So I just ordered a transmission from a JDM supplier. And was wondering if I will have to change the final drive before I install it.
I thought i read somewhere it was different.
I would like to know this before I install it. And It would be nice to not have to open it up for no reason!
Any input here would be nice.

Oh, and its a stock replacement in my 98 GSX!

What is the code on the bellhousing?

You can also do the clutch disk test, or spin the clutch disk on the JDM trans in each gear. The output shaft rotations should match up to that of your stock trans that came out.

I dont have the new one yet.
But thats what I will do. I will compare once I get mine out.
Is there a site I can go to to look at once I get the trans to check out the code?

Thers no site, just bits and pieces of the info everywhere. I posted some info about the transmission codes here a while back. You should be able to find some info on
http://www.galantvr4.org/

well, I did your quick test. Put a clutch disc on the input shaft, marked it, put it in 1st and counted how many turns it took to make one turn on the axle output shaft.
Mine took 4 1/4 turns of the clutch and the JDM took 4 1/2 turns. So I opened up the transmission. Changed the final drive.
I posted this here cause I thought it would be useful for some to know what other differences I have came across in case some others go this route.
Other then the final drive being different, the VC was way smaller. Same diameter but thiner.
The selector arm was longer and had to be changed. Otherwise It would not fully go into gear. (This is the arm that the end of the shifter cable goes to that actually selects your gears)
The brackets that holds the cables were different.
It came with a speedo cable rather then a VSS (which really made me nervous when I first saw this transmission)
My guess is whatever this transmission came out of did not have the inline hydro valve cause there is no mounting holes for it on this transmission.
It came with mounting brackets that were nto even close to what the 2G uses.
And the top mount did not have studs but the holes were there and threaded!

Just some useful info in case anyone decides to go with a transmission from a JDM supplier.

Good info Troy

For the 1g guys: some of the evo/galant trans 1st gear is taller than the US spec. When doing the clutch disk test you will notice this. 2nd to 5th should still net the same rotations on the output shaft of both transmissions, if the final drive is the same.

Well so far the transmission seems to be ok. The weather here in NS is still pretty good. Plus 15 today and supposed to hit 20 tomorrow. And no sign of snow!
I will park it after next weekend. Before if we do get some snow. I just wanted to make sure the transmission was ok before the warrenty ran out.

I think we got some snow.

Yeah, I took the damn thing up to the NSCC for the open house display. And wouldent you know it, it has not stopped snowing since I took it there...
So I have to go get it with my trailer on monday!
Up to the point of when I took it we had not seen a snow flake!

This Is all your fault Troy, How was your trip to work this morning...lol.

I'm actually liking the 17" Yoko Advan S4's on the Passat. They're performance all-seasons, and the Passat is awesome in the snow, so driving in both snowstorms (at their worst) wasn't much of a concern at all. Almost as nice as having AWD.