You guys might get a laugh out of this one

[Jeff H]

I wanted to check and see what speedo cable gear was in the transmission since I know it's wrong and I want to get the correct one. I pulled the cable off(trans is a 64/65 M21 with the bullet type connector) and as I reach to pull the gear out it won't come out. I start to wiggle it a little and kerplunk, it fell into the tailshaft housing! I just stared at it before it dawned on me that I can't drive the car with that loose in there. Then I hit my head(hard) and bent my glasses trying to get out from under the car! So I had to get the car up on ramps in my garage to even attempt to do anything because my driveway is sloped. I fire it up and pull it onto the ramps then jump on mountain bike for a ride to think about it because now the car was too hot to work on it. I get back and hop under the car and stick my finger through the hole to see if I can even feel it. Yup, it's down there. But how the heck can I possibly get it into position to try and pull it back out? I cut up an old hanger and bent a little hook into it and started fishing. And fished, and fished, and fished for about an hour. I finally got it hooked and lifted up to the hole but before I could grab some needlenose pliers it fell back in. After about 4 more hooks, I finally had it firm enough to quickly get the pliers on it! Whooops, the pliers slipped out of my hand so I had to try again. Got it hooked, got the pliers on it and it took about 4-5 minutes to figure out how to rotate it so I could pull the end back through. Success! I was honestly stunned that I actually got it back out. I put everything back together and took it for a quick spin to make sure it was still working fine. Now I know what not to do when I go to change the gear to correct the speedo. Don't you hate it when you make things 100 times harder than they need to be!