New to me gearbox and Q

[danzo]

A few days ago I was able to scarf up a 6 speed, with special indirect props going to Petros. A few weeks ago I cruised down to Austin to do some work on his daughter's car. Never missing a chance to browse a few fresh j-yards, I stumbled across one that had an '84 T4wd almost completely intact. Funny thing is that the car originally had an automatic judging by the hacksawed sheet metal around the shifters.

As you can see from the below pic, it has two strange red plastic 'plugs' on the underside, one new the front drain plug and one just aft of the rear drain plug. Is this stock? If not I can't figure out why someone would do this mod. The gearbox case doesn't seem to be damaged otherwise. I guess I could contact the previous owner (found an old driver's license and inspection in the glove box), but it's really not crucial. I'm just happy to have a spare - now I can do that quad turbo project that's been on the back burner forever.

[Petros]

wrecking yards are required by law in most states to drain all the fluids, and most just drill a hole in the oil pan, trans, diff house, etc, and than plug it rather than use the drain hole. I hate it when they do that, it is such a stupid waste. I usually remove the plastic plug, tap the hole and put in a metal threaded plug with lots of sealant on it. MOst of the time the plastic plugs hold up okay, but I have had one once develop a leak after about 4-5 years of use.

Although your trans will bolt in okay, that trans likely has the 3.73:1 diff in it, so you will either want to swap out your front diff, or consider putting in the same ration rear diff. You version has the 4.1:1 diff ratio (which is preferable in my experience). 1984 was the transition year however, so if you pull the front cover off you can find the ratio stamped into the edge of the ring gear, and verify what you have before it come times to install it in your '86.