Borg Warner-T10-are there any 16 splines left?

[Ron R.]

Found out the output/main shaft of my 61 Borg Warner-T10 tranny is twisted to the point of trash. I've talked to 3 or 4 "Tranny guys" who say not to pay the $225-$300 for a used 16 spline shaft because it will do the same "twist" action on me. They are trying to talk mew into the replacement 27 spline main shaft. I am trying to restore the car "correctly" and realize I'll need to get a different drive shaft yoke to accommodate the new 27 spline shaft rather than use my great condition original. Has everyone switch over to the 27 spline shaft and yoke? How rough does one have to drive their vette to twist one of theses shafts? The car is going to be judged, then driven for fun with occasional 4500 RPM visits. Don't plan on running to the drag strip. Should I make the 27 spline switch?
Thanks for your expertise!
Ron

[John H.]

Re: Borg Warner-T10-are there any 16 splines left?

Ron -

Your call on the switch, nobody will ever notice it. I've seen the same "twist" on several C1's, one of which was mine when I bought it, and all were caused by previous owners replacing the yoke with the "short" (3" or so) passenger car yoke instead of the Corvette-unique "long" (4-1/2" or so) yoke. Using the passenger car yoke leaves so little spline engagement that "hard use" ends up putting a "twist" in the output shaft splines, requiring ($$$) replacement of the output shaft. Make sure you use the correct "long" yoke when you replace the output shaft.