Reply to "ZF crack question"

The answer is a definite maybe! Two owners I know of HAVE managed to fish a speedo driveshaft back out the hole with an extension magnet, once the steel sleeve is out of the way. Many more have NOT been so patient or skillful. Both say no damage occurred; one happened to his Pantera while the owner was doing maintenence on his ZF so the gearbox parts were not moving. There's not much extra room inside!

And of course, even if successful, if any internal damage HAS occurred, the ZF will need to come out and be stripped. Driving with a chipped tranny gear almost guarantees your $10,000 ZF will soon become a $1000 collection of parts as something jams a synchro & locks up all shifting.

AS for installing new parts, clamp a Vise-Grip pliers onto the drive tongue of the speedo driveshaft and lower it into position, then tighten the little bolt into the assembly before removing the clamped pliers. The bolt-end goes through a hole in the steel sleeve and rides in a deep groove cut in the driveshaft end, so it acts as a retainer for both. In the original design for GT-40 & Mangusta, the transmission was upside-down, so a freed speedo driveshaft tended to slide OUT, not INTO the gearbox as with Panteras.