I picked up a tail shifter that appears to have been freshly or recently rebuilt. I would like to swap it into my car but really don't know the process for converting it to fit. I assume that I'll need to get a gasket kit or something. I guess the easiest way to do this would be to pull the sideshifter that's currently in the car and lay it next to the tailshifter and just start swapping pieces? What new pieces do I need to have on hand before I start this procedure? I really want to minimize the down time. In other words, I would like to be able to park the car on Friday afternoon and be driving it again by Saturday night. Any tips and pointers would be greatly appreciated.

You would be much better off paying to have the tailshift converted to a sideshift.

The engine fire wall, tunnel, etc is not set up to accept the tailshifter linkage.

You need the shift rails, a few gaskets, the end cover (or you can modify the original end cover), and the shift console. I can supply what you need on an exchange basis: you pull 'em off your side shifter and send them to me. You'll also need some GL5 gear oil to finish it up. It's NOT difficult if you use some common sense and take your time, and you won't need any special tools except for the ones I loan you. Gratuities accepted. The Cap'n

Maybe I wasn't clear in my original post. I have a side shifter in my car currently. This means that I should already have all of the non-expendable parts that I need right? I should only have to swap those parts to the tail shifter, replace the associated gaskets and seals, and reinstall the unit in the car right? I shouldn't have to pay someone to perform a conversion should I? I mean, this should be a relatively simple, straightforward operation right? I should just have to pull out my sideshifter and transfer parts from it to the "new" transmission then install it in the car.

The parts you need are on your side shifter. You will have to change, AFAIK, tail cone, shift rails & forks and install the side shifter mechanism. In other words, you are going to have to pull the gear stack. PM Aaron Cox....he can tell ya.

Hey man,
It is not very hard. You will need the parts that SLITS and Crusty said from the original tranny. The only special thing that you need is the shift fork jig which Crusty generously offered to you for use. This will assure that the shift rods are alligned correctly. Not rocket science. Since you are pulling the stack anyway you should re seal your case. Just time, but easy. This is easily a 1 day job for the novice provided everything goes well. You can even take pics of the tail shifter insides to show us the condition of the parts and get some free assesments of their condition.

Here is a pick of what the correctly adjusted shift rods should look like, and what internal parts you need to swap. To get the rods out you need to remove the bolts from the forks, remove the 14mm bolt on the bottom of the intermediate plate, catch all of the balls and springs and remember what order they go in, and re install everything.

Oh ya, for step by step on how to remove your gear stack and reinstall just click the tanny link in my sig line Ask questions if you have them.

WOW! Thanks for the replies. I didn't realize that I was going to have to tear that far into the tranny to do this. I really hope I don't screw this up. I am not sure exactly when I might attempt the job but when I do, I'll let you know how it works out for me.

Ok. So it's been over two years and I finally cracked open the tail shifter. Now it's time for an assessment. It looks great to me but I don't even know what I'm looking at so what do all of you experts think?

from what I can see you will need at least on synchro.

The only way to really inspect the syncrhos, dog teeth, and brake bands is to remove the gears from the shafts and disassemble the gear sets.

Rich

Yer gonna have to clean the oil off for the pics to be of much use. It is hard to tell if a synchro band is bad or not. I can tell that your 1st dog teeth are no more, likely your slider, but possibly not. You can remove the 1st slider with a 13mm wrench and inspect it easy enough. 2nd gear dog teeth look like they are toast as well. This most likely means your slider teeth are gone, synchro, too.
So, best guess based on the pics: 1st dog teeth, 2nd dog teeth, 1st and 2nd synchros, 2-3 slider.

well that sucks. I just looked up those two parts and they are $700! What would a new tranny cost, $10,000?

So here's the 1st gear slider.

So what was wrong with your side shifter that you have to convert it to a tail shifter??
CCLINTRANSMITABLE

I'm not converting it. I was hoping that this gear stack from the tail shifter would be in good shape so I could use it. The side shifter is grinding so badly that I haven't been able to drive it for almost a year now. I already replaced and adjusted the clutch and replaced all of the shifter bushings and it just got worse and worse.

That slider is not good.
It can be saved with a file/dremel and alot of work...the issue with that is the tips are hardened..they are junk at this point so a little elbow grease wont harm anything.

Get the grooves straight again, and re-point every one of the teeth on the slider.
Same thing can be done to the dog teeth.

This is a short term fix and may or may not last depending upon YOU.

Rich

That slider can not be saved. As for parts, the best deal I have found is Auto Atlantas 1st gear rebuild kit for $525. It includes: Full seal kit, 1st slider, 1st dog teeth, and synchro band. Priced individually these parts are not cheap. This is where I buy these parts from in kit only.

With core transmissions, expect 99.8% of the 1st gears to be shit. You should be able to salvage 4th and 5th gear synchros bands, dog teeth, and sliders from the two boxes leaving you to only need to buy 1st gear stuff. Take the most worn parts and place them in the highest gear slot leaving the newer looking stuff for the lower gears. Either way, bet on buying the 1st rebuild kit. I have some used parts for sale as well if you want to/need to save some coin, but not 1st gear stuff.

Looks like I'll just be flogging this car until it quits working and tossing it in the junkyard like all the other Fords and Chevys that I have had in the past. After I part out the good stuff that is.

Remember to save the "gaskets" between the intermediate plate and the transmission case! They are actually shims and set the R&P engagement depth; you need to measure them and use shims of the same width when re-assembling.

--DD