TH350 in an X-frame Chevy???

we're gonna be puttin a V8 and th350 trans in a 59 Chevy real soon and while thinking it over a question arose. we are sure we'll have to shorten the driveshaft either way but would it make a diference if we put a long tail shaft trans in or does it HAVE to be a short tailshaft tranny??? i know typicaly cars had the short and trucks the long but does it make a difference in this situation seeing as we have to shorten the driveshaft anyways???

thanks

 

I've never done it, but this may help.

 

the long tail 350 is the same length as a 700, and has the mount in the same places as a short tail 350 (it's on the main case, not the tailhousing), so it seems to me it should work just fine. Might be more of a pain to get it up in there, though.

 

that could be a handy resource. at least now i know the trans mount is in the same place. thats one less problem.

 

a straight 6 and power glide is what came out of it. if that matters.

 

Well, these cars came with PG which are same length as the short 350. I have a 700R4 in my 59 El Camino and it fits fine. The long tailshaft may get into a problem in that it will physically fit, but the yoke will be inside the trans tunnel. Which will make it real tough to feed the driveshaft in and get the yoke engaged on the output shaft. Off top of my head I just do not know how much the length would be a problem. My memory from under mine is that the long tailshaft will probably still have clearance, but will be right near the opening and make it hard to get the driveshaft in.

edit: I type too slow, Squirrel answered the question, since my 700R4 fits, the long tail 350 will also fit.

 

59 powerglide is differnt than a v8 one, so that may cause trouble.

 

Mine had the same combo and I dropped a car 350/350 right in. I had to drill a hole in the cross mount, shorten the front driveshaft, and get a new shift linkage. Pretty simple.

Of course, that doesn't answer your tail question...

 

That chart is for post-1964 Glides. Iron ones AND early aluminum ones are shorter, have different splines.

 

If it has an iron glide, you will have to shorten the front shaft 1.5 inches if you use a short tail 350. The linkage is a simple fix, and if I am not mistaken, there were no crossmember issues.

 

I just done this in my 61.I didn't drill any extra holes as stated above all I did was have the driveshaft cut down.If I'm not mistaken the long tail is 3 inches longer than the short tail(but don't hold me to that)and the stock trans in mine was 2 3/4 inches shorter than the short tail 350 I put in so if I'm right you will need to hack off 5 3/4 to 6 inches of you driveshaft if you go with the long tail.you can get under your car and measure to see if it will be a problem but I don't think you will have one.seems to me there is still some room on mine so you should be fine.measure everything before you start the work.one other thing to think about that was talked about in another thread is these driveshafts are fixed they do not move and make it hard on the carrier bearing when the car is lowered or raise more than the factory wanted them. you can go with the slip yoke in the rear to solve this problem.alot of the lowrider hopper guys are doing this.I wish I would have read up on it before I had my drive shaft cut down .I would have had them do it to mine .something to think about.

 

so going from the iron glide to the TH350 will we need a different front yoke???

 

I'm running a short tail TH400 in my '62 Biscayne. Shortened the drive shaft, and fabbed a new tranny mount. Haven't had any problems yet. I did have to get a heavy duty carrier bearing. The 350/TH400 shredded the stock one really quick.

 

yes, the iron glide is coarse spline, th350 is fine spline.

 

I installed a 350 with 1981 [long]Synchro truck 3 speed in my '58 El Camino.
I used the stock 235 metal stands at the front mounts with a 68 motor mount cushion.....
This places the engine [ahead] of where a stock 58 V8 car would be by a little....my eng has an HEI and it sets about three inches from firewall.

My trans mount/crossmember is stock'58 and it bolts up to the tailshaft of the later 3 speed stick fine.
I think the stick and 350 turbo share the same case mount length/spaceing.

I have now since, installed an S-10 5 speed.
It still fit at the tailshaft mount-[BUT I did however, have to drop the crossmember into its lower set of [factory bolt holes].

[SO top of case would clear trans hump][it BARELY DID ]
Plus-It was about an extra 2-3/4" longer than 350 turbo will be in total case length...so I shortened the driveshaft a second time.
the 5 speed shares the fine spline yoke of a 350 turbo as well......

 

as always squirrel is right.I forgot, I did have to change the yoke for the tranny on mine.

 

when I changed the 3 speed STD tranny to a 350 the mounting points were the same, I didn't have to change the tranny mount........I'm am now putting a 700r4 in and I had to fab a new cross member to move the mounting point back.

 

You could just make a plate out of 3/8" steel with four holes drilled same width spacing as the stock holes with 2" spacing frt to rear ...then weld a couple nuts to the front two holes which bolt to the stock crossmember and trans cushion bolts to the rear two holes......

 

I think if you try that, you'll discover the pan hits the crossmember

 

so whats the fix for the linkage Joe?????

 

it does I learnd that.......I just took 2 3in peices of 1 3/4 square stock, welded oversized nuts inside the wall then boxed the peices.....then took 1in stock 5in long, welded to the side flush with the bottem. found some old 1/8 X 4 in flat bar 16in long reinforsed it with a scrap peice of angle, centered the holes for the mount, put the moter and tranny back in, placed the flat bar on the square tube and tacked it, took it out welded it up and it's ugly but hell it works...........I need to finish and paint it and I'll post some pic's.

