The snowball effect and a trans question?

[69C10Atl]

Well I bought my 69 c10 lwb fleet almost 2 years ago and for the most part it has just sat in my dad's garage. Now that my dad has caught the bug for my project it gone from simply making it a daily driver to a much more indepth project. We were just going to dismantle the front, (from the firewall forward) but now he's talking about making a hoist so we can get the cab off. hince the snowball effect. Anyway, the trucks a three on the tree and I want to replace the three speed with a four, can ya'll offer any help on what I should be looking for? I do have access to several junk yards in the area, so are there any particular vehicles to look for? Thanks

[crazy longhorn]

Are you wanting the truck 4spd(granny 1st), or a car 4 spd?

[69C10Atl]

I want to go with a car trans

[crazy longhorn]

On the budget side, you can use a saginaw 4spd from a camaro,or a lower geared on from a Monza. these are a medium duty trans,but will take a little abuse,& are the same lenght as you saginaw 3spd(7 bolt side cover). to bolt them in, you can use the front bearing retainer from the 3 spd trans(pilot hole in the bell is larger ii the truck bell),or use a 67 or prior truck bell. a little more expensive is the M 20/21/22 muncie trans,or a borg warner T 10. these will be aluminum housings,& are the same lenght ,as the original 3 spd, but some had a different spline count on the input shaft, as well as the tail shaft( not a big issue, just a clutch change,& a different slip yolk). They will also require a 67 or earlier truck bell for proper hole size, or a ring machined to press over the front bearing retainer. also, you will notice that the bottom bolts thread into the trans instead of the bell housing on the truck pcs. you can just bolt & nut the bottom holes when using a car trans. good luck.......Al

[mikep]

Lets not forget about the close ratio new process 4 speed. Its basically the same as the regular NP 4 speed that you are used to behind a small block with the granny gear EXCEPT that it has a normal 1st gear. Ive got one in mine and since it was originally a big block truck I assume they only came in big block 4 speed trucks . It would save a lot of hassle in conversion and it would be strong enough to throw whatever you want to throw at it plus you'd have a first gear that is actually usable.

[69C10Atl]

Thanks for the input, the juckyard that I have access to has several mid to late sixties GM muscle cars in it. I was hoping to get the trans out of one of them. As for the earlier bell I'd have to look around to see if they have any trucks older than mine. By the way is it even worth looking for heads for the truck at the yard and have them rebuilt or would the $ be in line with just buying new ones?

[crazy longhorn]

You would be better off going with new heads, the cost would be pretty close to rebuild the old "fuelies". My edelbrocks were $934 through a local speed shop,& that was only about $200 more than I had in the last set of fuelies! if you stick with iron, there are some better deals out there. You might look at the vortecs, dart, & world products. good luck.....Al

[69C10Atl]

are there any problems trying to hook up the column shift to a four speed? I don't really want to have to put a floor shifter in

[crazy longhorn]

You will need the floor shifter, the 4spd has 3 shift arms(1 for reverse),& you will only have 2 rods from your column shift 3 spd. The aftermarket shifter will be a better pc also........AL

[69C10Atl]

I was going to try and avoid cutting up the floor if it didn't need to be, but if that what it takes then that's what it takes.....thanks for the info crazy longhorn

[crazy longhorn]

No trouble,good luck with your project........Al