I have a running nailhead for a project im working but am stumped on what i can use for a trans. I have an auto that is behind the motor now or a 3spd at home. they are both closed drive shaft(torque tube) though. was reading some posts and read that a olds or pontiac had open drive shaft. is this true? or can i buy an adapter some where to mate a newer trans to my nailhead. any help or links would be great. Lucas
If you have a stock manual ****** you can have the bellhousing machined to run a late model 4 or 5 speed. I found an old bellhousing that adapts a Ford top loader to the nailhead. then I adapted that to an 80's Ford 3 speed overdrive. I liked that set up a lot. So much I found another for my new project. Clark
If you opt to go with a different trans, let me know what you want for the manual trans (I've got a '54 Special, and THOUGHT I had a spare trans for it...turns out it's an earlier one with a shorter tail shaft and won't work. I could swap the guts (I've ID'd the busted part), but... Keep an eye open on Ebay: the Cragar 322-to-Late '50s/early '60s Ford adapter shows up somewhat regularly (a bunch of times a year). I got one a few years ago, with the flywheel and Ford 3spd OD manual trans for $300. I'm not sure what the adapter bellhousings themselves go for. The Trans Dapt 322-to-Chevy is harder to come by, and they seem to go in the $300 range. The transmission you'd bolt to it is probably cheaper than the Ford though, so keep that in mind. Plus, I believe you can bolt a T-5 to it instead of a 4spd. The 322 to early Ford (Flat head) trans adapter shows up all the time. You could get that and stack another adapter behind it: the Ford Flathead to T-5 or even a "flat-o-matic" adapter and go that route too. -Brad
Check out this link... http://www.transmissionadapters.com/ The problem is... once you bolt up a new ****** and have a driveshft made to fit you have to do something with your rear end. The torque tube is what held the old Buick rear end in place. You have to build some trailing arms into it to hold it in place which means welding brackets onto the body for the trailing arms to hook into. Another way would be to swap out rear ends completely to something that was set up originally to fit an open driveshaft, you would still have to fab up some brackets. Do a search on here for "Torque Tube Conversion" or "Open driveshaft Install" or the like... I remember some very good posts on the subject from some guys that have done it... Tomo Edit: I found one of those threads... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=130350
If you stick with the Buick ******s, be aware that the 264 usually had the smaller, lighter duty trans. and the the 322 had a heavier duty one, and they are NOT the same length, and that ****s because of the enclosed driveshaft. I have a 264/stick car and a 322/stick combo in my garage and don't know who or how to cut the shaft and tube so I can go with the big motor.
Hey man, There is a guy in the Buick Club of America's magazine that was selling a home-made version of the special tool required to remove the driveshaft from the end of the pinion gear. The drive shaft only has one U-joint, up front. At the back, the stem of the pinion gear is very long, and splined. The driveshaft is pressed onto the splined end, and pinned with a peened rod. It shows the process for removing the whole thing and seperating the driveshaft from the gear in the factory shop manual. After you have it apart, you should be able to have a driveshaft shop simply shorten the shaft, from either end. Then shortening the tube should be a fairly easy deal as well, since it doesn't have to be balanced or anything. A good square cut and a welder will get you back on the road. (ahead of the "wishbone" supports). If you're handy with making your own tools, or know a friendly machine shop, you should be able to duplicate the KD driveshaft removing tool from pics in the shop manual. Or, you can just sell me that 6-bolt cover trans! Brad
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