My Non-F-body 3rd gen.

[Texan01]

Curses! Transmission finally died, oh well, time to wrestle the '76 TH-350 I have laying around into it's proper place. Gonna be my project for today rather than other chores around the place.

[Texan01]

Ok, after fighting with the damned 1970s excuse for pollution controls (factory pellet cat. converter, larger than big and breathes about as well as a silly straw) and rounding the nuts for the clamp off, it finally gives way.

Got the crossmember out, took the vacuum line out, letting it drain some more before I pull the detent cable and tube out, and then unbolt the torque converter and cooler lines.

After that then the 6 bolts for the trans. Then the clean-up and painting of parts can begin. Aside from all the trans fluid it's leaked of the last couple thousand miles, the underside is pretty clean! hardly any grime, just needs a wipedown and you'll see it in all it's primer-red glory as GM made it! Guess whille I'm under it, I'll paint the framerails as well.

[Texan01]

Huzzah! new trans swap completed. My freshly rebuilt (in 1994!) TH350 is in and so far no leaks, after I replaced the front seal, dipstick o-ring and installed the new speedo bullet it sealed up.

Took it for a drive, gas and a quick wash, and MAN what a difference. When I had it rebuilt in '94 the guy I had do it said he tweaked it some to give somewhat firmer shifts and it still does even after 100,000 miles.

The original 350 was sloppy and slow shifing at best when it was being nice and using all the gears. Plus it was ugly and had a bad mount, the rubber had long since gone away from the original one. it was also noisy with a scraping sound in park or neutral and a really heinous scrape/clunk when you put it into gear.

Hopefully this also addresses the poor fuel economy it's been getting (11mpg on the last tank). I realize it's no Prius and the only way it's gonna see the high side of 20mpg is if it's rolling down a hill with the engine off, but for what it's got and how it's set up, 11 is pitiful, it should get closer to 15-16 in town and 20ish on the road. But since I've not been able to go through a full tank with the transmission being nice, I'll chalk it up to bad trans holding onto 2nd gear waaaaaaaaaaayyyyyy too long.

Now to get on with the 454 one of my friends gave me for Christmas.

[Texan01]

Rats! dipstick tube is still leaking, I guess I'll spring for the later style with the rubber cup instead of the leak-o-matic oring setup.

[Texan01]

Ok, did impromptu 0-60 drag with it today. Baseline when I got it was 0-60 in about 15 seconds with as-purchased condition, top speed was about 65mph which was as fast as I dared to push it.

This morning, after the correct plugs, cap/rotor, carb swap (still 2 barrel), new timing chain, new(old) distributor, a nicely blown-up muffler, I clocked it again

0-60 in ~9 seconds which isn't too shabby for a 145hp 305 equipped 3800 pound sedan, with a lame axle ratio
This now makes it quicker than my V6 explorer.

Top speed is in the 110-120 range, which is as fast as I dared to push it on dry-rotted bushings and tires.

Fuel economy has improved, took it all over DFW while the Explorer is down with a bad radiator and so far have gone 210 miles on 1/2 tank of gas. Usually by the time it hits 200 miles on a tank you'd better find a gas station quick.

[Texan01]

Woot! took the car to S'ville last night, it got 20mpg! woot! so it's fuel economy is back in the EPA range for that car.