Quote:
Originally Posted by AROWHED
(Post 6055723)
I'd bet the 700 will fit the 65 B body floor just fine, but you will need a BOP bellhousing adaptor (not sure if an appropriate Ultra Bell is available), driveshaft mods, cable shifter mods, trans crossmember mods. Personally Id go with a 4L80\85E, which will also require all the above, but you can also install the Transgo full manual shift kit, so no need for a computer. You will lose speedo cable output.
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There is a kit with a new tailshaft housing that can be used to keep the mechanical cable and housing and use the T400 drive gears. Also there is a kit that converts the electronic speedometer pulses and has an electric motor to drive the speedometer cable at the correct rate if you choose to keep the OEM speedo, which I think is more than likely what the OP will opt for.
Then also there is the GPS speedometers that use satellites to figure true speed. And then there is a standalone electronic speedometer that uses the 4L80E electronic to signal it. The speedometer should not be a stumbling block for a 4L80E conversion, with 4 proven alternatives readily available.
By the same token a $50 adapter plate to mate a chevy bell, to a BOP pattern engine should also not be a problem. I hardly see why people throw out the BOP to chevy bolt pattern as such a huge obstacle that needs to be overcome.
Fifteen minutes bolting the plate to the back of the Pontiac engine and it will accept and chevy pattern transmission. You do know that the bottom 2 bolts are in the same place on both bolt patterns correct? Then the steel plate adapts the four upper bolts that don't match, it doesn't get much easier than that. A chevy transmission is not going to take someone a week to mate to a Pontiac engine, or cost you $1000 for and adapter plate. There are probably 10 companies that make and sell the adapter plate with Speedway and Jegs under $50.
These plates have been around for the express purpose of adapting BOP to chevy and vice versa for decades. I surely wouldn't let a simple bolt on adapter dictate a less suited transmission for a swap.
Regarding the full manual 4L80E, it would not be my choice to have mine full manual, but you may delight in changing gears up and down while driving.
Being that a 65 B body has the long tail transmission no matter what you choose for a transmission, you're likely going to have to have a longer driveshaft made, the transmissions being discussed are all shorter than the original long tail T400 is.
The crossmember is also going to have to be moved, most likely forward in the chassis. It should be a fairly straight forward job, it may entail welding the frame mounting tabs, or extending the center shelf on the crossmember where the mount rests.
GM standardized as many of their parts as possible to keep them interchangeable between divisions and different chassis. Using that basis of interchangeability makes GM cars much easier to do many hot rodding swaps than some other brands. Ford was notorious for making engineering changes every few years that made swapping parts more difficult in the same car family, even having to know the build date within the same year for running engineering changes for ordering parts.
Anyone with some mechanical aptitude should be able to make an OD transmission swap into a 65 B body in a weekend providing they have all the necessary parts and tools available upon starting the swap. Each transmission will have it's own needs for adaption, and some will be cheaper to install, as well as some will require more effort to have a functioning system.
