SummitBalt08 wrote:Awesome on the info!
I am thinking about a couple different things. Now that you mention it, maybe splitting the case to see if there is something noticeably wrong is probably a good idea. What do I have to lose?
Another is I know where a 284 is. Whether its any good or not? Not sure thats a chance I want to take yet. From the reading I have done the 284s handle higher RPM shifting alot better than the 282s.
The other is buying the 88 GT trans I got the jackshaft for this swap from.
Then again, that trans is 20+ years old. Finding another 92-93 3.1 5 speed Beretta trans is bad enough. There is another 92-93 trans in Indiana but what if that one has the same problem the one I just bought has?
I might actually wait a bit and send this one off to get rebuilt if I dont try to look at it.
I dont know. I have been running non stop to get stuff done for this car. After I pick up the 3500 upper intake tomorrow I am going to take a week break.
I have a 284... Think hard on that one before investing. The clutch for that thing costs ~$300, because they are so rare (they use a pull-type diaphragm, like the T-56 six-speeds in the fourth-gen F-bodies and the like). Output shafts (for the CVs) are different, so you would be looking at custom work there. You cannot just use the W-body shafts that came with it, because those cars are too wide and the hub bearings use much larger splined shafts, and the only other vehicle to be equipped with a 284 was the Chrysler TC -I don't have a clue whether or not those CVs would help you on a Beretta project. It is a great transmission, very capable of handling the power you have there, but a 282 will probably take it too. And if that 284 ever needs rebuilding (mine is a rebuilt unit), you are looking at $1500+ because of the special presses required to service it. I picked mine up for ~$90, including a newish clutch, hydraulics, and CVs. I doubt I'll ever try to put it into an L-body -
maybe my Fiero GT will get it instead of a 282, but that car is wider like the W-body cars, so I just have hub-spline differences to deal with... On the plus side, it doesn't weigh much more than a 282, it is virtually the same physical size, and they are just plain cool because they are so rare. They do handle much greater torque input (I don't know about the high RPM shifting, but that would make a lot of sense considering the substantially higher redline found on the 3.4 DOHC engine mated to that trans), and you have one available to you...
It would bolt in just fine to a Grand Prix TGP though...
I am with
Woody here -if you can take the time, crack open your case and see what you've got. Otherwise, I would chase-down that older 282 you mentioned. In the grand scheme we are talking, the few years difference in age doesn't matter much, and I have a number of 282s that old that shift fine (I also have three here that don't, so...

) The main thing you want to test is the slop in the differential -plug in the intermediate shaft you have on one side, and a CV or CV 'tulip' into the other. Then wiggle the intermediate shaft up and down and forward/backward -if the tulip or CV on the other side wiggles too, then the carriers for the diff are worn. You can also make sure it shifts positively into all six gear positions (Reverse too) and rotate the input shaft in each gear to make sure the differential is turning too, as I have seen more of them fail with the shift linkage and forks than the supposedly main failure of the diff carrier. You can't really test the synchros on a static test though. That is the only problem I have with the 282 I pulled out of my GTU earlier this year, and a reluctance to enter Reverse.
Here is a parts schematic and list for the 282 -it might help show how it all goes together, and if you do find something bad in that trans you could use the list to help get the right part from
Woody. I hate to say it, but now might be a good time to consider an LSD upgrade too...
I also have these pics relating to disassembling the tranny, if they help... Not sure if I have any of the relevant text though...
Good luck, keep us posted!