[2/75NastyNewbs]

I finally got my gearvendors installed (and driving) on my th350 and wanted to outline my thoughts and a few other things in order to help someone down the road.

Why a GV?:
I was already really happy with my th350. It shifts really nice, I have a really nice billet shifter for it, and the converter is pretty spot on for my combo. I really just wanted an additional gear. Obviously we know that the price point of these isnt cheap so forking over the cash for a new one wasn’t ideal for me.

I was able to find one from a member here (thanks @Stalkingbearcat) that was used for 600 dollars with all of the parts that comes in the kit. Controller, trans adapter (for a power glide), the booklet etc etc. He was having problems with it and after speaking to him in length, I decided that I thought his problems were related to the computer, not the GV unit itself. I drove damn near out to Arizona to get it and he met me at a land mark off the highway. Damn nice guy. We chatted for about 30 minutes.

Wiring:
I didn’t use the computer. I used an illuminated latching push button in the dash. You just have to remember to turn it off before coming to a stop. Very simple to wire. (Anyone reading this down the road PM me and I’ll lay it out for you).

Fitment:
I waited to install new polyurethane body mounts before installing the gearvendors. (Not harsh like some have stated. NVH isn’t bad) This gave me clearance that was badly needed. I don’t recommend installing a GV until you have new mounts under the body. My crossmember (which was already in the car) is a summit house brand that I’m pretty certain is just a rebranded G force. I also had to get a new trans mount. Energy 3.1158g. This is the low mount. I was still able to achieve optimum driveline angles by using adjustable rear upper control arms. I had to massage the trans tunnel just a little bit. Took me about 10 minutes of strategic beating. A 2lb ball peen dead blow hammer made it very easy. As expected, I had to cut my driveshaft. I cut it down to I think (from memory) 41 inches center to center U Joints. Dont take my word for it. Always measure. But that should give you an idea. Now a 3 inch shaft will have a critical speed close to 10,000 rpm. Always a huge talking point on this board with the longer shafts these cars need.

Cost:
Below is the final break down of what I paid. I had to buy an adapter for the th350. GV really has a strangle hold on the market and you really have no choice but to get it from them. If adding a GV to a th400, you can find some used ones floating around the internet, or get lucky and find one under a motorhome. So take that into consideration because that doubled the price of the project.

-Used GearVendors w/everything 600
-Adapter kit 983
-Core charge for adapter -200
-Activation Button 31
-Fuel used to pickup unit 100
-Driveshaft cut and balance (local) 140
-Trans Mount (energy suspension 3.1158G) 45
-2 lb ball peen dead blow hammer 15
-Wire, fuse holder and connectors 10

So I’m all in for 1724 dollars. If I had a power glide or got one with the right adapter, I would have been all in for under 1000. All in all I’m very happy with the install and the way the GV performs. I plan in installing a momentary button on the shifter to a latching relay down the road so I can split gears but for now I’m happy with my overdrive for 1700 bucks.

 

[Lew540]

Glad you got it to fit. G Force does make a crossmember for the GV (maybe for a Turbo 400) but as long as you got yours to work great. The crossmember has a different notching on it to help clear it. The computer you can buy for $400 - note they changed computers they are now made by MSD and say MSD on them. The new computer is less suspsectable to RF which was a problem on the older styles. The old ones have 4 different types of wiring on them from phone cable, to tv cable to wire. The new ones have one giant plug and is a much cleaner install. On mine I found that raising the trans up helped with the drive angles if you have no room to go up then that is where you are. I like mine and have had it about 10 years I am going to install the newer computer this year.

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

Glad you got it to fit. G Force does make a crossmember for the GV (maybe for a Turbo 400) but as long as you got yours to work great. The crossmember has a different notching on it to help clear it. The computer you can buy for $400 - note they changed computers they are now made by MSD and say MSD on them. The new computer is less suspsectable to RF which was a problem on the older styles. The old ones have 4 different types of wiring on them from phone cable, to tv cable to wire. The new ones have one giant plug and is a much cleaner install. On mine I found that raising the trans up helped with the drive angles if you have no room to go up then that is where you are. I like mine and have had it about 10 years I am going to install the newer computer this year.

This is what the crossmember/ trans mounting looks like.

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

Here is a picture of the activation button. Turns green when on. (I figured green means go)

My radio is Bluetooth so there’s no face in the dash. Just a receiver wired under the carpet into my center console. I covered the radio holes with a delete plate and added the activation button to an existing radio knob hole. No cutting is always a plus.

