65 GTO Muncie question

[bison604]

Greetings, looking for some advice on the Muncie M20 I have installed in my 65 frame off restoration project.

First, a problem, I was removing the speedometer driver gear to change the gear ratio to match the rear end and the plastic gear slipped out of the housing and stayed in the transmission. When I reached up to grab it I touched it and it slipped into the rear extension housing. Now I can't reach it with several probes and I am looking at pulling the tranny apart to get it out.

My question to anyone with experience with these transmissions, Is it possible to back off the rear extension housing a few inches so I can get at this gear and remove it while the tranny is still mounted. When I look at the diagrams and reading the instruction for transmission service in the 1965Pontiac Tempest Chassis Shop Manual removing the rear extension housing while the transmission is still mounted seems to be possible. Any suggestion? Is this really dumb.

Obviously I would like to do this with as little effort as possible.

Second is a general question, on my muncie the speedometer driver gear mounts on the passenger side of the car as opposed to the driver side as shown in the tempest manual. Obviously I purchased tranny for another model, probably a chevy {I really should check those numbers}. Is it possible to just replace the rear extension housing if I can find a proper Pontiac GTO housing?

Thanks for any reply.

[MrPbody]

Bison,

Yes, it IS possible to get the extension housing loose enough to get up in there. The hazard is the reverse shift lever coming off the gear. It's a bit of a trick to get it back on, but not impossible. A little jockeying "side side" will free it up. Be VERY careful, to NOT pull on the main shaft once the housing is loose. It could break the mid-plate free, and you'll have needle bearings and thrust washers all over the floor...

Yes, the pass-side speedo gear is Chevy. Tail housings for the Pontiac are out there, but you're going to have to find the websites on your own (we're not allowed to tell you here).

I will say, Ames Performance and Performance Years (both Pontiac-specific resto houses) should be able to hook you up.

Jim