 

buy one! I got a linkage for that exact combo from Natl Chevy Assoc. I think it was $60. You could probably make one since you're a welder and fabricator. Basically it was a longer, reinforced version of the stock link. I think you can still see a pic on their website

 

Looks like the search feature is up and running again

Anyway, does anyone else have any info on the shift linkage for this swap? Kustombuilder, did you figure anything out?

We're about to swap a TH350 in a '59 Bel-Air and while I think it'll be an easy swap, the more info I have, the better.

Thanks, Bryan

 

The mount and crossmember issue has been discussed, so I'll touch on the driveshaft lenght issue. If the car ('58-'64 full size chev's) is lowered more than 4 inches, as most of us here do, you WILL have a carrier bearing failure!! As you know when the body is lowered in the rear the "swing" of the rear piviot on the trailing arms brings the diff. closer to the front of the car "pushing" the driveshaft forward. 4" of lowereing (this is from stock height and lowering of the suspension, NOT lowering done with rims and tires) moves the driveshaft forward 2 and 3/4 inches forward, plus when the suspension works while driving, theres another 2 or so inches of movmnt. this pushes the rubber holder and bearing out of the carrier. This lowering also forces the driveshaft into the tail shaft of the tranny. The most ECONOMICAL way of --permanently-- fixing this is: go to a wrecking yard and buy the FRONT shaft of an early ('82--89???) 4 wheel drive S-10/S-15 blazer/jimmy/pickup!!! the FRONT shaft is a SLIDING SHAFT FROM THE FACTORY!!! usually 15.00 dollars, then have a driveline shop, cut the slider from the shaft (since you have to shorten your stock shaft anyway) have them weld the slider into the original shaft at the same time. $45.00 here locally. This takes care of ALL drive shaft problems and the slider moves about 7 inches, more than enough for ANY lowering job!!! Including the 12" cylinders in the rear of MY Impala...It works!...Sorry this is SO LONG, but wanted to give ALL the pertinent info. Having a "low rider" shop do this costs about $350.00, but thats because the BUILD a whole new driveline, not use a junk yard piece. There is also a company named AAPCO, that makes aluminum carrier bearings, ($95.00) but if no slider is used you still have an interference problem. The rubber set up works fine with a slider. ANY more questions feel free to ask!!! I do have a couple of "juiced" rides.....Ken

 

DAMN!!! I type with 2 fingers and look at the keybord, I didn't have a clue my post was THAT long...SOOOOORY!!! But ALL the info is there at least?!?!?!

 

I've got a 700r4 in my 60 Biscayne. Just had to move back and modify the tranny mount and shorten the drive shaft. I used the original column shift & linkage from the 3-on -the tree and actually lined right up. Still works till this day. I've got a toggle switch that runs the lock-up.

 

we were gonna do it the last weekend Chris was out but when he got under the car he realize that the shift bracket on the trans was missing and i did'nt have one laying around. he just got his driveshaft today but he prolly won't be out for a couple weeks now. we'll work on it then.



so the slip yoke is realy that important even if the car is staticly lowered??? could'nt you just move the carrier bearing forward (drill new holes)??? it's not like a hydraulic or bagged car that is gonna be going way up and way down. the suspension is'nt gonna travel anymore than stock, it's just that the rear is up a little higher in the body.

 

But by being up a little more in the body, the driveshaft has ALREADY moved forward. You can't move the bearing forward becase it is on the front half of the shaft.The half that the yoke slides into the tranny, There is only about an 16th of an inch of clearance between the yoke and the tranny seal. The brng., center U-joint, and front half unbolt from the rear shaft. Moving the brng. forward moves the yoke INTO the tailshaft. Belive me I have tried everything that I could think of, and the slide has been the ONLY answer... then again EVERYTHING I lower is probably ----->TOO low,<------ thats not possible though is it?? I am watching this to see if there IS ANOTHER answer though...Ken

 

what i ment was since you'd be shortening the shaft anyways could you move the carrier bearing forward (where it mounts to the frame) and just shorten the shaft that much more??? i have'nt been under the car or any X-frame Chevy in many years so i'm trying to remember how things are all laid out. i can't see any reason why you could'nt on a staticly lowered vehicle.

i'll have to climb under that damn thing when he gets the shaft here to see if i think it'll be a problem. if so i guess we'll get a junk yard slip yoke like you said and i'll just weld it in myself. i was gonna shorten the shaft for him but since he needed a bearing pressed on anyways he just had them do it.

 

Yeah, you could probably do that, I guess I am just so used to the travel being more than a few inches (hydros/bags) that just moving the brng. around doesn't cure my problems, I've never had an X-frame without hydros. You would just have to have everything installed at ride height under load, suspension supporting the vehicle, such as jackstands at the 4 corners so that when you drilled the new holes for the brng. the rear will have pushed the shaft as far forward as it can. Just remember the rear half of the shaft will be moving forward and back, as the differential moves up and down, the front half does not move. Ken

.. For what it's worth,... I hope I didn't confuse this more than I helped!!!