The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk TH350 behind 235

The missus was talking about driving the '53 until she looked down and saw three pedals (!). While the five-speed is still in the works, I started thinking about the Langdon TH350 adapter as a remote option. Question is, how is that transmission behind the 235? With enough gear, does it move the truck adequately? Also, how do you address the "lack" of bellhousing side mounts? If it ends up being a relatively easy conversion that works decent, I might be afraid to tell her!

I read another post on here somewhere that suggested the TH350 slushbox sucked up something like 20HP.. and I don't think a stock 235 has much more than 90HP to start with.

But if it's been done, the guy who did it is bound to be lurking around here someplace!

My buddy's wife used to say that if God wanted people to drive standards, he would have given us three feet!

I was concerned with the hp consumption. I recall when Riz put that 200-4R behind the six in his '65, he had to get a running start just to take off, and 4th gear might as well have been removed altogether.

This is going back in the fog bank where my brain used to reside but I think the cast iron powerglide behind the 235 in 61 and 62(probably earlier) had a factory adapter to go from the 235 bellhousing mount holes to the standard chevy pattern. It was castiron about 1 1/4 inches thick and had a little tin cover over a hole that would let you reach the torque converter bolts. I know we replaced iron glides with 63 or newer aluminum ones and the glide and 350 are interchangeable. Actually you might have more get up and go from a dead stop because what we call a torque converter is actually a torque multiplier

I'm going to leave my '46 1/2 ton alone.. when the time comes that I just absolutely need to update the tranny, i'll go with a 261 and replace the rear and the tranny all in one shot.

Of course the difference between you and I is my wife knows how to drive a stick.

I've got a friend running a TH350 behind a 235 in a '46 Panel, and he seems very happy with the combination. I've seen him at shows 50 and 75 miles away and he brags about how well it works.

I never ridden in it or driven it, so I can only report what he says...

I heard a comparison once of the 350 behind a 235 being very much equal to the 700R4 behind the 4.3 V-6 used in the S-10's. The 4.3 liter engine is actually a 262 c.i. engine.

The other thing that I think would be necessary would be an altered floor board cover to cover the 350. It might fit under the existing floorboard, but it in my mind, it would be close. I believe you would have to end up with some sort of floor shifter idea. To use a column shifter, you would have to go to newer column with a shifter on it.

It's a project.

Joe

OK, so the efficiency is debatable...what about mid-mount provisions to compensate for the TH350's lack thereof? I could just see the heavy old 235 cracking the aluminum bellhousing flange in no time. With a side-mount engine, it wouldn't be a factor.

Rob, it might be more fun and easier to teach her how to drive stick. I love the T5. It's really fitting to have to shift these ole trucks. Since your going with the straight axle, I'd keep it kinda old school with a manual trans. My flywheel is from a 261 powered truck, about 11". It will chirp the tires from 1st thru 3rd no prob. Lotsa fun. Good Luck. Whichever you decide, I'll be looking forward to reading about this build in Classic Trucks.