Hey guys,

I have an 88 700R4 that I'm putting into my 84 T/A. However, the 88 was from a Caprice so it didn't have a torque arm mount. I picked up a but it's a bare casing with nothing in it. My 84 has a mechanical speedometer so I need to either swap the gear housing over, or just swap tail shafts, so I decided to just swap tail shafts.

Do I need to take my mechanical speedo out of my old tail shaft before swapping it?

Are there any seals I should get when mounting my old tail shaft on the new tranny? Any kit or the like I should look at?

 

The square cut seal on the front of the tailhousing is usually fine to re-use.

The speedo drive gear on the output should be swapped from old to new if it is different and if your speedo was accurate. The same for the speedo driven sleeve and gear too.

A Timken bushing and seal kit (5200 pn?) are fairly inexpensive to put in the housing while it is out. Drive the bushing in with wood. Then, tap the slip yoke onto it with a light hammer. A snug fit will wear in without issue. Vaseline or trans. assy. lube on the new bushing and seal can only help.

Just in case, if you want to trade a Caprice tailhousing for F-body, I am interested.

 

I'm taking my entire tail shaft from my 84 Transmission, and putting it on the 88 Transmission. The 88 has already been rebuilt with a kit from Dana at Probuilt.

Do I need to take the speedo gear assembly out of the 84 before pulling it so I don't damage it? Or can I pull the 84 Tailshaft assembly as a whole unit and put it on the 88?

Should I buy a new drive/driven gear since it's going to be apart?

I will see if I can find the Caprice Tailshaft housing, the builder may have held on to it because I wasn't interested in it.

 

Removing the driven gear and sleeve before tailhousing removal is smart to do, yes.

Worn gears are pretty easy to find by inspecting the center of teeth for wear. If they appear fine and the speedo was working well, re-use.

Thanks on the housing. I have a core I would like to go through and use w/ it.

 

Hi Ozz ,

I gotta ask , are you talking the tailshaft housing , or the actual tailshaft itself ?

Reason I ask is that the tailshaft housing is easy to change , where the actual tailshaft itself requires the complete dis assembly of the transmission . I just recently took an old 700R4 totally apart just for kicks and the tailshaft was one of the very last components to come out of the transmission .

 

Just the housing.

The transmission has been rebuilt professionally by a highly regarded local racer. The only issue being it's from a Caprice and not an Fbody so it doesn't have the torque arm mount. I need to swap the tailshaft housing from the transmission I"m replacing onto the one I'm about to install.