I have a 1966 El Camino that came with a 283 2bbl, 10 bolt reaer end and all the plain jane stuff. I need to know how many 66 El Caminos (or any Chevelles in that matter) came with a 3 on the tree w/factory OD Tranny. Are these as rare as i have been told? http://www.chevelles.com/forum/confused.gif Any help is greatly needed. Thanks.



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Daniel Anderson(TripleFlow@aol.com)

Rare? Don't really know, but I don't think its really a sought after combination.

If you like it be happy, I have a hard time getting excited over economiser options on a muscle era car - no disrespect intended.

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"Bomber" '67 El Camino
Beater comes back to life
350/TH350 14.90 @ 93mph!

I don't know about a '66 but 12 years ago I came within an RCH of buying a '67 Elcamino 283-n-da-tree overdrive just as you discribed, less than 30k miles. I've never seen another one since. I think I over reacted and he figured he had a jewel. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/confused.gif No sale http://www.chevelles.com/forum/frown.gif

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Lowered '67 Elcamino
ZZ430HP / 4L60
"Canyon Carver"

As mentioned, I don't think this is a sought after after option. But rare? About as common as chicken lips!
Is yours the 3sp with a non-synchronized 1st gear, or can you slip it into 1st while moving without the gears grinding? If it is the synchronized 3sp, it is one to keep. If you know how to drive one of these, you can have a 6sp. I used to have a 59 4dr Chev with a 3spOD 6cyl, Corvette 6 dual ex manifold and glass packs. People couldn't believe it when I got 4-more gear shifts out of it. (still have that 6 dual ex manifold under the workbench)

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Tom Parsons

It should have a synchronized first gear. My highschool bud had a 66 Chevelle wagon, 283, 3 on the tree / OD. (i.e. same driveline). Makes me wonder whatever happened to that car. These cars had a numerically higher rear gear which gave a little better performance, for a three speed. According to this site http://www.connactivity.com/~brown/Chevelle/66.html there were 2803 of these transmissions put in 66 Chevelles, i.e. around 0.5% so it is quite rare.

My 65 has 3 on the three w/o OD and its first gear is not synchronized, but I definitely remember the 66/OD being synchronized.

Carl

i bought a 66 4 door with a 283 3spd w/od ist one ive seen myself. it also had a 3.70 posi 10 bolt in it

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Troy Miller
Whiteford,Maryland
70 Nova
72 Nova
66 Chevelle

The Saginaw 3 speeds were non-syncro through '65. In '66 they became fully syncronized (the 4 spd. Saginaw appeared). With o/d your rear axle ratio went from a 3.08 to a 3.70. Still, with overdrive engaged it ended up being like 2.59:1 final drive. No o/d available in Canada after the '65 models.

i have one in a 66 malibu convert (rust bucket) but since it isn't driveable i don't know much about it. the only other one ive seen was in a 66 2 door post with a factory 6 cylinder. the first time i saw the handle that looked like the emergency brake release but said overdrive, i thought someone had rigged it up.