I just picked up a saginaw 4 speed and hurst comp plus shifter off the local snap on guy for 150 bucks! I want to put it into my 64 gmc, has a 250 I6 and a 3 speed. the end of the input shaft is a little longer on the sag than the original, im not sure how much longer because it hasn't stopped raining long enough to get a look at it! haha I've been told about a spacer plate that goes between the bellhousing and transmission and shaving the shaft itself down to mate up, I was hoping to not have to change my bellhousing because of the tranny mount. Anyone know anything about the spacers and where to find one? or is there any chance i might be able to just bolt it right up as is? Any help would be really appreciated!
I thought that they were the same. you might lay a straight edge across the bellhousing and take a rod and figure out if the hole is deep enough behind the bushing in the crank to give the input shaft enough clearance. Ok, my brain just woke up. some of the GM truck belhousings have a larger diameter hole for the bearing retainer than the car bellhousings do and require a spacer ring to take up the difference. Along with checking the length of the input shafts which I am pretty sure is the same check the diameter of both bearing retainers right up next to the front face of the transmissions. I think the breakover is with 1968 trucks though so you might be ok if the clutch splines match.
On a 64, the Saginaw should bolt right in. Might need to mess with the parking brake stuff to clear the shifter. The splines in the driveshaft yoke should be wrong. And the two lower mounting holes on the bellhousing aren't threaded, so you need to put nuts and longer bolts on it. I'm assuming the truck has the original bellhousing etc.
yea, the truck has the original bellhousing. Im fairly sure that the splines are actually the same as the ones on the current transmission but i could be mistaken if so the guy says that he has a yolk for me if i need it. thanks alot! im going to try and get this swap done this weekend weather permitting!
I swapped a Saginaw 4 spd into my 63 Chevy II with a 194. I am pretty sure that I had to use a V8 bell housing because the stock 6 cylinder bell housing that was on my car would not jive with the transmission. The diameter of the hole were the transmission inserts into the bell housing was two small. The V8 bell housing bolted right onto the six cylinder with no problems and I have been running it like this for 2 years now. I find the Saginaw and the six work really well together. Don’t know if that helps any or not.
It all helps! The only issue with changing the bellhousing is that from what I understand my bellhousing also acts as the transmission mount, so I would have to fab something up. I guess that would be a small price to pay to have the extra gear. I wonder if there is a difference between the 250 and 194 as far as bellhousings go?
I think they are the same but like I said when I did my swap the Saginaw would NOT work with the 194 bellhousing.
I have a 64 chevy truck, straight shift.ive swapped trans over the years using same bell housing.should fit right in
i got the trans in and got the hole cut, everything was going fine until i realized that i dont have a damn u-joint to fit yolk of the 4 speed. Awesome. There isnt a parts guy in town that knows how to read a book instead of the computer so it looks like im pretty screwed for this weekend. whats the best way to match up u-joints without year, make and model? i tried to bring measurements to the parts stores and i got deer in the headlights look everytime.
Does the yoke for the 4 spd use a bigger ujoint than the 3 spd ? If so then you need # 3-3130 neapco joint. This adapts the early (64 ) inside clip joint to the later (75 ish) outside clip joint. Good luck Dave
yea, the 4 speed yolk is the same as a turbo 350 and it has an inside clip and the 64 is an outside, i found one with the right sized caps but it had the wrong locking clips neapco is something i can just go to advanced auto i think, poor truck is so close im going to advanced auto tomorrow as soon as i get out of work....hell i might go at lunch! haha thanks for all the help!