I have a 65 Belair, had the engine rebuilt and would like to relace the original 3 on the column for one automatic. It's a 230 engine. What can I replace it with and what modifications if any will I have to deal with.
I have a transmission but being in Canada doesn't help you any. You will need the powerglide of course along with the flywheel, underpan, the kickdown linkage for a 6 cyl and the steering column will be different unless you are going to put a floor shift in it. I think the crossmember and driveshaft will work for you. The trans and flywheel from a V8 car should work for you as well but the kick down rod from the bellcrank up to the 6 cyl motor will be different.
You have a lot of options, you could also go to a TH-350 which would give you 3 speeds intead of the 2 in the powerglide or with some more modifactions to mounts and driveshaft you could go to one of the overdrive automatics (th-700R4). Not an expert in automatics but being a chevy you have access to a lot of swapping combinations. You will probably also have to consider your rear end ratio as well.
'45 Ford PU 66 Valiant wagon, leaning tower of power. 79 Chevy C10 w/250 02 PT Cruiser Convertable
200-4r will bolt up to your stock tranny crossmember. TV cable may be an issue to get all the way over the the other side of the engine. I don't believe you have to shorten your driveshaft even for this, but I'm not sure. It will require a BOP to GM adaptor plate. Consider very strongly going to an overdrive trans. There are too many interstates nowadays not to.
"The first rule of overkill: You can never have too much overkill." "Overkill is underrated."
