Technical Muncie HD 3 speed info needed..

I got a Muncie HD 3 speed, 7 bolt side cover, giant cast iron sumbitch. Want to put it behind a 327 in my rod, in the middle of figuring out a shifter. Here’s what I have so far-

Old Hurst 3 speed shifter, says Hurst Dual Pattern with Syncro Loc on the side.

Univeral mount that I can make fit tranny.

Misc linkage rods and shift arms.

I need to know what the shift pattern should be, and if the shift arms should point down, like the stock ones, or point up, like most of the Muncie 4 speeds I see on Google.

Any other info about the shifter, shifter adjustment, or tranny that anyone wants to chime in with. I read somewhere online(so it MUST be true! Lol) that I can make this shifter either an H pattern or inline? If that’s the case, what would the inline shift pattern look like?

Thanks in advance!

-John

 

Oh, also- driveshaft yolk. The same as TH350 or Powerglide?

 

you should be able to figure out the shifter yourself, by playing with it. The transmission has an input shaft, and an output shaft. Turn the input shaft...if it takes about 3 turns to get one turn of the output shaft, that's first gear. If they turn different directions, that's reverse. If they turn the same exact speed, that's third gear.

but my wild guess is that the levers go down, and the front one is for 2nd and 3rd, the rear one is for first and reverse.

Should be a fine spline output shaft? but you can look at it and see...

 

Arms point down for column shift up for floor shift

 

First off, you have the best 3 speed shifter made.
In 1969 I put a used Hurst Syncro-Loc shifter in my first car, a 61 Impala. I'm not sure if it was the right one but it bolted up and I drove the car but everything was backwards.
Mounting the shifter rods to the arms that came with it closest to the floor, they were too long to clear the floorboard so what's a guy to do? Mount them pointing down.
It put first gear to the left closest to the dash and second gear to the right next to the seat, third was straight up, I got used to it but it always seemed backwards to me.

 

I messed with it and figured out which way each arm had to go for which gear, just like squirrel was sayin’, and mounted the shifter(still need to adapt the lower mounting hole though). I have the arms pointing down, but I didn’t compare the throws to the shifter yet(came in for the night, work is early tomorrow morning lol). Thanks for the tips, I haven’t had to figure this kinda thing out before. It’s a lot more straight forward than I thought it was going to be.

DDDenny, did you ever mess with the in-line shift pattern on your shifter? Getting used to shifting that thing backwards must have been fun! Haha

 

Nope
Hooked it up and never messed with it after that.

 

I never owned a 7 bolt side cover Muncie. But every 4 bolt Muncie and 7 bolt Saginaw I ever had the levers went down for collum shift and up for floor shift.

 

"Somewhat" rare transmission these days; most think they're a Saginaw until you put them side-by-side and compare. Levers on transmission go UP for a floor shift (like everyone else has said). Forward lever is second-third (3 forward-2 rearward when moving lever); rear lever is reverse-first (rearward reverse-first forward movement). Hurst shifter "H" pattern (everyone's aware of that) with reverse up to left, first down to left, second over and up/forward, third over and down/rearward. Outer lever on shifter housing tower is second-third, inner lever is reverse-first. This trans was available in 69-70 Camaro, Chevelle, Nova/Chevy II, 70 Firebird, Tempest/GTO, Grand Prix, and 70 Olds/F-85, and in Chevrolet/GMC trucks. You should be able to locate a new/used Hurst designed to fit, unless you're set on making do with what you have. The years and makes/models this transmission was available in came from my 1971 Chilton's. There is a Hurst mount bracket that bolts to the transmission mount and has a U-bolt that encircles the end of the extension housing; that would probably work best. I imagine Hurst rods for a 7 bolt Saginaw 3-speed would more or less be the same if you want to peruse E-Bay for used parts. Same with the levers. Can't help you with the gear ratios/spread, but you should be able to find it online. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

The one I have has a very low 1st gear, somewhere around 3:1
So a late 60's gm a body would have this as the base tranny? Good info.

 

Wow, great info Butch. Everything I need to know the HAMB provides...as usual. Thanks a ton guys! I’ll post a follow up here when I get it all working..

Thanks again!

-John

 

I guess you guys an tell how long it's been since I worked on a shifter stuck on the back of a manual transmission!

