Saginaw 3 speed to SM 465?

[earlthegoat2]

Is this a bolt in swap? Are the tranny lengths the same? Would you need a crossmember? What all is involved?

Seeing if a swap to an SM465 for 300 would make more sense than shelling out 300 for a shifter for the 3 speed. Looks like I am also going to have to reseal and regasket it too and the parts are not easy to find.

[earlthegoat2]

Originally Posted by earlthegoat2

Is this a bolt in swap? Are the tranny lengths the same? Would you need a crossmember? What all is involved?

Seeing if a swap to an SM465 for 300 would make more sense than shelling out 300 for a shifter for the 3 speed. Looks like I am also going to have to reseal and regasket it too and the parts are not easy to find.

The SM465 is from an 86 dually with a slave cylinder setup.

[geezer#99]

You'll need a high hump panel for the floor for clearance. What year of truck do you have and what tranny is in it now.

[earlthegoat2]

Think mine is a low hump. 69 1/2 ton with the Saginaw three speed.

[geezer#99]

Why not just put in a Mr. Gasket #7667A shifter. Made to fit on your tranny and cheap. Maybe 100 bucks.

[earlthegoat2]

Originally Posted by geezer#99

Why not just put in a Mr. Gasket #7667A shifter. Made to fit on your tranny and cheap. Maybe 100 bucks.

I appreciate the response. Truly I do.

Unfortunately I have had the displeasure of using one of these shifters in the past and in fact, something similar to this is on my truck right now. It it is the worst kind of horrible. I never had to deal with a bad shifter in almost 25 years of my life until I started looking at trucks a few months ago. I cannot go from great to mediocre or bad.

The Mr Gasket is not an option and as of right now neither is the Hurst Indy. The Indy might be better but I would rather roll the dice on a known quality product and that is the Hurst Mastershift.

Or for similar money I could get this SM465 that is up the road from me a mile if it will fit in with not much fuss.

[geezer#99]

The Indy is the same design as the Mr. G. The hurst mastershift is better designed but mounting it would be the same unless you have the 3 holes in the tailshaft housing to mount it.
But the real kicker is not the shifter you use, but the length of the shift arm on the tranny. Most 3 speeds have long arms so shifts are longer. Not a tight pattern.
Your proposed $300 swap will likely double in cost due to driveshaft mods, hump replacement, clutch and labor.
What shifter you got now? The're easily fixed. I've used them for years. You just need to know a few tricks.

[earlthegoat2]

It is a Spectre. It is workable but I hate it. I have driven several with the Spectres and Mr Gaskets and none of them have been even close to decent.

I have a Hurst Syncro Loc coming and I am going to adapt it to a Mastershift installation kit for GM A bodies. You dont even need to use the three holes with this kit. They use the same trans and as near as I can tell it is the same kit as the discontinued one for the trucks except for the reverse interlock which can be deleted anyway.