[67drake]

Ugh! Transmission is in the car. If I can’t fish the gear out, which looks like it ain’t happening as I can’t see or feel it, what’s the easiest way to get in the tail shaft? Can I pull it with the transmission in the car, or do I have to pull the whole transmission?

[gtospieg]

You can definitely pull the tailshaft with the trans in the car. I once replaced the reverse gears in a Muncie the same way....assuming this is a manual trans.

[67drake]

Originally Posted by gtospieg

You can definitely pull the tailshaft with the trans in the car. I once replaced the reverse gears in a Muncie the same way....assuming this is a manual trans.

Yes, it’s the Muncie in my ‘71 GTO. I’ve just never opened a Muncie case, so I didn’t know if there was something I wasn’t aware of that would prevent me from doing this with the transmission still in the car. When I was a young guy, it wouldn’t have been as big a problem pulling the whole transmission.

[mgarblik]

I would try a couple of other things before removing the tail housing. Do you have one of those small flexible camera's? They are pretty inexpensive and can be bought everywhere. If you do, using that camera and a grabber tool you can probably fish it out of the case. If you just can't get it out, I think removing the transmission would be easier and probably faster than taking the tail housing off in the car. Basically, your 4 bolts away from removing the entire transmission either way. Removing the tail housing is a little tricky come reinstall time. Either way you need to remove the driveshaft, cross member and transmission mount. Plus the shifter needs to be removed. If you decide to do it in the car, once the tail housing is pulled out and you get the gear out of there, to replace the housing, do the following. VERY carefully, drive out the taper pin that holds the reverse shaft in place. Then push the shaft toward the outside of the case. Use a heavy grease to stick the little engagement pawl for reverse parallel in the case. Then slide the housing on. Carefully push the shaft inward to engage the pawl on the reverse slider gear collar. It's easy to miss the sleeve. If engaged correctly, the reverse shaft should move the slider and the hole for the taper pin will line up. Carefully tap the pin in. It only goes in one way and it is easy to crack the case. I usually put a little JB weld over the pin area once installed. Personally, I think all this is a little tricky to do in the car, but it can be done. I prefer the more controlled environment of having the transmission on the bench. Sorry this happened, good luck with it.

[Lemans64]

If you remove trans, you might not have to pull tail shaft housing off, just roll trans around till you see the gear and pull it out.
Doing it in car is probably more difficult. Have to Agree with Mgarblik. Make a couple of dowel bolts to align the trans coming out and in.
I use about a 2.5 inch long bolt with the head cut off.

[67drake]

Thanks everyone.
I’ll have to wait a while to tackle this as I have other projects waiting.