jamestina

I have a 67 cutlass with a 330. love the car, not to happy with the dreadfully wore out and extremely sluggish 2 speed automatic trans. What would make for a simple, straight forward swap?

scubastever

hi! i had the same decision to make a while ago, heres what i decided..

the TH350 is a very easy swap, almost direct bolt in (iirc). its a 3 speed, no OD, no lock up. gas mileage is better than the 2 speed though.

the TH400 is harder, with short & long tailshafts making a difference on driveshaft length. yoke is different, 3 speed, no OD no lockup. the crappy part of this trans is it sucks a lot HP to run, and the 2nd gear shift is too low.



i've decided on a 2004r (with upgraded internals) this unit is externally similar to the TH350, so you can use the same driveshaft. theres some electrical work required to wire up a power feed, and youll need to install bracketry for the TV (throttle valve) cable.

the 2004r has 3 speeds, with OD and lock up.
its a great cruising transmission, and has a deep 1st gear for those 'once in a while' 1320 feet runs at the local dragway.



i think thats about all ya need to know...someone correct me if im wrong!

cheers

jamestina

looks like the TH350 in the ticket. i would like to pull the 330 and trans both at some point i the near future. I don't think the 2 speed has much life left in it. it feels like it's already starting to slip and easy works for me. I was worried the TH350 might not bolt up correctly. It has to be a buick, olds, pontiac trans doesn't it? a chevy won't bolt up correctly will it? and does it have to be prior to a certain year?

scubastever

th350's are prolific. they can be had from most any where.

heres the wiki page for the th350
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbo-Hydramatic


the chev TH350 wont bolt up (without an adapter plate)
i think the buick or pontiac TH350 will - but be careful
as there were a few different derivatives of TH350.

i'm not sure how to tell them apart, either.

RAMBOW

a BOP adapter plate & Crank bushing can be had for about $100 new. That would simplify the issue of finding a BOP specific trans.

Find a core Chevy Th350 locally on craigslist for as cheap as you can find (I could probably find one around here for less than $50- and then take it to a rebutable trans shop and have them rebuild it & kit it. Should cost about $300-$400.

You will also likely need/want a new torque converter. I'm assuming youv'e got the stock rear gears in it, and a fairly stock motor- so I'd just recomment a stock type stall, 1800 rpm or so.

You can spend a little more $$ and buy one that works and not rebuild it- but Personally I don't like going through the trouble of taking something off my car if i'm not putting something back in that i know will be fine. Same reason for getting a new Torque converter. Even if the core tranny comes iwth one- you have no idea what kind of junk is in it... So its cheap insurance to get a new one.

TH350 uses a cable attached to the carb to control its kickdown.

Since your car is a 67, it still has the funky Rod & bell crank throttle linkage instead of the cable linkage that was used with the Th350's in 1968+
So you will have to figure out how to adapt a bracket to make the kickdown cable work.

just something else to consider- still probably very worth it to lose the 2speed.