 

Your photo shows the shifter on a mounting plate. Does the transmission have threaded bosses cast in the tail shaft housing to mount the shifter. The Transmission photo from Chevy57Dude does not show any cast bosses indicating it is probably from a truck. GM used this Trans in 1/2 and 3/4 ton trucks, Vans and taxi's into the mid eighties. Some had very low 1st gears. The Muncie 3 speeds used in cars through the 60's had the shifter mounting on the tailshaft housing. It is a rugged transmission, and was standard with the big block full size Impala and Biscayne's I don't believe the Hurst Syncro-Lock could be configured for a straight line shift pattern, only the conventional H pattern.

 

Looks like a late '60's early '70's truck box. I have one in the garage somewhere. I put it in my '65 Belair. In fact we used the same box to mock up the mounts for my current car.

 

Truck transmissions through 1972 had the two lower holes (where it bolts to the bellhousing) threaded, because those bolts go in from the front on trucks. Something about being compatible with the SM420/465.

 

I think that 3 speed transmission was what came in my friends original 67 Malibu.
It was a bench seat floor shift small block car.
Mid 60's Corvettes had them also.

 

This tranny came out of a van, that’s what the guy I got it from thought anyways. It does not have the shifter mounting bosses in the tailshaft.

 

The passenger cars these came in, the nova's/Chevy II's, Camaro's, Chevelles, Vette's (???) had a shifter that bolted to the cross-member, not the transmission; same deal with the Saginaw's and the cross-member mounted shifter. Those brackets and shifters are on E-Bay all the time. My 72 Nova SS had a Saginaw 4 speed with that shifter; tore it all out for a Hurst, but that still did't help the Saginaw. I wound up with a later model T-10, used the Saginaw Hurst and a few spare pieces from the "Hurst bin" at the speed shop. There are a couple of these HD Muncie 3-speeds for sale locally on Craig's List; one for $75.00. I don't think they even know what they have. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

As of this evening, it's down to $50.00 now!

 

Don’t roast me too bad, I’ve never done shift linkage before, but I straightened and re bent the rods I had and made them fit. It shifts into all the correct gears in the correct pattern, and don’t rub each other or bind up. A friend of mine is going to help me fine tune the adjustment on it tomorrow but looks like it’s going to work perfect! Not bad for misc used parts cobbled together. Couldn’t have done it without the info, thanks again guys..!

-John

 

^^^^The guy dropped his price to $50.00, and it sold. The next day, another guy lists a different HD Muncie for $30.00, and it was gone a few hours later. It's funny, no one seemed to be interested in those transmissions, then this thread comes out on the HAMB. I guess that's all it took. Considering they put these HD Muncies behind big blocks speaks to their strength. I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

If it is a 7 bold side cover it is a Muncie 318

 

7 both side covers are only on Side

7 bolt side covers are only on Saginaw transmissions

 

Muncie 318 and 319 transmissions had a FOUR bolt side cover, 55-65.
Saginaw 3/4 speeds both had a seven bolt side cover, 65-mid-70's (?)
HD Muncie 3 speed also had a seven bolt side cover, but the bolts are in a different orientation. One thing I've wondered about, is why there's another un-machined boss on the side cover, like a Saginaw 3 speed also has; that boss get's machined when it's used on a 4 speed Saginaw. See my previous posts for the HD Muncie years and apps.
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

side cover 3952646

 

Just guessing the same side cover dated oct. 15th 1973 having 5 mounting ears must be a 351 Muncie

 

Gearing up to install a Muncie 330 from a '69 Chevy Longhorn truck in my '66 GMC.. Gonna leave it on the column so I will need longer column shift arms from a '68-72 truck but everything else I got from the guy when I bought the trans.. Yoke, 5505 bell housing, clutch fork and throw-out bearing (flipped in photo) all came with purchase.

 

Does anyone have an exploded view diagram of this Muncie 3 speed transmission?
I want to talk it apart and clean it but would feel better about it if I had some type of reference..
Is there a book or PDF somewhere?

 

From the 1971 GM Chevrolet Chassis Overhaul Manual-

 

dddenny. the ‘upside’ down shift pattern.
my STOCK 1923 buick has that shift pattern.
(on the floor of course.)
would not be surprised that there are some other cars that had that unusual pattern.