The getrag 282 in my '88 GT is acting up so I bought a new Getrag 282 on ebay. After poking around in this forum, I have come to suspect that it is a Quad 4 Getrag 282. The bellhousing looks significantly different from the Fiero 282 or even the Beretta 282. Can I use this transmission with just a speedometer gear swap? Do I need to use the bellhousing from the Fiero 282? Can I swap the parts from this one into my Fiero 282 case? I would post a pic but I cannot figure out how to upload it.
Thanks for the tip on Rodney. I had been to his website but I somehow missed the writeup you linked to. Note that the guy selling these trannys on ebay claims that they have the 3.94 final drive ratio that Rodney says is so rare.
I have one of those, although it was 4 or 5 years ago that I did the swap, and I believe I have the 3.94 final drive. I think they were meant for export or something. Either way what ever the final ratio is it really made the stock 2.8 come alive and suits the 3.4DOHC even better! But be warned: first gear is pretty much useless and 5th is about what the original 4th is. My application is solely for track and competition so it works well and I don't run a speedo so the only modification was chopping about a half inch off one if the shifter shafts to get the cases to mate up properly. If I remember correctly, the side/spider gears are substantially larger on these units as well. For a daily driver, it wouldn't be my first choice (high revving, poor fuel economy) But as a 'fun' car, a definite improvement over stock and way easier and cheaper than the 6speed conversion. Good luck!
I just did this, you need to just swap your original bellhousing onto it, no need to touch any of the gears. You should shim it to make sure the preload on the dif bearings are good. I went through all the trouble of learning how to and ordered the used gm kit shim kit off of ebay to find our that it was fine the way it was, and did not need and different shims other than whatever was originally in there. The only other modification needed is one of the shift levers needs to be trimmed down about half an inch. The new bellhousing has a hole that is deeper than the bellhousing you will be putting on, so the lever will hit the back of the case. When you see the two bellhousings you will see the deeper hole in the new one. Other than that just put it together like normal and it works great. Mine is good for the city, the gearing is much better for city driving. And it does feel like it has more power, I personally think the 2.8 is under-powered for the original getrag final drive anyways.
I just did this, you need to just swap your original bellhousing onto it, no need to touch any of the gears. You should shim it to make sure the preload on the dif bearings are good. I went through all the trouble of learning how to and ordered the used gm kit shim kit off of ebay to find our that it was fine the way it was, and did not need and different shims other than whatever was originally in there. The only other modification needed is one of the shift levers needs to be trimmed down about half an inch. The new bellhousing has a hole that is deeper than the bellhousing you will be putting on, so the lever will hit the back of the case. When you see the two bellhousings you will see the deeper hole in the new one. Other than that just put it together like normal and it works great. Mine is good for the city, the gearing is much better for city driving. And it does feel like it has more power, I personally think the 2.8 is under-powered for the original getrag final drive anyways.
Thanks for the info guys. I have been concerned about the gearing being lower in this transmission. I could not get definitive answers from the seller, so I decided that I would take my chances on what gears actually came in the new transmission and then try to work it out when it got here. I intend to put this behind a kind of a 3400/iron head hybrid that I built. With the larger displacement I figured that I would be better off with taller gearing rather than lower gearing. I have a set of 255/50-17 tires and wheels for the rear. They fit just fine and by my calculation, they would almost perfectly cancel out the effects of the 3.94 final drive ratio if it does exist in my new tranny. I am more concerned that 4th and 5th might be lower. In that case, I might consider swapping in the fiero 4th and 5th. Has anyone done that?