 

[Lew540]

This is mine. Now on mine what happened is the 1965 does not have bolt holes for the Turbo 400 so I drilled some in the frame. That being said the later cars the frame is raised up to accommodate the transmission like 3/8 of an inch or so - thus, I needed to shim it up to reflect that to start. Second what I noticed was the transmission adding 12 inches to it lowered where it was as these cars had a 3-4 degree slope or about an inch every 16-18 inches. So I added so more shim to get the tail shaft to where is would be as far as distance from tail shaft to floor back to the Turbo 400 height. What I am saying is that with a Turbo 400 my tail shaft was say 9 inches off the ground and with the GV it might be like 8.25 inches as the extra 12 inches continues the slope down. This in turn with the shorter driveshaft increased my operating angle (remember also the driveshaft is now shorter so the angle is greater to) to like 4-5 degrees by adding another 1/2 inch of shim and 3/8 shim for the frame issue I got my operating angle right again. The pinion angle was not the issue for me it was the U joint operating angle at the GV tail shaft. By adding the shims it made my "V" a lot less and that help the higher speed vibration above say 3,500 rpm. Remember with a GV 3000 engine rpm is now 3700 tail shaft rpm as it is no longer 1 to 1. So if you have some higher rpm vibrations add some shims to the trans mount.

This is what the crossmember/ trans mounting looks like

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

This is mine. Now on mine what happened is the 1965 does not have bolt holes for the Turbo 400 so I drilled some in the frame. That being said the later cars the frame is raised up to accommodate the transmission like 3/8 of an inch or so - thus, I needed to shim it up to reflect that to start. Second what I noticed was the transmission adding 12 inches to it lowered where it was as these cars had a 3-4 degree slope or about an inch every 16-18 inches. So I added so more shim to get the tail shaft to where is would be as far as distance from tail shaft to floor back to the Turbo 400 height. What I am saying is that with a Turbo 400 my tail shaft was say 9 inches off the ground and with the GV it might be like 8.25 inches as the extra 12 inches continues the slope down. This in turn with the shorter driveshaft increased my operating angle (remember also the driveshaft is now shorter so the angle is greater to) to like 4-5 degrees by adding another 1/2 inch of shim and 3/8 shim for the frame issue I got my operating angle right again. The pinion angle was not the issue for me it was the U joint operating angle at the GV tail shaft. By adding the shims it made my "V" a lot less and that help the higher speed vibration above say 3,500 rpm. Remember with a GV 3000 engine rpm is now 3700 tail shaft rpm as it is no longer 1 to 1. So if you have some higher rpm vibrations add some shims to the trans mount.




View attachment 741575 View attachment 741576

View attachment 741573

Good info for anyone with a 64 or 65 and a th400.

 

[Binford]

They put them under motorhomes??
Crap, now I have a whole new thing to search for!

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

They put them under motorhomes??
Crap, now I have a whole new thing to search for!

Yeah apparently. I’ve never seen one but I heard it on the internet so you know it’s true.

 

[Binford]

Yeah apparently. I’ve never seen one but I heard it on the internet so you know it’s true.

Actually, I seen them in motorhomes.
My post I was being a little sarcastic (to myself)
But I was also being real, because the ones I've seen I just assumed that they were added.
But in reality it would make sense to add a GV to a motorhome.
Perfect sense actually. Them ol' 454 power pushers were getting like 4 to 5 mpg or something ridiculous low.


I don't need a gear vendors right now, but just something to poke around at if I were to stumble onto a motorhome in a yard or something.

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

Actually, I seen them in motorhomes.
My post I was being a little sarcastic (to myself)
But I was also being real, because the ones I've seen I just assumed that they were added.
But in reality it would make sense to add a GV to a motorhome.
Perfect sense actually. Them ol' 454 power pushers were getting like 4 to 5 mpg or something ridiculous low.

I think the ability to split a gear to be able to pull a steep grade was a huge benefit too

 

[shovelrick]

I'm getting ready for a Vintage Air install then a GV is on my "Next Big Thing" list

 

[weidhopper]

I have a Gear Vendor in my car behind a M20 and love it.

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

I have a Gear Vendor in my car behind a M20 and love it.

Do you have the activation switch on the shifter? That would be pretty slick for splitting gears.

 

[weidhopper]

Do you have the activation switch on the shifter? That would be pretty slick for splitting gears.

