Tri5 3 spd saginaw swap

Just wondering if any tri5 guys know what would be required to swap a 3spf syncromesh trans from an Iraqi taxi Malibu into a tri5 with a 235 and 3 speed on the column. Car is missing some shift linkage pieces so I thought I would use saginaw as a temporary trans until I get the 4 spd and v8 ready. I think the output shaft might be a different spline count, any ideas on a junkyard drive shaft that wod be the correct length? Thanks

 

I don't know anything about any Iraqi taxicabs but if the Saginaw trans is like the American syncro trans that I had then it was exactly the same size as the Muncie I put in my 56. A simple bolt in. My car came with the 3 speed non syncro and I pulled that and put in a Muncie. The Muncie was physically the same as a 3 speed Saginaw I had stashed away. So I would think you would have no problem.

 

I don't know about foreign taxi cabs either,but US saginaws are the same length as your non syncro trans. You will need yoke from a middle 60's
Gm car as they have the correct spline(finer than the tri5) and are the same length and use the same ujoint. Later yokes may be longer on the the ujoint end not the splined tube. The side covers are completely different and the shift linkage would require major modification. Rather than buy a floor shifter, I would spend my money on a 4-speed Saginaw or Muncie and shifter. Another issue may be the outside diameter of the front bearing retainer and the hole in your bell housing. Some of the later trans have larger front bearing retainers than older ones.

 

When I mated the Sag 4 speed with a 454 for my 65 biscayne project, the man that rebuilt my 4 speed used the front bearing retainer from a truck 3 speed to mate up with the large hole in the bellhousing I was using.
He said that mating the bearing retainer to the bellhousing was imperative to keep chattering and wear to a minimum.
The whole assembly was a drop in for that 65, that had been a 283/3 speed.