I just had my transmission rebuilt by a local shop. It was making a lot of noise and we suspected the ring and pinion, which turned out to be the culprits. They were replaced, along with bearings and synchros. I was advised that my original gears (A-F-M-S-X) were in great shape and we could go ahead and use them.

Well, the car is quiet. And shifts smoothly. But....

I have a very good feel for this car as I have driven it in a number of high performance events. The car feels exactly the same in first and second as it did before, but a shift to third feels like going into overdrive. There is a 50% drop in RPMs from 2nd to 3rd - and then only a 10% drop from 3rd to 4th. It's just about impossible to keep things in the power band when going from 2nd to 3rd. The transmission shop insists that they replaced the same gears that they removed, but of course that is impossible.

I know there are some gear experts on the list. Can you tell from the information I have provided what is going on? My sense is that the original "M" 3rd gear has been replaced with something like an "O" or a "R".

Thanks for your help.

John Audette