So--- my 72 tailshifter just ate one of the bearings in the intermediate plate. Not sure which one but those little triangular pieces sitting on the shifter cover were definatly pieces of an outer race!!! A friend has given me a side shifter of unkown vintage and condition. Providing the sideshifter is workable can I throw the guts in the tailshifter case and be down the road?? I need a cheap fix right now with a good rebuild later on when finances are available.
I'm assuming I have to swap gears on the pinion shaft to keep the R&P wear pattern the same and and use the same shims between the case and intermediate plate so as not to disturb that gear set up. Is this doable without any special tools? Will the different bearing on the pinion shaft throw the R&P out of whack?
This little car has been my commuter rig (80 miles a day)and I would lke to get it back on the road as quickly and cheaply as possible. Thanks for your input.

The R&P position, thus the shim is based upon the size of the case and the various plates and tail housing.

So, in a nutshell, no.
It can be done...it will last for a while, but the R&P will never be right if you are swapping cases.

Rich

so--- i'm thinking the case,intermediate plate, pinion shaft and tailhousing will all come from the original tailshifter while the gears and bearings will come from the sideshifter. According to what you say I should be ok. If I can get away with just putting the bearings from the side shifter in the tailshifter case that is all I will do. I really can't afford to do much else at this time.

Easy:
1- Take the shift rods from the tail shifter and swap into the side shifter stack
2- take the tail cone from the tail shifter and place it on the side shifter box

Done

You will have to adjust the shifter rods after switching the parts but its easy to do.