Customs 49 buick tranny

hey dudes i was thinking of trying to put a t700 tranny behind my 248 straight 8 in my 49 buick sedanette, has anyone seen it done before? whats the go with the torque tube set up, flex plate etc.
cheers darren

 

I am betting you will have to change the rear end to an open one. I did on my 49 and it's a lot of work.

 

Sounds like a nightmare to me.

First I would search the web for one of the adapter companies to see if anyone makes the adapter to put the 700 on the Buick inline motor.

Then, you would have to swap the rear over to open drive. There is no way to use the closed drive on the 700.

 

i see..... what other options do i have?

 

Scrapping the torque tube set up is not, in my opinion, that big a deal. What I am doing to my '40 Buick Super is replacing the rear assembly with a 9" Ford (Edsel/Merc with 5 on 5" bolt circle) and using the 60's era GM pickup "truck arms" to mount the rear axle. I plan to reuse the stock track bar and spring mounts and replace the lever shocks with tube shocks.

As for the transmission, an adapter is readily available from www.transmissonadapters.com , which is Bendtsens in Minnesota, and it will cost close to $1000 but is very well made. However, I think the 700R4 may be a bit long to fit in the X member. Better measure one first. A very good alternate choice would be the 2004R OD automatic. The same size as a Turbo 350 trans and has a 2.74 first gear vs the 3.06 of the 700R4 which should be more than adequate for normal street use.

Ray

 

i was thinking a 4 speed as a better option but if too hard then s speed it is

 

The 200 4R is also a 4 speed automatic transmission. A bit less common than the 700, but should suit your purpose fine.
What is a s speed?

 

I cannot add anything to this thread, but I adapted a Packard trans to a Chev bellhousing so it can be done. In fact I'm part way through adapting a sbc bellhousing to a blue flame.

If you want details, just pm me.

I was wondering if anyone out there has a spare rocker arm setup out of a straight 8? I need one fir the 12 port head I am buying.

 

sorry i ment a 3 speed

 

The 2004R I suggested in my earlier post is indeed, a 4 speed automatic with 4th being overdrive. This trans was widely used in GM rear drive models including the Buick GN turbo V6 and, of course, with less robust engines too. In stock configuration they are reliable but can easily be built to high performance standards with both OEM and aftermarket parts. The bellhousing pattern is what's commonly called "multifit" which means it is patterned for both Chevy and Buick/Olds/Pontiac engine blocks.

The Bendtsens adapter I suggested is drilled for Chevy so that is no problem with the 2004R.

Ray