Re: 1971 Turbo Gremlin

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1971 adds some complications to doing much with your transmission as far as upgrade. With the automatic your pretty much limited to the Borgwarner you have. If you haven't broken it after 10 years you should be fine. 
  If the lifting the throttle to shift thing is not to much of a hassle you may be better off leaving it alone. The trans will take less abuse and last longer, maybe that is why it has lasted so long! 
  To upgrade your trans you will have to move over to standard shift or a newer engine! You allready have one of the latest best Borg warner transmissions in place.
  If it ain't borke, don't fix it!
For  a rear axle change, Look for a base model car with an automatic trans as all the 3:31's I've got out of Americans came from 199 automatic cars. A 232 Gremlin can probably be found with a 3:08 without too much hassle. American axles are narrower. I think you can also use a Javelin axle in the Gremlin IIRC.  That opens up a whole pile of extra sources for axles. 
  setting up new gears is not too hard as long as you take the time to read and understand what you are attempting to do. If you don't understand what you are looking for as a final result you stand a good chance of mucking it up.
  Used gears are even trickier as you want to try and get EXACTLY the same mesh as in th eold housing. This takes someone with real patience and time. Screw it up and you'll end up with gear whine and lots of noise!
Mark Price
markprice242ATadelphia.net
Morgantown, WV

 
---- Clarence Milstead <cmilstead@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: 
> Ten years ago I added a Garrett turbo to my 1971 Gremlin. It was featured in
> the Jan/Feb  1996 issue of Dick Datson's 21st Century Turbo newsletter and
> also on the Turboforce web site. I still have it and it's running fine but I
> have a few questions I'd like your opinion on. I have the aluminum case
> air-cooled BW transmission, model M-43. It's been a good transmission and I
> had it rebuilt at 250K miles. In normal driving it shifts OK but won't shift
> out of low gear unless I lift for a second during hard acceleration. I think
> it's probably the governor, what do you think? I have the TSM and have read
> the procedure for checking the governor, can I do it with the car up on
> jackstands or will I have a problem? I have the 7 9/16 axle with the 2.73
> ratio. I'd like to go to a lower (higher) ratio, maybe 3.15 or 3.31 for
> better performance. What's the best way to do this, try to find an axle in a
> salvage yard or buy new gears for my differential? I'm an engine man not an
> axle man, can I do the work myself? I've read the procedure but never done
> it. Mileage isn't a problem, I drive the car in town only. A couple of final
> questions, if the BW breaks what is the best and easiest replacement? And,
> how much horsepower is my turbo 258 making? I have the Garrett turbo, a Comp
> Cam 260, Mallory ignition, Holley 500cfm carb, 2 1/4" exhaust and don't turn
> it much over 4500 RPM. Thanks for your advice.
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