3-speed saginaw behind a V8

[seejohnrun]

I'm almost done putting back together my 67 c10 after a frame-off restoration. I'm planning on putting (at least for a little bit because I enjoy the 3ott) a rebuilt Saginaw 3-speed behind my new 383.

I understand this is kinda ridiculous, but I mostly bought the truck for the 3ott so I'd like to drive it for a bit this way and hope it doesn't just immediately crumble :-P

My truck originally had an inline-6, which I swapped to this V8 moving the engine to the forward mounts as part of that. Now I need to get the transmission crossmember figured out since in it's original position it'll be back too far as I understand.

These old transmissions had mounts on the bellhousing instead of at the tail. Since I need to remove and relocate the crossmember, I found this on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174157083393?ul_noapp=true and likely will pick it up since it should bolt exactly where I need it.

My question is: Should I be aiming to use one of these bellhousing mounts, or is it preferable/possible to swap to a tail mount?

Thank you as always!

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by seejohnrun

I'm almost done putting back together my 67 c10 after a frame-off restoration. I'm planning on putting (at least for a little bit because I enjoy the 3ott) a rebuilt Saginaw 3-speed behind my new 383.

I understand this is kinda ridiculous, but I mostly bought the truck for the 3ott so I'd like to drive it for a bit this way and hope it doesn't just immediately crumble :-P

My truck originally had an inline-6, which I swapped to this V8 moving the engine to the forward mounts as part of that. Now I need to get the transmission crossmember figured out since in it's original position it'll be back too far as I understand.

These old transmissions had mounts on the bellhousing instead of at the tail. Since I need to remove and relocate the crossmember, I found this on ebay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/174157083393?ul_noapp=true and likely will pick it up since it should bolt exactly where I need it.

My question is: Should I be aiming to use one of these bellhousing mounts, or is it preferable/possible to swap to a tail mount?

Thank you as always!

See if there is anything in this thread you can use.....

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=509871

Or this one:

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=706423

LockDoc

[weim55]

If your Saginaw is in good condition to begin with it will live just fine behind your new small block as long as it isn’t heavily abused. Yes it will take full throttle all day long but no it won’t live with red line clutch drops. If you wanted to upgrade you could switch the Saginaw out for the much heavier duty warner M 13 3speed That was used 69/72 behind 350 and 396C series trucks. It’s a direct bolt in that I’m pretty sure your Saginaw linkage will also fit.

If you haven’t already invested in moving the engine forward why not just leave it in the original six cylinder position? This is a much easier proposition as you don’t have to change the driveshaft, the crossmember or its position, the shift linkage to the Saginaw or the clutch linkage. While it’s been a couple decades since I performed a V-8 swap using the six cylinder position, all I remember changing is to add a fan shroud from a V-8 four-wheel-drive if you are using the short water pump. Somebody who has done this recently might be able to add a couple things that I might be forgetting.

Steve weim55 Colorado

[seejohnrun]

Thanks @weim55 I've already put a bit of effort and money into the forward position, I've purchased new mounts and installed the engine forward / I'd really like to keep it there if it's possible, but I'm open to moving it if this is going to be really painful

[seejohnrun]

Thanks @LockDoc I appreciate the links. I've already checked out both of those threads but I'm still lost as far as the bellhousing mount.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by seejohnrun

Thanks @LockDoc I appreciate the links. I've already checked out both of those threads but I'm still lost as far as the bellhousing mount.

If you are going to use a V8 in the forward position with a bell housing mount you will have to get a V8 cross member and mount it in the holes pointed out in post #2 of this thread. (also posted above).

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=706423

I don't know anything about the BB cross member.

LockDoc

[seejohnrun]

Cool / yeah I did just read somewhere that the BB crossmember might be slightly different :/

Can a saginaw be mounted via the tail?

[geezer#99]

Originally Posted by seejohnrun

Can a saginaw be mounted via the tail?

If it has a mount it can.
Some didn’t.
And your Saginaw might be a Muncie sm318 trans.
Post a pic.

[seejohnrun]

Somewhat annoyingly, before I decided I wanted to stick with the 3ott I sold the original transmission, but I was able to pick up another relatively cheap which comes in tomorrow

Here's a photo:



Thank you for your help!

[geezer#99]

That’s a Saginaw. Likely 1969 and newer.
You got the mount.
The 7 bolt side cover shows it’s full synchro trans.
Your shift rods might not bolt up to the brackets on the trans though.
Another problem can be the input shaft bearing retainer size.
Here’s a thread on the bearing retainer sizes.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=245660

[seejohnrun]

Thanks @geezer#99. In that case I'd prefer to switch to the tail mount because it'll be easier to swap to something else later.

Given the manual transmissions had bellhousing mounts what should I look for as far as a tail mount? Would an automatic mount like the CPP ones work correctly since I'm no longer in the area of the frame where it curves up?

Thank you for the information on the input shaft bearing retainer sizes / I'm looking forward to digging into this

[geezer#99]

A lot of different ones will work.
I’ve used ones from early 70’s chevelle and novas.
Here’s a cheap one.

https://azproperformance.com/product...mber-63-87-c10

Here’s a bunch of different ones.

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=is...bZmBY8Q4dUDCAU