Hot Rods I finally got an injected 1961 Corvette !

Looking at your last 3 posts, That mount is total Bubba, never seen any thing like it. Your TKO-600 will require a different mount than stock. As I remember, when I had my TKO, I made mt own mount.

First rule of C1 vettes: never put any weight on the front fenders, that will crack the entire length of the fender along the hood lines. Still the kids looks good in the picture.

Never trust those carb pulling plates on aluminum manifolds.

Those 63 muncie trans's were not the best. 1966 and up are far better.

Jim

 

Yep, that's what it is. The T10 was phased out and the Muncie phased in late winter/early spring of '63. The early '63 Muncie's had an aluminum front bearing retainer that changed to cast iron. The aluminum cover was too soft. That front bearing and retainer was smaller on '63 Muncies and so was the hole in the bell housing. The bell housing on the engine you pulled will likely have a casting number ending 421.

Is there a thin tin tag under one of the side cover bolts? If there is it will have two letters stamped in it identifying the gear ratio and application.

 

After the bracket to retain a third tail light comments I'm hoping maybe you'll keep in mind what you thought of Bubba's work so when the next care taker of this car see's what you've done he won't be thinkin' "Yep, Bubba was here". He'll see that someone cared and took pride in their work.

 

Naw. Heck. If you want 4 lights on each side do it. It’s yours now, don’t worry about the next guy. Have fun with what you have

 

Vetterod,
I’m glad that the trans mount is not stock (I don’t know enough to know the difference) because there was no way it was going back in.
As for the new trans mount it came with the 5spd which might not have been available when you converted yours.

Regarding the kids on the fenders we had a nice talk about how this car is different than the others so we got to be nice. But yes I did think it was a cool photo op before I had him get down.

I was hoping know body would notice the engine lift on the aluminum intake.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

An aluminum bearing retainer? That I did not know. I’ll check for the tag on the side cover this morning.
The bellhousing is a 403.

Yeah there is other stuff that has been played with too. The clutch linkage was pretty Mickey Mouse and no fuel line!!
Not to mention the wiring is horrible. People like to do bad things to wiring!




Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Rumblegutz,
There is no tag on the side cover of the trans. Is there another way to know the ratio like on a sag?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Like mentioned the top of front fenders are very "weak" & "flexy", when working on mine I made a couple fender long plywood panels and padded (soft carpet) both sides. After the under side work is done most everything you do will involve working over the front fenders.........................

 

The 63 Muncie will have a 7/8" countershaft as compared to a 1" that the later ones had.
The front bearing retainer is also smaller diameter than later versions, should have a matching smaller bore in the bellhousing also.

Edit
May not be gospel but...........



https://www.chevydiy.com/muncie-4-speed-identification-guide/

 

I can really relate to this! Most of the work done to my 57 was done in the 80's before the aftermarket parts were plentiful. It was put together by an electrician (Dad) and a kid (me). This time around it will be done better, not perfect tho.

 

Other than turning the input shaft and counting the out put shaft rotations or pulling the side cover there are no definitive number indicators. Grove in the input shaft is unreliable at best.

Facing the side cover what is stamped in the lower right corner of the machined surface the side cover bolts to?

 

My info on 63 Muncies is: 63 corvette is 3831704 case
tail housing is 3831731
side cover is 3831707
front bearing retainer is 604932
No Id tag.
Suffix code is A for wide ratio and B for close ratio and C for close ratio in 1965.

All you need to switch from wide to close ratios is to switch input and counter ( also known as the cluster gear).

I would sell the 63 muncie to some fool restorer for big bucks. Jim

 

Hey Jim, my understanding was the "Input" gear is the gear that goes through the clutch disc or in otherwords "4th gear" which should be a 1 to 1 ratio on a close or wide ratio trans. The difference is the 1st gear. So switching from a wide to close you would change the 1st gear and counter (cluster) right?

