hello boys and girls. i took my 7 in to school to fix it... easy fix i thought it was but it wasnt so now i got 3 trans... a class that is ending soon and a car with no trans or anything i need help...
i have a 88 vert.. the trans in this car is a 5 speed trans that bolts motor and the s4 starter bolts to it .. BUT its shifter is 2-4 inches forward.. also i dont have the "remote mount" shifter. so it leads me to believe that the trans is from a 79 - 80 since it doesnt have the "rib cages"... my problem is that im really low on cash.
.... errr correction im broke guys.. so i bought 2 trans from HAI TEK... good guy.
but the one is fucked.. as i was taking the tail shaft off a shifter fork came out the case!!!! so im thinking damn 1!!! could the other one be fucked to..

soooooo.... i took that tail shaft from the s4. and saw that it would fit on the 79-80 trans but i have to change the little metal finger things the shifter hooks on and pulls to select the gears. what i wanna kno is can i swap this out? ... in case i can... that will lead me to my next problem... i dont like the gear ratios on the 79-80....

soooooo that will take me to my next question. is there a possiabilty that i can take parts from the 3 trans missions (2 s4's and 1 wtf_) and make atleast 1 good trans. or em i better of sticking to the original trans that i know is ....decent and dealing with crappy gear ratios till i go turbo 2.? like i said before i dont need smart *** answers no dick **** ... i have school in the morning and this is live work im doing in class and i really need to kno asap so i can get graded.

 

why did you take the transmission out in the first place?

 

cause its not the right one my interior is all DIXKED like my shifter sits inside the bezel just under the radio... in other words the shifter hole is 2-4 inches to short to be stock

 

just put the correct transmission in that works and be done with it.

 

Use the other s4 transmission that you are questioning. Be done with it. It should get you around.... Otherwise, you will be a transmission pro after this!

 

You got the car with the strange transmission in it, or did you put it in?

 

i got the car like this..... i wouldnt go through all the extra pain in the *** work just to put a trans in ... you should see the cross member... sigh

 

but what im asking is...
can the parts from the s4s interchange with the parts from the 79.
cause if thats the case.. ill be great. because i will have a few sets of forks and what ever else is broke... i just dont want to take the trans apart and find out i cant interchange between the 3.
cause i really need to have a trans ready by the time schools done in a week so i can take my car home

 

I have sitting in my garage a transmission from a first gen that's got an S4 tail housing and "bellhousing", well the front section, bolted to it. I have no idea how much work it was (I bought it that way), but it can be done, as long as they're all NA transmissions that is.

 

ok guys and gals ..


i took the shift fork from the 79-80 trans and put it on the 86 trans... i was a paint in the *** cause of the detent ***** but it can be done.. also if the fork didnt work then you would want to use the 79 trans witht he 86 tailshaft i believe that you need to transfer over the forks and rods into the 79 trans.. because apparently the shifter gates sit different...

anyway i went to mazda got everthing i needed including the shims for 28 bucks.
let me kno if you need part numbers or anything.....
ill let you kno as i go along. maybe i should do a write up

 

I take it its a turbo front bellhousing? I would say shenanigans if it was the NA bellhousing.

 

No, all NA, hence the quotes on "bellhousing", which is incorporated into the front section of the case, the whole front section was swapped (so I was told). I don't think there's any reason to put the FC front section on it, I think the 1st gen front works too.

 

Oh like its just a S3 trans shoved into a S4 box? Odd. I always thought you only had to change the tailhousing.

 

I'm pretty sure that's the case, the front section swap isn't really needed. Maybe it is a 1st gen front section, I'm not sure. I bought it that way. I do know that it's an S4 tailhousing, since it uses an S4 trans crossmember and the shifter's in the right spot.