Hey, I'm helping a friend with his 40 Tudor and I think we ran into a transmission issue. Motor and trans came out of a 85 Camaro Z-28. I'm told the ****** is called a 350C with a lock up converter. Looks like any other Turbo 350 to me except the plug receptical. I've never delt with one, any way to make it work right in this 40? I was told the kit thingy you can add to a 700r to eleminate the computer won't work for a 350 and they don't make anything for it. Hope someone here has an answer, my friend already paid to have the transmission rebuilt and neither of us are looking foward to pulling it out and replacing it with another earlier trans, especially since we're just a day or two of driving the car. FWIW, a local transmission shop said we could wire a toggle switch in to lock and unlock the converter but that doesn't sound like a good idea. I knew there was a reason I personally like my manual ******s!
I had one built to put in a Hudson project and the builder said it really wouldn't hurt to run it without the lockup feature. It only adds about 100RPM when locked. That said, you can wire it through the cruise control and unlock with the brake light switch.
GM made them work without a computer..you can too if you want to. look into how they were wired on 1979-80 cars and trucks
How about a vacuum switch to control the locking?? Have it lock up about 15 in/hg, and unlock below OR with the brake pedal. Cosmo
As long as you arent using really tall gears (numerically low) it shouldnt be an issue. You are stuck using the stock torque convertor,but it will work like any normal th350 non lock up convertor if you leave the plug off. The transmissions need that plug when used with the cars they came from. A 3500# G body or Camaro with 2.41:1 axle ratio(this is what they used before overdrives came on the scene) would have the engine spinning at 1500 rpm at 60mph and the convertor would cook the fluid of you didnt lock it up. regardless of car weight,once you get to the equivelent of 2.73:1 gears with 25 inch tall tires you dont need to lock it up any more regardless of vehicle weight or drag.
Great, I'm feeling better now. Someone told me it would burn up the ****** without it (not someone I really value their opinion if you know what I mean) but it won't huh? I don't know anything about the inner workings of an automatic so trying to wire it doesn't sound like something I want to try, if it wont hurt it to not plug anything in I won't bother.
This make sense. I'll have to check to see what gear it has. I hope it have enough gear, it's sometype of Ford (I was told Granada) but it doesn't have a drop out 3rd member like the Granada 8" or 9" I'm use to. Got a feeling a gear change might not be to favorable either in this rear. It also tells me maybe the toggle switch wouldn't be as big of a PIA as I thought, I pictured having to flip it ever time you left from a standstill and back ever time you stopped.
Had one in my '85 Chevy pickup. There was a vacuum switch on the fire wall that also tied in with the brake switch to control the lockup. I also had a toggle switch that I installed to keep it from locking up when I had a load in the bed, or was towing. Worked well and should be easy to find the parts to hook it up at your local parts recycler!
Well in defense of your friend,he was right in so much that in situations where a "I know better then the factory" backyard mechaincs just leave the plug un hooked or allow the factory control system to fail,the trans will burn up when being run in the factory combination it was installed in. As far as the rear in your car,very few cars used a gear numerically lower then 2.73:1 in the days before lockup convertors. In a case of a Granada there is a good chance you have at least 3.08's. Lets face it,the little 6 bangers in most of these cars and even the weak kneed smog 302's needed a little gear to move the mid sized family cruiser. If you are using taller tires like 28 inches or so then you really need something like 3.23 to get some punch out of that engine anyway. \ Good luck.
Thanks all for the insight! It will make my friend really happy to know we don't need to swap out the ******, he was real bummed last night thinking this was going to be a big $$$ setback.
I am a owner of a trans shop here in ga have 2 of my cars with 350c no problem to run unhooked. Floyd
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