SBC 350 - L/C 3spd (1 Viewer)

[KNUCKLEDRAGGER]

How does the bellhousing adapt ? Is it the Landcruiser bellhousing that is reused ? or is it the Chevy bellhousing ?
I know I need an adaptor to retain my stock 3spd. Who should I get the conversion stuff from ? A/A or Downey ? should I be considering others ? I just bought a 350 out of a 79 Chevy van and am going to rebuild and swap my 6cly out, however I didnt get a bellhousing because the van had a automatic transmission. Im also going to need a Flywheel and clutch fork...anything else ?

Thanks Jeff

 

[73fj]

i dont think its possible to adapt the cruiser bell to a sbc,you need to get a chevy bellhousing,one of the split ones for a car i think,and then a makeup plate to go between the tranny and bell,someone probably makes an integral bellhousing but i dont know who.you can use a chevy clutch assembly,but i dont know what fork.also need a crossmember for the back of the tc.easy to make,3spd-4spd are the same, if you know someone who has one copy thiers.and a bracket for your slave cylinder,also pretty easy to make.good luck

 

[PHAT MAX]

wierd...mines from a 79 van too! let me know what fork you end up using!

 

[MarkFJ40]

The three speed adapter that came on my truck when I bought it had a one inch spacer on the tranny because the input shaft is longer on the L/C tranny.

 

[nspctr1]

There are 2 different kinds of adapters. The one by AA uses a bell housing with a spacer plate and downey manufactures a little different setup with adapters that go on the output shafts. ( I believe this is correct) I bought my setup off of Ebay, it was brand new in boxes and almost half the price. Make sure you are familiar with everything involved in the conversion is the best advice I can give you. If you have a column shift cruiser you will have to convert it to floor shift,, the exhaust system will have to be customized depending on whether you go power steering or stock, you can use block hugger headers, rams horn manifolds or check out what AA sells. You will have to relocate the battery tray due to the size of the 350, get a wiring diagram of the model you are working on, it will become very helpful when trying to wire up the 350. One last thing, You can use your stock radiator, take it to a shop and have them convert it to a 4 core system and buy a electric fan for it. It is cheaper than buying a aluminum radiator that costs way too much and doesn't improve things that much. hope this helps

 

[KNUCKLEDRAGGER]

Looks like I've changed my mind......TH350 is the way im leaning now. The motor I bought was from an automatic so I dont have the bellhousing/flywheel/clutch/fork ect. I was given a TH350 that I can use as a core,and I like the convienience of the automatic transmission for daily driving, the gear ratio is almost the same as the L/C 3spd and then there is the added benifit of the torque conv. multipling the crawl ratio....although the lack of engine braking for downhill is a problem. I was thinking that a lockup converter would be the way to go to compensate for that. The A/A kit provides the propper tail shaft and the motor is going to be moving forward anyway. I was told to figure on some drive shaft work with either the 3spd or the auto..so thats the same. The cost of adaptors is within about 150-200 bucks when the additional parts I would need for the manual trans. So what do you guys think...im I making a mistake ? seems like the same set up as the stock 3 spd (gear wise) The only other auto trans would be the 700R..but nobody has given me one of those latley. As for the electric fan...are you saying to use that as the only fan..or as an addition to the belt driven fan ? Maybe it will depend on the distance left,when the drive train is installed.

 

[axlechassis]

I've been studying the 700r4 and that seems to be the one that gives the best of both worlds a low 1st gear and a nice 30% overdrive. Seems like you can get a built one fairly reasonably priced.
www.700r4.com/trans/level1.htm
With fuel prices being what the 700r4 is a worthy candidate without any real obvious negatives.

 

[KNUCKLEDRAGGER]

From what i've read the 700R is a pretty good choice, although the early ones had some weakness, you can rebuild them out. The early ones need to be upgraded to the later parts. I found some info at the links below.

700R
http://www.off-road.com/jeep/tech/convtrans/gm/gm700r4id.html

Torque Converter
http://www.lsconverters.com/torquescience.htm

 

[megolfer]

If you want to go witht eh stock 3-speed I have an adaptor and bellhousing and can even trow in a 3 speed tranny. Let me know if you are interested.

 

[CruisinGA]

Unless you particurly like a non-synchroed, high first gear and a REALLY long throw I would go with something else, get a Toy 4spd at least, its a very road worthy tranny, smooooth shifting synchro first gear and a decent first gear wheelin wise.