After trying to sell the truck and not getting any takers. I decided the next best thing to do with it is go ahead and do the 4 speed swap! Just ordered the 11" Zoom clutch kit. (yes its cheap, but its more for driving than racing). Probably going with a M 20 because I do use the elcamino to haul my three wheelers sometimes.
Ive been collecting parts for the swap for about 6 months, and I should have the last of the parts next week! Competition plus console shifter, 444 bell housing, new 454 flywheel, pedal assy out of a 68 chevelle, manual tranny starter, GL4 gear oil. I did the swap less than 2 years ago in my chevelle, so it should be fairly painless. wish me luck! jim

Nothing better than rowing gears!

Devin

I should have the finishing pieces for my swap on Christmas and then my camino is getting the same treatment.

Quick question. are you going to pull the motor or just pull the trans out the back?

Matt

just pull the tranny out back. I did the same on my chevelle a bit over a year ago. I think I started about 6pm on a weeknight. wrapped it up around 11 pm. Went out and filled the trans, installed the manual starter (bolts are different!!!!) and lowered the car the next night and drove it!
Its really a pretty straight forward swap, ive got the correct starter already bolted to the motor (little thinking ahead when I replaced the starter). I even won a ebay auction for the top plate this morning. So I can even have the console. Jim

Another one in the fold,congrats,watch my video,that's a stock M-20.

I'm thinking of swapping in a manual on my 67 soon too. Just need to start collecting parts as well. Nice ride to Doug.:thumbsup:

I'm thinking of swapping in a manual on my 67 soon too. Just need to start collecting parts as well. Nice ride to Doug.:thumbsup:

Thanks George:thumbsup:

just pull the tranny out back. I did the same on my chevelle a bit over a year ago. I think I started about 6pm on a weeknight. wrapped it up around 11 pm. Went out and filled the trans, installed the manual starter (bolts are different!!!!) and lowered the car the next night and drove it!

Five hours... with the proper tools and a 2 post lift, can this be a one-man job?
Is the manual starter needed for Muncie/Saginaw swaps? I have a BW Super T-10. Would that use the same starter?

I got lucky, my current car came with the 4spd already. Of all the chevelles and el caminos I`ve had this is my first 4spd hot rod. It`s alot of fun. The only drawback for me is that it`s a early T10 and are not suppost to be very strong so if I really start hopping it up I`ll need to think about changing trannys.

nose is different for a manual tranny. they have a cast iron nose and a bit smaller to fit in the aluminum bell housing. go to the tranny forum and do a search on starter and you'll see the difference. autozone or checkers has them for 49 bucks. just make sure you get the correct length bolts when you get it.
I wished I had a lift, we're talking jacking the car up on jackstands. Floor jack, drop light, hand tools. just unbolt the first bolt and dont stop until your done. I think doing it by myself is a lot quicker. jim

Hey Jim, Did you pull the distributor when you pulled the Auto transmission? I think I might be pulling the Auto tomorrow and for some reason I thought I read it was a good thing to do?

Matt

Hey Jim, Did you pull the distributor when you pulled the Auto transmission? I think I might be pulling the Auto tomorrow and for some reason I thought I read it was a good thing to do?

Matt


you don`t need to pull the whole thing, just thecap. When you remove the transmission the engine will tilt towards the firewall. If you remove the cap you`ll have plenty of room before anything gets damaged. i just did this last week on a 93 4wd suburban.

I do have a big HEI distributor with the in cap coil, but you know what I think that might give me some room.

One more question if ya dont mind me asking. When I pull the auto, am I disconnecting the torque converter from the flex plate? If I am thinking right that would mean I just have to pull the auto off the 2 main pins on the engine.

Thanks again,


Matt

Pull the dist. just to be safe. also you have to pull 1 header off or the auto tranny ear's won't clear when your trying to drop it. I usually prop the motor, unbolt the Xmember, Lift the tranny with a jack, slide the cross member out. unbolt the torque converter, lines, shifter, speedo. undo the 6 tranny bolts slide the tranny back off the pins, lower the jack. I borrowed a tranny jack the last time and its a bit safer than balancing everything on a floor jack. jim

I do have a big HEI distributor with the in cap coil, but you know what I think that might give me some room.

One more question if ya dont mind me asking. When I pull the auto, am I disconnecting the torque converter from the flex plate? If I am thinking right that would mean I just have to pull the auto off the 2 main pins on the engine.

Thanks again,


Matt

The suburban has the computer controled version of the HEI and all I did was remove the cam. Plenty of room and the firewall is tighter on the burban than my old 69 el camino which should have the same as yours.

Yes you will need to unbolt the converter from the flex plate. Drop the exhaust, undo the coller lines and drain tranny, unbolt coverter, unbolt the 6 bell housing bolts, place a jack under thetranny, remove driveshaft and crossmember and anything else that might get in the way and pull it out.

Well the big white truck (fedex) came with the clutch parts today! Now the funny part.
Got to talking with my wife, she liked driving the chevelle when it had the th400 in it. She took it out with the muncie and really hated it. So ive got the entire changeover, right down to the plate that holds the steering column with a hole in it for the clutchrod...... and now we're talking about just leaving the th350 in it and calling it good. How wrong is that? jim

You have more then one car. At least one of them should be a 4 speed. I say do the conversion anyways.

the chevelle has the 454 4 speed setup already. I collected the parts to do the 4 speed in the camaro, but that one we are keeping it a auto. The 68 is a daily driver. The 71 elcamino was originally a 4 speed car, but after I took all the 4 speed parts out of it and put it into the chevelle, we stuck a automatic in it to get it driving. A 454 4 speed elcamino would look good sitting next to the chevelle though. jim

Hey guys,

just wanted to say thanks, the automatic came out easy as pie the other night, I just mocked up the muncie tonight and started cutting out for the shifter.

I decided since it wasn't going to be anywhere near original to do a hurst super shifter, and man... when they said you had to cut a grand canyon sized hole in the floor... you do. I'll post some pics tomorrow of the rough cut, and hopefully some afters where it looks a bit better.


Matt

That funny about the shifter, Ive bought a new one off craigslist and have it bolted to a tranny in the shed. post up some pics. jim

http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=302758

Thats the thread for it Jim, I made it seperate just so people can search and be able to see what they have to cut.

holy smokes its a good thing we have a full frame on these cars. if it was a camaro the car would fold in half. jim

UPS came today with my last part for my conversion, its the top plate for the console. Oddball thing is its got the 3 speed pattern, I sent Philip a pic of it, maybe when he reads this post he'll post the pic up. jim