Well it is finally together. The engine and transmission have finally been joined. This process was long , but had I known what I was doing it might have gone ALOT faster. Jessica Purchased a transmission adapter plate kit from Stovebolt Engine Company. It came with a modified flex-plate, a bushing, An adapter plate, bolts for the flex-plate and the adapter plate and a starter for a 1970 Chevy Nova. The instructions supplied with the kit lacked in their descriptive powers, but all my questions were answered with a few phone calls back to Stovebolt. I would also like to mention the gracious members of the Stovebolt.com discussion forums who helped me sort all of this out.
So mounting a TH-350 automatic transmission to a 1959 Chevrolet 235 inline 6 isn't so hard with the right support. I began this project with some research trying to determine what my options were with adapter plates and there were about 3 or 4 different companies that make them. Buffalo Enterprises, Stovebolt Engine Company and Bendtsens. StoveBolt was the cheapest with the fastest delivery so I went with them. Some of the major differences were materials the plates were made of, StoveBolt uses Aluminum and the other 2 I believe were Steel.Another difference was what was included with the kit and how the flex-plate was made. In the long run cost was our determining factor.
I followed most of the instructions with some exceptions. The kit supplier suggested grinding material from the back of the block to achieve a desired clearance between the flex-plate and the engine block of .015 minimum. I was uncomfortable with this process, and after a week of discussion with members of the Stovebolt forum, I chose to make a shim instead to give me the recommended clearance.
The process to do the installation are pretty simple. There are 3 dowels on the crankshaft that need to be ground off so the new flex-plate will go on. The must be ground off and not pulled out since there is the potential for an oil leak. Then fitting the flex-plate to the crank to determine if there is sufficient clearance between the block and flex-plate. If there isn't at least .015 between them you will need to either grind the block or make a shim plate as I did. After that the Adapter plate is installed on the rear of the block and the flex-plate can be re-installed along with a bushing supplied with the kit to fill the space between the center hole of the modified flex-plate and the flange on the crank shaft. It is important to use Lock-Tite on all the bolts associated with the flex-plate and torque converter. With the adapter plate and the flex-plate installed it is a good time to install the starter and check the alignment and clearances. In my case I had to remove some material from the snout to keep it from rubbing the ring gear on the flex-plate and I was able to put power on the starter and turn over the engine to check my alignment on the bench instead of under the truck on my back. Once I was satisfied with the alignment I slipped the Torque converter on transmission making sure to fully engage the pump gear on the spline (side note I did test fit the torque converter nose in the crankshaft flange to be sure it fit all the way to the flex-plate by hand with little to no force) and I bolted the transmission to the adapter plate. I put 2- 3/8 washers between the flex-plate and the torque converter on all three torque converter bolts. I had been told that this ensures maximum insertion to the pump and this is beneficial to the transmission.Then I torqued everything down.
I have posted pictures and comments as well as tagged the pictures to help understand the installation. These pictures can be found at the Facebook Page link in my signature. Thanks to everyone involved in helping me and answering my questions. Your time and expertise is GREATLY appreciated
Last edited by Village_Idiot; 01/02/2011 4:13 AM.