Yes I have the button in the shift knob. I have a Supper Shifter in my car and if I'm not careful my knee can hit the button and knock it out of overdrive. Gets your attention when your running 70-75 mph down the road.

 

[GTO44]

I've been bouncing around ideas on how the Sniper ecu could control the GV activation / deactivation instead of buying the GV computer/controller...

In the Terminator X software it can be done really easy. They have a TCC converter lockup option that could control the GV already programmed in the software. Basically send a ground output to activate a relay based off of minimum tps, minimum RPM and minimum coolant temp. And remove ground to deactivate based on WOT TPS % or WOT MAP kpa,or WOT unlock time or a combination just 2 or all 3.

The Sniper doesn't have this option. But it does have an option for a "second fuel pump" output which can be activated with TPS, RPM, and KPA. The only thing is with these basic settings it would be better to have this feature to "deactivate" the GV . It could control an interrupt relay to deactivate the GV "over" a specific TPS, RPM, and KPA.

So to get the Sniper to activate the GV, i've been playing around with using a Nitrous output. This would control a relay to activate the GV. Using the Nitrous output makes sense because you have a minimum and maximum RPM range, a TPS % trigger and a timed delay. Set the delay to something like 10 seconds. That way as you go thru the gears it wont activate while in the RPM range between min and max setting. Then once your at cruise in high gear in your rpm range long enough the GV will activate.

Then if you were to mash the pedal and go WOT, the "secondary fuel pump" function i mentioned in the paragraph above would output a ground triggering the interrupt relay turning off the GV.

So instead of spending a bunch of money on a stand alone controller, all you would need is 2 standard 12v automotive relays using 2 of the sniper outputs. Just something to think about.

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

I've been bouncing around ideas on how the Sniper ecu could control the GV activation / deactivation instead of buying the GV computer/controller...

In the Terminator X software it can be done really easy. They have a TCC converter lockup option that could control the GV already programmed in the software. Basically send a ground output to activate a relay based off of minimum tps, minimum RPM and minimum coolant temp. And remove ground to deactivate based on WOT TPS % or WOT MAP kpa,or WOT unlock time or a combination just 2 or all 3.

The Sniper doesn't have this option. But it does have an option for a "second fuel pump" output which can be activated with TPS, RPM, and KPA. The only thing is with these basic settings it would be better to have this feature to "deactivate" the GV . It could control an interrupt relay to deactivate the GV "over" a specific TPS, RPM, and KPA.

So to get the Sniper to activate the GV, i've been playing around with using a Nitrous output. This would control a relay to activate the GV. Using the Nitrous output makes sense because you have a minimum and maximum RPM range, a TPS % trigger and a timed delay. Set the delay to something like 10 seconds. That way as you go thru the gears it wont activate while in the RPM range between min and max setting. Then once your at cruise in high gear in your rpm range long enough the GV will activate.

Then if you were to mash the pedal and go WOT, the "secondary fuel pump" function i mentioned in the paragraph above would output a ground triggering the interrupt relay turning off the GV.

So instead of spending a bunch of money on a stand alone controller, all you would need is 2 standard 12v automotive relays using 2 of the sniper outputs. Just something to think about.

Oh wow. I never even thought of this. I may have to look into doing this. Keep us updated as you work through this.

 

[GTO44]

ahhhh so unfortunately you would need the Super Sniper version... The outputs on the regular sniper can't be reconfigured. I didn't realize the temporary sniper project i started in the Holley software was defaulted to the Super Sniper.

Sorry to get your hopes up! Unless, of course, you have the super sniper 650 or super sniper 1250...

 

[2/75NastyNewbs]

ahhhh so unfortunately you would need the Super Sniper version... The outputs on the regular sniper can't be reconfigured. I didn't realize the temporary sniper project i started in the Holley software was defaulted to the Super Sniper.

Sorry to get your hopes up! Unless, of course, you have the super sniper 650 or super sniper 1250...

I have the xflow. It’s has a few extra inputs and outputs. So maybe?

 

[GTO44]

I have the xflow. It’s has a few extra inputs and outputs. So maybe?

Very nice than you’re in luck! The x flow has the same input / output config as the super snipers. You’ll be able to use 2 of the 3 ground outputs to control the relays.

I’ll play with the settings and post some screen shots for you to try. I’ll draw up a quick diagram of how id wire it as well

 

[weidhopper]

The Gear Vendor in my car will disengage OD at 30MPH. Never tried to engage it at a low speed (no reason)