 

Wrong, Your first part is correct. the second part about the first gear is not true. You change the input gear and the counter gears. They are different ratios between Close and wide ratios. All other gears remain the same in the transmission. Quite smart. Jim

 

Cool... I learned something new today. Thanks

 

Looks like the bearing retainer is cast iron opposed to aluminum. Does that mean it is a 64 Muncie and not a 63?


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app View attachment 4857937

 

Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

No. The Muncie for the '64 model year had a larger front bearing and retainer. The casting number on the main case ended 325.

As it says in my previous post the bearing retainer was changed to cast iron not long after the Muncie was went into use. The '63 bearing retainer is the same for Muncie 4 speed and Saginaw 3 speed manual transmission.

 

That makes sense because I was looking at a 3 spd bearing retainer in the garage and it looked the same. So it was a mid year change. Got it.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

The statements hi-lighted in red above are misleading. Actually not true.

The A, B and C suffix codes denoted M20, M21 and M22 respectively. These suffix codes were not added to the build date stamp until the fall of 1968 for the 1969 model year. So this does not apply to a 1963 transmission.

First photo is of a very early '63 Borg Warner T10 tag. This tag calls out a wide ratio.



This second picture is a late May built '63 coupe with the new later production Muncie with part number tag 3831706. You will not find this part number in a Chevy or other GM Division parts Book of the period. It is a production only part number. There were several part numbers utilized in production for both close and wide ratio transmissions in order to match the appropriate speedo gear for rear end gear ratio the car was ordered with. Over the parts counter trans assemblies had two part numbers. One for close ratio and one for wide in this year range. The production line transmissions came to the assembly plant with the speedo gear installed. Necessitating the multiple part numbers. Service transmissions did not. Thus the reason for only two service part numbers and why the number on the production line Muncie tag is hard to find.



Why the tags? So the production line worker knew which part to draw from the different racks based on the paperwork that come down the line with each unit.

These tags generally went MIA the first time the side cover came off. As many of the experienced members here can attest, significant numbers of these 4 speed transmissions experienced stress beyond their capabilities.

 

The advantage of tar like grease is it can like a preservative! Plus it’s fun to try and pressure wash off!
Not to brag but I have other Southern California cars where the chassis doesn’t look this good!


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Tearing down the 327 that came in the car...mainly for storage reasons.

Great way to learn!




Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Driver side. Not likely that it froze here in California. Possible but not likely. I was kinda hoping to have a std or .030 327 block in the surplus. Oh well.

Passenger side had a lesser crack in the same location.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

Intakes look well ported. love to see the combustion chambers and exhaust ports all the way in

 

Well after talking with the previous owner apparently there was a cold spell in the high California desert in 1990. He said he had a Dodge Dart that ended up with a cracked block but didn’t think the corvette was affected......apparently he was wrong.


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

If that is the only crack, it can be welded or stitched. If it is an original Corvette block, it is worth saving. I have stick welded cast using machinable nickel rods, but the material has to be absolutely clean. Before welding, I also always stress relieve the both ends of the crack by stop drilling, and then grinding a groove along the length of the crack.
I always preheat the area to be welded as much as practicable, The welding has to be done by doing no more than an inch at time, and hammering to stress relieve the segment before moving on.
There was a new thread just started on repairing a cracked block, and one of the posters provided this link regarding the stitching process.

Thanks to @19Fordy for this link. This is a lot easier than the way I learned how to make a repair using this technique. We just did the repair freehand, and with no special studs, but it worked.



Bob

 

Here is a link to cast iron repair using a stick welder and Muggy Weld.
Edit: We used to use temperature sticks to determine the temperature of the preheated cast, but what I use now, is a hand held pyrometer (Digital temperature reader), that you can buy at your favourite tool outlet.

 

Here's my old set up with a little back yard polishing and a few bucks in Chrome! About what you are starting with! Yes, that's a clothes dryer air intake duct, they didn't have it in black!

 

Pretty fancy looking but with only a picture of the engine that’s more of a tease! Lol. Do you have any other pictures of the whole car? Looks good


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app