Thanks, Will. Noted.
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Somewhat discouraging news after a visit with the machinist friend this afternoon: he's not really equipped to do the work on the gears.
The issue is primarily around removing the material from the centers of the 2nd gear cogs to modify them to receive the hubs from the original 5th gear cogs.
He said for best accuracy (and likely lowest labour) this should be done with an
electrical discharge machine (EDM), which he doesn't have. Particularly because the gears are hardened steel.
Also, he's not equipped to mill gears from scratch.
If you've looked at the well-documented web site about the manufacture, results and ultimate failure of the
Ford ZX2 custom 5th gear set made out of a 2nd gear set, you'll see that EDM was used for that job.
So unless I happen to find someone with an EDM machine who isn't going to charge crazy beans, it's curtains for this particular project.
Now... do I put that Blackfly transmission back together before I forget how it came apart, or wait in case some other opportunity comes up...