Its a 63 Pontiac catalina, looks to be the 3 speed model 10, all aluminum. I usually pull the engine and trans out together but this trans looks like a beast. Is there any unbolting other than the bellhousing? Is it splined? Ive never touched one of these before A Pontiac 462/700R4 is going in its place Thanks
How are you going to mount the starter? Does that ****** have the starter bolt to it? If not, yer fooked because that 389 of yours does not have a provision for engine mounted starters, that began with the '64 model. You may be able to buy an adapter kit though. Post an intro, it's considered ill-mannered to just post. Nothing personal, so don't take it that way.
There will be a new engine going in the car. A mild '76 455 with a 700r4 so no worries there. My picker is pretty heavy duty, with an air ***isted pump, but im not sure about getting this one out all togather as one due to its length and weight. I guess this trans weight is about 155lbs.
Hopefully someone else will chime in here, but if I recall correctly it will still have (by '63) a bolt-together torus (fluid coupling, the predecessor to a torque converter), so it's not just a question of unbolting the bell & sliding the converter off the input shaft. This will give you an idea of what the older ones look like...I've no clue whether the design had changed by '63, so far as the coupling is concerned. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=377080&highlight=hydramatic Hopefully I am mistaken.
Its the next generation after that. I think 56 and later. It does not have the 30 bolts thank goodness!
FYI if anyone runs into this there is a starter mount plate available. I've posted blueprints of this before as well. http://www.jbp-pontiac.com/products/fasteners/motorPlates.htm
My suggestion is to look in motors manual to find procedure on how to remove. A couple of observations: 1) The tunnel may need to be messaged a little to fit the 700R4. 2) I believe 700R4's are setup to mount only to Chevy engines. You will need an adapter plate to go from Chevy to BOP.
As I understand the ****** selections available in 63, a Catalina would have had a slim jim and the Star Chief and the Bonneville would have the Hydra-matic. Anyone else remember that a way?
It may be a 2 speed, i never rode in or drove the car. I built the engine to go in it over a year ago but the body shop it was at took their sweet time. I also already have the adapter for the 700R4. According to the manual, it seems once all the bellhousing bolts are out it pulls away. Im just wondering if its that easy. I take it that its splined into the disc/flywheel. Looking into the bellhousing inspection plate, its looks pretty busy in there!!
Take the bellhousing bolts out and it will slide right out. There is no converter, it's inside behind the pump.
I always just pull the engine/trans together as a unit, the slim jim isn't that big. You can take it off first if you want, like xlr8 described. The 700R4 (***uming you have the adapter to bolt it to a Pontiac block) won't fit without serious work on the transmission tunnel - you most likely will have to cut it out altogether and add metal around its perimeter to raise the whole thing up to get enough space.
When I s****ped my '64 Gran Prix, I dropped the motor out of the bottom of the car with the trans on it. You should be able to pull it that way. The Roto-Hydramatic has an aluminum case and I don't think it wieghs any more than a turbo 400 does. They do use a short bellhousing between motor and trans, I'm not sure how many bolts connect flexplate to converter though. I know the Dual-Coupling Hydro has like a bolt every three inches or so around the outer edge of the flexplate. Check your block, 63 I think is too old but if it has a starter ear it's worth hanging onto. And I still want to see one of those bellhousings held up next to a 64-66 Buick TH400, I kind of suspect that the actual trans case bolt pattern may be the same. Another option for your trans tunnel would be to round up one for a Bonneville, they used the Dual-Coupling and as a result have more clearance. That will also simplify things when it comes time to put a carpet in it, you would just get one for the Bonneville.
Well i pulled it out all as one, it wasnt as heavy as i thought. I jacked the rear of the car up some and it gave me a better angle. (Actually i was about to jack the whole car up to pull the trans but once the rear was up i looked up front and thought "hey, this might work!" It was lighter than my chevy 509/th400 Thanks for all the advice, the bonneville carpet is a good idea.
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