch. The automatic driveshaft spins freely/doesn't bind. I have no play/looseness in the driveshaft, the shifter lines up correctly, and everything seems to be perfect. If you want, I'll upload pictures of the assembly outside the car before I bolted it in. If you have any questions, I'll be sure to try to answer them. This worked for me, so it should work for you other guys with NA's out there.

 

THIS is what I been saying for a long *** time

Put in a TII flywheel and front counterwieght on a N/A engine
bolt on a TII tranny with it's starter
use a AUTO driveshaft

glad to see you proven my Post's.

 

Amen, that's exactly what I did, fits like a charm, no problems at all. I've read dozens of threads on this and nobody said anything about the automatic drive shaft, so I gave it a shot on my own. I hope this solves some of the questions for the people who were afraid to do so.

 

So both of you have actually done this? I thought you had to use the starter too? So what if you use a TII lightweight flywheel? With the front TII counterweight is eveything still balanced?

 

Well, considering it's a T2 Transmission, you use everything from a T2, starter/etc. I don't have an NA engine so I'm not positive, but I am pretty sure.

 

or in reverse
:you want to use a TII engine
but want to keep your N/A drivetrain
change the TII flywheel and front counterweight
for the N/A ones

Like I did on my GXL
(which today the TII hood poped up and smashed my windshield
and flat'nd the hood like a pankake)
So after I jank the motor and tranny and some other stuff I'll part out
she's going to the crusher.

In a way it wans't a bad thing
I've broken 2 trannys so far
using the N/A drivetrain

So I'm putting my engine in a TII I got with a blown engine
Now I'll be able to run drag radials and drop .400 from my 1/4 times



here she is in the sig
bye bye

 

You don't have to change the front counterweight, they are the same. You can use a lightweight flywheel, just be sure it matches the transmission TYPE and the engine YEAR. (Counterweights are the same for NA and TII, but different for different years.)

Does the Auto driveshaft go into the TII transmission all the way? (In other words, is the yoke fully inserted?

Brad

 

Anyone actually done this? Like N/A motor and full TII drivetrain? I know you can switch the front counter weight, but isn't the whole internal balance and rotors different from the TII vs N/A?

 

Didn't someone here do a T2 with a NA transmission? Maybe he could shed some light on the reverse order? I've doing a T2 to T2 tranny to NA rear end. I'm also trying to rig up some way of being able to adjust my front suspension in degrees, instead of just the two options (normal and sport) via a dial or something. (My gxl has the push button suspension)

 

back when i still had my car and was planning on doing the drivline swap, i was told that the auto driveshaft would fit. but it was b/c of this site that i did not end up going the auto driveshaft rout.

http://www.16paws.com/

click on driveline comparision, you wil see that the auto shaft is much shorter than the t2 shaft. But, then agin, its hard to argue with someone who just put one in there car! i thknk this is why brad was asking if it was all the way inserted. and yes, brad is correct, there is no need to swap out front counter wieghts, they are the same, just get a flywheel thats the saem year as teh transmission

 

It fits, it's all the way in, it works, end of story!

 

Is there a significant advantage to swapping to a TII gearbox? The gear ratios are specific to the TII engine which makes more torque than any N/A engine. How will this help? The TII trans also weighs about 20-25 lbs more. I guess if you are rough on the trans the TII trans will last longer but I've gotten 100,000 plus on my N/A trans while doing 15-20 autocross events/year for the last three years with never a problem. That includes down shifting at high rpm without the clutch just by proper technique of heel/toe downshifting. Did I mention I've got a stock flywheel.

 

Well, the advantage of it is we don't go blowing it up beyond 250hp, which I intend to go way beyond, also, I'll be putting infront of it

 

YES, I HAVE DONE THIS. Rotor weights are the same for NA and TII rotors of the same year. If you don't believe me, go to the Mazdatrix website and look it up.

 

I've yet to see a problem with the automatic driveshaft yet, other than I can't change the ujoints on it (damn you mazda) I might buy an aftermarket one so it has changeable u's in it.

 

I have a 91 t2 convertible. For the last 8 months I've been running the stock NA Automatic transmission. This weekend I put a t2 5 speed trans in the car. The automatic drive shaft does NOT fit. It is about 2 inches too short. The t2 trans is shorter than the auto.

Rob

 

Did you have the stock N/A motor in when you did this? If so was it a bitch getting the flex plate off the motor, and putting a flywheel on? Also did you have to change the front counter weight since it was an automatic?

 

No I have a turbo motor in the car. The counter weight is motor specific not transmission specific. If you use the Racing Beat light weight flywheel you don't have to take the counter weight off. The flywheel bolts up like the flexplate.

rls

 

i read where if you change from an auto to a standard tranny you DO NOT need a counter weight, they said its already built into the engine, the current car i have now has a 5 spd with auto engine, no counter weight on it.

 

The counter weight is built in to the OEM flywheel. The flexplate on automatic cars bolts to a separate counterweight. The lightweight flywheels on the market also bolt to the automatic counterweight. RB and other places will sell you the necessary counterweight with your flywheel purchase. If you're converting an automatic car to 5-speed, you don't need them to sell you the counterweight with the flywheel because you have it already.