Transmission options for 66 cutlass
#1
Transmission options for 66 cutlass
I have a 1966 Cutlass with a 330 engine and a two speed Automatic Jetaway transmission. I want to upgrade to a three or four speed tranny, can anyone give me some insight on what options I have. If I buy a TH350 to install does it have to be a certain year, or will any BOP TH350 work? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
#2
I have a 1966 Cutlass with a 330 engine and a two speed Automatic Jetaway transmission. I want to upgrade to a three or four speed tranny, can anyone give me some insight on what options I have. If I buy a TH350 to install does it have to be a certain year, or will any BOP TH350 work? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
#3
You can also use a short tail Turbo 400. If the car has column shift you can get the p-r-n-d-s-l indicator from a 67 442 column shift car as the dashes were pretty much identical. Also I believe the Vista Cruiser in 67 had the Turbo 400 trans as an option but finding parts from one of these would be rather difficult. The Turbo 400 doesnt need a cable like the 350 trans. Note you will also need the yoke and possibly the (driveshaft?) from the 442 as the Turbo 400 takes a larger yoke.
Last edited by Oldsmaniac; March 24th, 2008 at 11:15 AM. Reason: additional info
#4
You can also use a short tail Turbo 400. If the car has column shift you can get the p-r-n-d-s-l indicator from a 67 442 column shift car as the dashes were pretty much identical. Also I believe the Vista Cruiser in 67 had the Turbo 400 trans as an option but finding parts from one of these would be rather difficult. The Turbo 400 doesnt need a cable like the 350 trans. Note you will also need the yoke and possibly the (driveshaft?) from the 442 as the Turbo 400 takes a larger yoke.
Second, while you CAN swap in a TH400, the crossmember must move. A 66 will not have the holes drilled in the frame for this crossmember location since the TH400 was not offered in the A-body until 1967. Note that this is especially a problem for the convertibles, since the trans crossmember attaches to brackets welded to the inside of the boxed frame and for 64-66 cars these brackets don't extend far enough back to support the crossmember in the TH400 (or 200-4R) location.
Finally, the TH400 will require a new front yoke and a shorter driveshaft.
None of these items are insurmountable, but (especially for a 330) the TH350 is as close to a true bolt-in as possible.
#7
TH 350 is the way to go. Especially if you don't want to mess with all the stuff Joe mentioned. If you have alot of money to burn you could always check out these guys once you get the TH 350 in.
http://www.gearvendors.com/index.html
http://www.gearvendors.com/index.html
#9
http://www.shiftworks.com/cutlas.htm
#11
The car is a stock column shift but I have noticed that I can buy an aftermarket floor shift for around 200 dollars. Would it be better to buy that than trying to convert the column shifter to a three speed?
#12
I am going to be using a column from a 66 Lemans. Who makes the 200.00 floor shift column?
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