Question of the day

[Eric334]

I have a 65 194 3 speed , can I bolt up a 4 speed manual to this?

[Brett]

I'd think so, you'd have to watch to make sure you get one with same input shaft as your 3 speed Saginaw, and output splines (or you gotta buy a new yoke). I do not know if 4 speed Saginaw is longer or not, if so, you're going to ahve to get driveshaft shortened. And, I don't know if the mount on crossmember is same on 3 and 4 speed, but I'd think if you stay in Saginaw family line you'd be in pretty good shape.

[Scooter]

I am wondering the same thing, I have a 3 spd saginaw and want to swap in a 4 spd saginaw from a 67 camaro, I just don't know if the drive shaft has to be shortened or a different crossmember used and what not. Hopefully reviving this thread will get some answers.

[the FLYER]

i've pulled 3 gear saggys out of numerous 55's and bolted in Muncies with no issues, a Saggy 4 gear out of a 73 Camaro and stuck in a Muncie, no issues. my Chevy II was an A/tranny originally... the guy had a 4 gear saggy in it... the saggy was originally the one i had in my Camaro ;) he was one of my best friends, the tranny was a gift to him for his kid's car... which years and years later is now mine ;) crossmember is mounted same place on my Chevy II, no mods.

yes, make sure on the input/output shafts, there's early and late shaft size/spline count... other than that. i really don't think yer gonna have a problem :D


it's fun ta be a "Shifty" character... doncha think ??? :D

[66&67chevyII's]

i thought the hole in the 4 speed bellhousings was bigger than the hole in the 3 speed bellhousings.:confused:

[the FLYER]

yes, i was thinking tranny length and driveshaft stuff... :D

[Bruce]

The Saginaw 3 speed and 4 speed will interchange. The length, mount and driveline are the same. I put a 2:85 first gear version from a early 80s Camaro in my 66 and needed to swap the front bearing retainer between the two trans to fit the factory bellhousing, which for reference, was the same diameter as a Lakewood scattershield. Also, with the later trans, I needed to cut off what I believe was a torque arm mount for clearance. It was no big deal, but if you can find and earlier trans it is one less thing to do.

I would recommend buying a floor hump when you do the conversion. The hole in the tunnel is huge without. I did not use one and a Hurst Superboot barely covered the hole.....

[stock z/28]

Hi,

I would check the bearing retainer hole size in the bell housing. There is (at least) 2 different sizes.

Some of the real early muncies I think even had a small diameter brg retainer as well as some of the early three speeds. Your output shaft spline may be an issue as well there was a coarse spline and a fine spline and Im not real sure what year the changes in all this stuff was made.


Jeff

[65 Post]

I would be willing to bet that it would be a direct install. The 65 came with a 4-speed that year and from all the stuff I've seen in Nova magazines, the linkage, crossmembers etc, are all the same. Good luck. Bang those gears. Dave