Just wondering if one of those Chevy/Buick/Oldsmobile/Pontiac multi bolt pattern turbo 350 GM trannys will fit a nailhead motor??? Or is there NO way of getting around the adapter?...Ken
So then, are there any T-350's that would work? I know that the Rivi. had a T-400 in them, but, I have had so many problems with the electric kick down in my '58 with a T-400, I don't want to deal with that again. By the way I did search before I asked but didn't see anything. I don't have a nailhead right now, (well actually I did, but I sold it for twice what I bought it for) but I have re-bought one out of a '65 electra, a 4 barrel motor, that has a stuck valve, I just need to go pick it up. Oh yeah also the pistons...are they stock with a "pop-top" ?? These ones look like a 327 chevy 13-1 compression aftermarket piston... I like 'em, but damn...the compression?!?!? todays Gas??? Oh hell it's a nailhead, it will be worth the AV-gas!!!!!..Ken
the nailhead has a BIG chamber, so the huge popups are not as bad as you think. TH350 came out in 69, nailheads were not made after 66, do the math...sorry! what's the problem with the th400 kickdown? it's not rocket surgery...just needs a switch that makes contact at full throttle, to send 12v to the kickdown solenoid. But the nailhead trannys were switch pitch converter types, maybe that screwed you up?
Just a sidenote here in the early 70's when Buick-Olds-Pontiac still made their own engines, the case (where it mates to the engine) was the same on those three whereas the case on the Chevrolet was on it's own. Best as I can describe it without a picture was the B.O.P. had "a dip at the top of that case where it mated to the engine whereas the Chevrolet was more "of a round case". In the 80's I use to race dirt track in a '74 Olds Cutlass was how I came to know that case difference.
Yeah stock with pop-ups... You should have gotten the ST400/SP400 tranny out of the Electra as well... They're by far your best bet auto wise with a Nailhead...
I didn't know what year the T-350 came out in so thats why I asked about it and let YOU do the math!! Yeah I know the switch is the problem thats why I didn't want to deal with it again!! The cable down shift on a T-350 is an easier set-up! No I am NOT thin skinned but damn aren't we on here to ask questions and help each other out? Maybe its your delivery, or maybe my reception??
probably my reception.....sorry! working in a junkyard years ago spoiled me, I assume everyone else knows all that stuff that's permanently etched in my brain.
The tranny I have that I think is a B/O/P... is hooked up to the 350 Chevy motor in my '49, and it has a second set of mounting holes in it also, all "FACTORY" with bosses in the same "general area" as the chevy mnt. points, I can't get a good enough picture of it but there are 2 distinctive and separate sets of mounting holes. Maybe I don't have what I think I have (turbo 350)???? but it looks like and has the same kick down cable, fill tube and crossmember mount as my other T-350 on the floor.
Sounds like you have a Chevy/BOP dual bolt pattern th350, what you described is what they look like. Pan shape is a square with one corner cut off.
Am I still S.O.L. on it fitting the nailhead!!! With the combo of those 2 patterns???? The motor is still in the owners car so I can't see the block's attern yet. How about the converter? The TRANNY wasn't in the car, or availible, so I couldn't get it or I would have. But, I get the fan to the flexplate, the carb(it's broken) to the oil pan....the complete motor!!! Starter, a/c pump and brackets, p/s pump and brackets, motor mounts, etc. everything........--->$57.00 story is: WAS running till it stopped!!!! Isn't everything in the world...WAS running until it stopped!!! Oh well for $57.00, I just said O.K. I'll be back to get it!
Just FYI.... A source for TH400 trannys: wanted to give everyone a heads up on a good place to look for TH400 transmissions. keep an eye out for jeep pick-ups and wagoneers 1965 to 1972. they have the same bell housing as a 401 nailhead and are th400's. you can unbolt the transfer case adapter and bolt on a 4" tailhousing and your ready to go! the holander number is # 1331, so start looking. i had never seen one till today and stumbled across one. Also Rolls and Bentley you are correct about this trans bolting up to a nailhead, but the output shaft should be a course spline on the jeep & about 3.75" longer than a 2x2. Dave the one i found was out of a 1970 jeep p/u but the output shaft is the same length and spline as my 65 buick trans st400 i have! what do you think the deal is with that! maybe it was changed or something. Yea, sounds like someone changed the shaft to be able to use a later GM transfer case. Good deal for you tho. Just checked on the jeep cores I have & they both have the long course spline output shafts. But you will want to overhaul it anyway, so thats the time to switch shafts.I got tons of the 2x2 shafts if you need some. Dave Most of the nailhead cases in Jeeps have the fine spline short shaft used with the 4" extension housing for Buicks. the exception being the Quadratrac transfer cases. You can also find them in CJ7's until 1980. Even stranger, the Jeeps with a 350 Buick in them used the Nailhead case, with an adapter to bolt to the 350. this is the adapter that might be reversed and used to fit a BOP stick housing to a nailhead. Don't know that it would work, never tried it, May be impossible, I really don't know. The guts will interchange from any T400 to any other T400 case. there are differences. The Buick valve body will hold the trans in the gear selected, and not "blow" shift like a chevy T400.The ST400 parts will fit too, with qualifications. you have to use the ST pump with the ST convertor, and the is an orfice plug that has to go in an oil passage behind the pump at the top of the case. Also, you can use a ST 300 convertor in a ST 400 to get more stall out of the trans. The ST 400 convertor is 13", the ST 300 convertor is 11"
The nailhead and BOP patterns are kind of similar looking on the sides, but they are off just enough to screw things up.
The Jalopy Journal
