Search the Community

Recently I purchased a super clean Wagoner WT-243-8A Countershaft/Cluster Gear to replace the worn mopar 697823 part in the manual 3 speed of our 46 Plymouth. This completed the list of parts I needed and I'm ready to go back together with it all, UNTIL TODAY'S DISCOVERY sigh.............!! I purchased the new Wagoner 3 speed cluster gear from an ebay seller with a 100% rating, (great guy - and he's good with refunding me on the purchase), but we're trying to figure out what's going on with this Wagoner aftermarket replacement part. Anyway - the Mopar number is 697832, the Wagoner number is WT-243-8A. The part looks NOS, super clean, but on the inside bore of the gear I just noticed this today - up inside the bore of the gear, (about an inch or so inside) there are no oil grooves on both ends and the center bore of the gear doesn't reduce down in the middle section of the gear to provide the ridge on both ends necessary to hold the needle bearings in place...so I not seeing how this Wagoner part could work, looks like the needle bearings would just wash/walk /move around until one moves far enough to get out of the lineup, then your toast ....we're trying to figure out if it's a defect, etc. Only other thing I could possible think of, is if that slightly smaller bore I'm seeing inside the gear, could possible be a .005 thick hardened inner sleeve ?? Both gears measure 1.005 " on the outermost end of the bore openings. Anyone out there experience anything like this before ?? I've attached 2ea pics that show what I'm trying to describe,. on just a single end of each Cluster gear, my original (which shows the groove "which I'm thinking is an oil groove" and then immediately to the inside of the groove you see where the bore reduces down to a smaller diameter,....the smaller diameter runs through the entire mid section of the gear, then you have a repeat of the same oil groove and the bore opens up slightly, again on the opposite end of the gear....the reduction in the center looks to be about .0010, and this gives you an edge for your needle bearings to ride/butt up against, while resting inside the gear between the bore of the gear and the spacer tube. Just wondering if among all the experience here on the forum - someone might have run across this before possible....maybe it's just a defect, a mis-labeled gear...just guessing at this point...but again , I don't see how it could work, and WT-243-8A does appear to be the good interchange number for the Mopar 697823. ??? Thanks again Steve