The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop 350 to ad manual box?

my 49 1/2 ton truck runs a 4 speed manual box
i have heard the sbc will bolt upto this? is it a good idea? and can i use the i6 flywheel etc?

do a tech search first. you will need a 55'-66'? V8 bellhousing.

Assuming you are not going to change the rear gears, you won't get more speed, just more power (or maybe a cheaper engine?). Since you are going non stock anyway, why not go with a modern O.D. tranny for higher gearing with radials and really take advantage of your v-8? Just a thought.
P.S. Good time to make sure your brakes are working well.

see other post was going to change reare gears to something more suitable
finding a bellhousing wont be that easy here in u.k so as i said is it worthy it? are the gears a decent enough ratio?
iv got a th350 just wondered if it was a good idea to simply use the 4 speed allready fitted?

What other post? Its hard to answer an is it worth it question without knowing what you are trying to accomplish.

The right bellhousing shows up on eBay from time to time and shipping it to the UK would not be a big deal.

I'm just guessing at what you are trying to do, but I think your best bet is probably the automatic and a rear axle swap.

If you don't have a plan for dealing with the steering you need to do some searching and research here. Most of this has been discussed many many times.

thanks for that old sub sory should have put a link to the post i did the same time as this
i would like a manual truck but if the gears in those old 4 speeds are more for slow pulling they may not be much good on more of a everyday rod

as for the steering idid a search problem is the junk yards here are full of rhd parts so some of the info is no use

shipping to uk is easy enough but count on tripling the original price if it arrives through the wrong (right?)channels not to mention it better be the right parts as it wont be sent back
in fact theres a lot of complaints here about some bad overseas companys posting second grade stuff because they know the hassle it is to return
it word soon gets around tho and in the end they lose out

I understand some of the parts other guys use might be hard to come by in the UK, but some of the other approaches require no automotive parts, just work and a little steel.

Unless someone has already changed the rear axle under your truck you are very limited in both your gear ratio choices and your transmission choices because of the closed or torque tube type rear axle.

Modernizing the running gear under your truck probably starts with choosing a new rear axle. I have no idea what's in junk yards in the UK so I can't advise you there. You need to change rears to convert from closed to open driveline. Until you've done that you are stuck using only the couple of transmissions made for a closed drive system.

There is an exception in that a kit is made that adapts a Saginaw 4-speed to the torque tube. If you do that you need the same bell housing we've already mentioned and unless you change the ratio in the rear you have the same limitations on speed.

The kit is sold by Patrick's Antiques or something close to that. I've heard only good reports, but have not dealt with him myself. And you'd be ordering parts from the US to do this.

Otherwise any modern automatic transmission and any over drive manual is going to require changing the rear axle.

I guess one UK junk yard possibility exists that I forgot about. I've seen pictures of Jaguar IFS and IRS under one of these trucks. I'm told XJ- stuff isn't as hard to come by around there as it is here, and here its pretty cheap and easy to find.

Of course that does nothing about your transmission problem, but since you really need to resolve the rear gears issue first its a step in the right direction.