I contacted Mike at the headquarters of the "Gear Vendor" over/underdrive manufacturing facility on Tuesday July 8th and was called back within the hour. My request was met with the need and explanation of the likelihood of building an overdrive unit compatible for the Saginaw 4 spd with "Torque Arm" application. They already have one to accommodate the automatic transmissions for H-body vehicles with the torque arm. I am patiently awaiting news from them as Mike was going into R and D with their Engineering Dept. and thought this was doable. The Gear Vendor is also available for T-10's and of course Muncy's and many others. I told him I knew J. Leno had his and their engineers design a one of for J's 39 Bently, why not an H-body with a Saginaw? The good news is that unlike the response I received from the Cooper Tire and Rubber company in Ohio flat out refusing to break out their precious "Cobra" molds from some secret warehouse for us,
(pecker-woods)..These guys may see a market that for some reason hasn't been investigated yet, who knew?
Mike and I spoke at length in regards to other Saginaw applications as well as the F-body cars. Perhaps a feasibility would warrant another product to become available and all it cost me was a call to California! Let's hope.If this is a possibility, I myself would probably go this route and with a bit of tunnel massage, would cost around the same as a TKO Tremec and a bit less hassle, not sure, but none the less do able. I'll keep everyone up to date as I am informed by them. They didn't sluff me off like Cooper Tire (greedy dill holes)
Not familiar with this product? check their site out on google, "Gear Vendor"...Ron.
Just want to add, this whole thing is about an RPM challenge for these 13inch tire vehicles. There has been years of mods because of this and the added complication of the 13in tire becoming an availability issue. The Gear Vendor would be nice even with the wheel size updates and Oh Ya, I nearly forgot, The Fastest Car in America, the 6 second Camaro that tows a utility trailer full of tools and tires across the U.S. and uses a Gear Vendor!
