Just rebuilt mine last week and I always wondered (2nd thoughts here) that even you may miss the thrust washer going in the groove the first time, wouldn't it go back in the groove once it turns a complete revolution? OR does the notch get smashed and no longer sticks into the groove enough to grab and stay.H55 conversion in the 83 was a success. Ended up using one of my T-case brackets off another 5-speed I have. Was able to heat and bend the T-case shifter so it’s about identical to the later one. One trick I figured out mating the back half of the T-Case was to use the old idler shaft as a guide (at least I’ve never seen this before). All the other cases I’ve done I always have to re-stab the case several times as the outside washer (that you stick to the inside with grease) seems to move once I lower the case and try to center the new idler shaft in the hole. Inevitably I am off center knocking the washer out of place as I can’t see it once I lower the case. If anyone else has this challenge then hopefully this trick will work for you as well. Doing this I nailed it on the first attempt. I’ve seen Georg’s video and he does enough of these jobs that he knows exactly where to clock the outer washer on the idler shaft eliminating the whole issue. Maybe when I grow up.
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