[engineer9]

Finished TH350 trans swap for “Slim Jim” in my 62 Cat. Bendtsen adapter did not come with installation instructions and did not fit up as advertised…had to machine additional slots to clear rear of block around main bearing area; the starter mounting flange was too close by a few thousandths causing the pinion to stay engaged in Hayes flexplate. Bob Bendtsen was extremely arrogant and not at all helpful when I asked for his help in coming up with a way to fit the adapter up. In the end he ran off a string of insults and hung up on me…see the Pontiac Business Entities Exchange forum for details. Because of his particularly “bad attitude” toward his customers, I wouldn’t recommend using any of his products.

The crankshaft pilot hole was enlarged (about 3/16” on ID and 3/8” on depth) to accommodate the torque converter nose. This was done by hand using a rotary silicon carbide grinding bit in a pneumatic grinder…took about 6 hours of work.

The tranny tunnel had to be pounded out a little bit to accommodate the TH350 just above the rear mount; I think this is because I have a bench seat and the floor pan configuration does not provide as much space as a bucket seat arrangement with console shift.

The rear mount crossmember was reversed and moved forward and the center 12” cut out and lowered about 4” to fit up to the rear trans mount. The dual exhaust just clears below the cross member on each side by about ¼”. Need to get a right angle speedometer cable adapter to clear around the relocated crossmember.

Trans had 6” tail section requiring a rework of the driveshaft. Took a Chevy driveshaft, cut off the rear yoke and welded in the front yoke from the Pontiac. Shortened by about 4”. New U-joints both ends. Balanced out smooth all the way to 8000 rpm.

Used a Lokar ACA-1800 column shift linkage; had to bend to Z-shape to span the 7” distance from the steering column to TH350 shift arm. Used Lokar TD-3350400FM flexible dipstick (firewall mount) in the trans and a Lokar KD-2350HT kickdown cable…had to fab a suitable bracket to anchor it to the intake manifold at the carb end.

Installed Classic Exhaust System 304SS dual exhaust…right side fit OK; left side didn’t fit at all from muffler forward. With second section of pipe installed properly (to clear driveshaft), the exhaust pipe off manifold interfered with steering Pitman preventing making a left turn. When the pipe off the manifold was installed properly (to clear Pitman), the second pipe interfered with the driveshaft. Had to take the pipes to a shop and get them re-bent to fit. So far, Classic Exhaust has not responded to my request for the $$ back that I spent correcting the problem. Used heavy-duty Nelson pipe hangers; added Pilot PM555 304SS exhaust tips.

Did a complete engine overhaul (except rings and valve job). Found about 3” of some mysterious material that had settled out and solidified in the lower part of the block on both sides and from front to rear. Had to scrape and chip it out through the freeze plug openings. It was rather hard, grey-black in color with a coarse texture and came out in particle sizes ranging from dust to ½”. Got about 2 quarts of the stuff out. It is NOT foundry sand…any one have any ideas on what this stuff is?

Painted exhaust manifolds with POR-15 grey iron exhaust manifold paint. Prepped with phosphoric acid bath and hot water rinse. Brush coated and baked in my grill at 375 degrees F for 2 hours followed by a second coat / second bake after cooling down. Paint is holding up very well after 100 miles…no discoloration or peeling.

Stripped engine to bare metal, primed and painted 1966 light metallic blue. All brackets, generator, power steering pump, radiator, etc. stripped to bare metal, primed and painted semi-gloss black. Degreased and sanded engine compartment and compartment area frame, primed and painted semi-gloss black.

Have numerous pix of this project…if you would like to see a pix of any particular aspect, PM me and I’ll e-mail.