Installed the trans today. The car is sooooo much easier to drive now, even with the welded center diff. I love it.
The welded center is interesting. I would probably hate it if I had to use the car as a daily commuter and parallel park the thing a lot, but as a weekend car that only has to deal with a few parking lots, I think I can handle it just fine. I think the rear cv-joints make some noise during sharp turns and I can definitely feel it in those sharp turns, but it's fine on the street when turning corners, even making right hand turns at intersections. Maybe since I got used to driving my old Toyota with Detroit lockers front and rear that this doesn't seem so bad.