I had been thinking about swapping from the old M style granny 4 speed to something with a bit more spice for a while. Well, the old third gear syncro started to fail so it forced my hand and I started searching.
Found this Saginaw in one place and the shifter in another – both off of craigs list. Got $275.00 in the both of them - $200,00 for the Saginaw & $75.00 for the shifter. The shifter was almost new and the tranny was a junk yard dog (ended up being in very good shape).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...ission%20and%20differential/100_1115.jpgGot lucky and the shifter was a bolt on perfect fit.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...%20and%20differential/Mockedupandfit.jpgPeeled the seats and went to work. Someone before me had a similar transmission in place. They had hacked a big hole for the shifter so I patched it and the hole I left when removing the original style transmission.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...on%20and%20differential/Patchedholes.jpgThere was no cross member before and the assembly manual didn’t show one for the longer 3 speed. I figured that since the current 350 has a bit more HP and torque than the original 283, adding one was cheap insurance. I used 1” X 1” sched. 40 square tube.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...ion%20and%20differential/Crossmember.jpgJust a pic of the underside after I got done. For the record, I didn’t make that nasty arse hole at the new shifer, I just patched it.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...and%20differential/Undersidecomplete.jpgIt actually fit up pretty decent.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v...sion%20and%20differential/Finalincab.jpgJust because I like pics, these are final shots.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/Avette4me/My%2058/Passengerside.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v228/Avette4me/My%2058/Driversside.jpgAll in all, it's a pretty easy job. Next is a differential rebuild.
