Ribcase versus Ribcase

[SaxMan]

Knowing that next winter, I'm going to have to pull the motor out of Baby Blue and rebuild the bottom half (I had the top half rebuilt when I blew the head gasket three years ago), I figure I probably should get the transmission rebuilt, too. I have a spare ribcase out of a 1967 Sprite, as well as the original one in the car currently. The tranny currently in the car is not in bad shape, the oil still comes out honey colored after a year, but I can knock it out of gear without using the clutch, so there are some worn parts.

All other things being equal, is there any advantage to waiting to rebuild the existing transmission? Or, should I go ahead and rebuild the '67 transmission so that it will be ready to go ahead of time and I won't have to cough up the money to rebuild both simultaneously. I was thinking maybe doing the 5 speed swap, but I'd have to see where I end up budget wise. I already dropped a line to Hap on the motor. He will be putting together one of his DIY rebuild kits just for the bottom half over the summer as I start getting my ducks in a row.

 

[Gerard]

Unless you want to put the original one back in the car, it makes sense to build your spare ahead of time and have it ready on the shelf. If nothing else, opening it up and evaluating the condition may influence your decision too. As an example, I am rebuilding one for someone now that turned out to have same badly damaged dog teeth on 2nd and 3rd gear, and the 3/4 synchro hub was in bad shape too. This necessitates 2 new gears and a new synchro hub. If you found yourself in a similar situation, you can see how that would influence your decision to consider rebuilding the other.