I have a 55 chevy big window truck and want to put a 3-4 speed in it. Any advice on what to use. I have a friend thats giving me a 3 speed out of a 58 truck with the clutch pedal assembly i want to make it a floor shift i have a 350 turbo in it now but want to make it more hot rod. It has a real 300hp 65 corvette motor 202 camel heads duntov cam, headers, hei. Its fast i think the manuel trans would be cool it also has a 55-57 car rear end in it. Dont know gear ratio yet i'll look into that. Thanks for any advice, pics or what ever can help. Thanks billy
Neat truck. A wide-ratio Muncie or a Saginaw four speed from a Vega (3.11 first) would be good choices for a truck. If you can find one, a Tremec five speed might be the best overall, and really might not cost too much more than a four speed plus shifter. With a wide-ratio four speed, I would think a low-to-mid threes rear gear would be the ticket; with a five speed, I would go with a little shorter gear (maybe 3.70-4.30).
I don't want to modify my drive line i need a bolt in set up 350 out 3-4 speed in. And on the cheap too. Thats why i was asking about the 3 speed my buddy is giving me. Thanks .billy
If your buddy is giving you the complete changeover, I would use it. Make sure the bellhousing is for a V8. Be advised that the 58 3-speed tranny won't take any abuse behind that 327. Nor will it be a synchronized low gear. That means a complete stop before shifting to 1st gear. A late sixties Saginaw 3-speed should be easy to find and along with being beefier, it will be fully synchronized. Find yourself a Hurst Mastershift and you're in business. If you find a deal on a 4-speed down the road, it'll bolt in place of the Saginaw.
If you're going to drive it hard, go with the Muncie. Saginaws will work, but aren't built for high horsepower. -Lee Atomic Radio www.atomicpinup.com
Ditto on the later truck 3-speed. They take far more abuse than the old boxes and you should be able to hookup a better floor shifter as well. The bellhousing should be the same for a 6 or 8, the front bearing retainer on the transmission and hole in the bellhousing may be different. Bob
Truck Saginaw,car Saginaw,all the same shit .There was a heavy duty 3 speed option in many GM vehicles,looks similar to a Saginaw but has one more bolt on the top of the side cover,4 I believe. This was used in GTO's and the like as a 3 speed.Generally,V-8 truck Saginaw 3 spds have a 2.85 first gear.A 4 speed and 3 speed Saginaw are identical size so going for the extra gear is no problem. 2.85 first gear 4 speeds are a bit rare,2.54 first or 3.11 first is more available.Larry who owns D&L transmission in NY worked on a lot of Saginaws.He claims a stock Saginaw can handle 500 HP on a dirt tract where there's no shock loads.On a street vehicle he claims 300 hp maximum if you're gonna use that 300 hp occasionally.But it's no guarantee . But a Saginaw is the least expensive bolt in and a worn Muncie you'll get for twice the price of a Saginaw will be no stronger.
a muncie is a hell of alot easier to shift fast than a saginaw. but do you really need a 4spd to be a hot rod?
Saginaw from a Vega should have a 3.50 or 3.11 first gear depending on this or that,3.50first gear,might be too steep for your truck,or not..The 3.50 version is also the weakest due to gear design.
The vega first gear will be no steeper than the truck 3 speed first gear. IMO the problem with the truck box is it's essentially a 2 speed because the granny is useless unless it's a working truck. 2 speed manuals ain't hot roddy. Welcome to the 4 speed dilemna. Everybody wants one complete and cheap so there aren't many floating around. This board seems to like saginaws a lot, I suspect it's older membership doesn't do 2nd gear clutch dumps as often as they used to. Get on a more typical street/strip forum and you'll find nothing but scorn for saginaws due to all the upstream and downstream breakage that goes with splitting a $50 transmission in half. good luck!
I have a bellhousing, clutch, shifter and saginaw 4 speed in good working condition for sale, but my flywheel is for the newer 350. other than that, complete bolt in for a th350. The shifter I have is more forward than the tail shaft mounted kind, which worked great in my 53. I can send you pics of it if you want to measure and make sure you don't have a long tail 350 or something.
Don't forget you need the bell with the motor mounts on it unless you already changed to a trans crossmember with a trans mount. I've been running a 3.50 low Sag 4 speed for years (almost 20) in my 54 210. Because I also have a 2.93 rear. I gotta admit to dumping the clutch at 3000, alot, going to a higher rpm just made too much wheel spin. I think I can shift it just as fast as a Muncie, doing it Grumpy style, putting my whole body into the shift Around 160 RWHP. with the 235. Back in the late 60's I used to eat up a lot of $15 3 speeds. 2nd sycro didn't hold up under racing a 283.
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