The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Saginaw question

I came into the possession of a Saginaw 4 speed today. (Christmas as day late. At least I think it is.) It has 3 grooves on the input shaft, so that means 1st gear is 3.50. I was thinking of putting it into my 1966 Chevy which has a 250 6 cylinder. The only problem that I see so far is that the shifter levers on the transmission are not there. So, a couple of questions....

Can you purchase these somewhere? Or do you just have to do some junk yard searching?

What shifter would work best for my situation?

Thanks for your help in advance.
Mike

I have a 4 sp Saginaw in my '54. It has a old Hurst shifter on it that works OK. There a little tricky to adjust, so maybe someone here will have a different option. You might try Patrick's in AZ.for the shifter linkage or start searching the bone yards. Good luck.

Hi,

I was going to put a saginaw 4 speed in my 1966 Chevrolet stepside - with 3.07 rear gears. If you have a bench seat, then you'll have to buy (or make) a bench seat shifter handle. Hurst makes one that's sold through Summit, among other vendors. But it's expensive (about 165 for the shifter and handle alone - plus linkages).

If I were you I'd check Ebay. Hurst 4 speed shifters are sold there daily (and fairly cheap). The Hurst shifter handles are often interchangeable so you may be able to buy a good shifter and find a usable truck bench shifter later. Just an FYI, the popular 55-57 car bench seat shifter will probably be too short to clear the seat.

-ftyler

ftyler,

What engine do you have in your truck? I have a 3:07 rear end to put in place of the current 3:73 rear end. I got the Saginaw 4 speed to replace the 3 speed Saginaw. I have a 250 6 cylinder and have been told that the 3:07 would be too high a ratio for this engine. Was wondering if the 4 speed would make it more tolerable.

Thanks for replying.
Mike K.

That's a really good combination (saginaw 4 speed and 3.07 rear end). I think the 2.85 or 3.11 first gear saginaw box would be optimal because the gear spread isn't as wide and acceleration would be slightly better.

The 3.07 is too high for a 250 with a 3 speed. The drop in rpms between upshifts would make your truck useless for towing, hauling and acceleration would suffer greatly.

I have almost the exact same setup as you, except my engine is a 230. I bought a 3.07 rear end and a saginaw 4 speed to replace my 3.73/3-speed. Then I came across a GM 4 speed transmission with 0.73 overdrive. I liked the idea of making one swap instead of two. And I'd actually end up with a lower final drive ratio (2.72). So I sold the 3.07 (still have the saginaw).

While I was at it I decided to build a 292 to go behind the new tranny. Might as well do it all at once. The engine is almost finished. It's just a mild cam and flywheel away from being complete. 292 bored .060 over, 500 cfm 4 barrel, headers, HEI. Should be a great performer when finished.

-ftyler