Phillip:
Installing the OD tranny in your 1974 car is pretty straightforward. You are
not missing much, and hopefully I put the whole information in the small print
on the website.
First: Electrical
The windshield wiper switch in your car is the also the OD switch. The switch
engages by a back and forth movement, just like the high beams on the other
stalk. Most of these switches are very stiff on non-od cars and may be
brittle, so operate the switch carefully at first.
Check on the right hand fender/firewall area under the hood. The bundle of
wires (rear wiring harness) running down by the clutch line plug into the main
harness at this point. If you look at the main harness side, you will see a
yellow wire which is terminated in a bullet sleeve. This is the OD feed wire
from the wiper switch. Moss does carry an OD gearbox wiring subharness for the
68-76 car, which plugs into this connector and you may wish to buy this with
the gearbox as it makes the job a bit neater. You can also duplicate the
harness pretty easily by running a feed wire from the yellow connector down to
the OD lockout switch which is on the shifter remote control assembly, then
from the lockout switch to the od solenoid wire. This completes the electrical
side, pretty simple huh.
The mechanical side is even simpler. There is no change in driveshaft length
and you can use your original shifter.
This is where I get a little vague, I'm not sure what the differences are in
the speedo head and OD speedo drive gear. There are a couple of very smart
cookies on this list that probably have the information off the top of their
heads. I believe the later speedos are the same from OD to non-od, but can't
remember the cut offs. Figure that you may have to play with the speedo
gearing, find a different speedo head or get used to the speedo being
inaccurate. You will need a different speedo cable, as the output on the OD
tranny is a bit further back. Your existing right angle drive can be used to
make the connection, make sure it is in good shape, cleaned and lubed.
Kelvin.
Date: Thu, 08 Apr 2004 14:17:44 -0700
From: "Philip McConnell" <Philip.McConnell@thewhistlestop.org>
Subject: Re: V1 #1547
Hello List Gurus,
The non-OD tranny in my '74 B is on its last legs. Moss is selling
COMPLETE OD transmissions for MGBs for what I think is quite a
reasonable price. If I remember correctly, the wiring was complete for
OD in ALL B's. So, if the new tranny is complete from input shaft to
drive shaft flange, I should be able to just bolt it in, right?
Am I missing something? Okay, Okay, WHAT am I missing? ;-)
TIA
Philip McConnell
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