One wire lock-up, 4 spd automatic w overdrive into A-body.
May I just remind you of a 'bold' statement you made in your first post in this topic?
:happy1:
I understand what you're saying and agree that cutting, fabricating and welding anything is not for everyone, but I still have to stand behind that statement that this was only minimal massaging to the crossmember. The man who buit his entire car including making his own trunk floor and almost every part on his car due to rust did some major artistic surgery. I forget his name, but he is the one who inspired Treblig to go for the automatic overdrive swap. Treblig, what's that guys name again?
All I did was cut a simple notch in one side of the crossmember loop. I knew going in that there was going to be some cutting and welding involved. I will admit, I did expect to be able to leave the back half of the area I ended up cutting off to be able to remain in place, but once under the car, it was just easier and faster to make a few straight cuts to notch the driver's side of the crossmember loop. None of this was extreme surgery and very well could be considered more than minor massaging by many and hacking up a car to fit in an overdrive by others who think nothing of running fenderwell headers out the inner fenders or like beating on the transmission tunnel with a BFH and then putting up with driveline vibration and a really shallow overdrive (Gear Vendors). It did involve the removal of some metal. I included a picture of it to show how little was actually removed.
I saw the cuts that Treblig made before I started and considered his cuts minor going in compared to the complete removal of the center loop of the crossmember (Pic 3). I agree about what is minimal to one man may be major to another. Fitting and welding in subframe connectors is about an equal amount of work. Welding a four point bar in my car took longer but the bars didn't require me to cut up my interior. All of these "upgrades" required some minimal massaging to get them in. Some people would say its major, but like Treblig said, It's all relative.
After welding the crossmember to the floor, boxing in the notch and adding 1/8" plate to the top of the transmission hump, It is still minimal compared to what guys have to do to fit the 518's. I also leaned towards a bit of overkill, as I think I made the crossmember stronger than it was when I started. When I look under the car today, it looks like it has been minimally massaged. It definitely doesn't look like any major surgery has occurred there.
It took less than 15 minutes to make the notch to the driver's side and a about an hour to fabricate the metal parts and weld them in to box it up. That's pretty minimal compared to what I watched for years about removing the entire center of the crossmember loop and then building something to replace it.
That part was easy compared to designing, heating and shaping the new bolt-on rear engine mount which also strengthens the crossmember. I still need to weld on a few gussets and drill one new hole in the crossmember and lower mount, as I cut a hole off when I notched the driver's side. I will be able to raise and lower the rear of the transmission almost 3 inches to get the engine's crank and output shaft centerline set in the correct relation to my driveshaft pinion by stacking some simple shims on the crossmember.
Once the car is all back together and running, it won't look that much different underneath than it before I started to 99% of the worlds population. The big difference will be that it has a 4 speed automatic transmission with overdrive and lock-up torque converter that's controlled with one 12V wire. The lock-up only engages in 4th, so it unlocks automatically when it downshifts if you forget to flip the switch off.
It will be powered by a minorly massaged EFI'd 5.9 Magnum that displaces 408" and puts out around 500 hp and the same amount of torque all with the comfort of a Vintage Air Gen V A/C heater defrost system. It's just a simple low maintenance stroked smallblock that runs on pump gas.
The car will basically look like it came the way it is from the factory with just a few minor upgrades from stock. None of updating this car was major surgery as it was a rust free California car that lived in a garage most of it's life. My hat is off to the guys who fix up the rusted cars that most people would scrap. Now, some of those guys do major surgery and work miracles.
While this project is a lot of time, money and hard work, it is still pretty basic automotive hot rodding stuff, and in my opinion, a much better alternative to the 500 or 518 swap for many reasons.
