Dressed up the engine and installed manual 3 speed with Overdrive install

[69_hafton]

Finally got this thing together - dropped the engine and tranny in Monday, had the driveshaft made yesterday, cut the hole for the hurst today, had the old shifter hole welded up (my welding wouldn't have been that pretty, screwed on the shift boot and went for a drive.

<-------- this is me crossing my fingers

No leaks so far, I did have to tighten a few things down before I moved it onto the street. It's amazing the difference the extra gear can make - I never wanted to drive on the highway before because of the low gearing. Not anymore!

I'll try to tie up the loose ends tomorrow, reverse light switch needs connected, hose from air filter housing to valve cover needs plumbed, top off the radiator, check into replacing whatever wheel bearing is squealing.

man I'm tired

[69_hafton]

Here's the engine - the only photogenic thing about my truck right now

[phlegm]

Thats awesome, You need to do a step by step on the Manual Overdrive.... I know I would like to have it.

[wibilly]

thats a sweet looking in-liner what did your tranny come out of? it looks like you used your old clutch linkage? i have one from a early 80 chev pu planing on putting in my 67 wheni get my 71 done. i was thinking about using the hydrlic clutch i saved all but peddel

[69_hafton]

phlegm - Thanks, I'll have to gather up all the info I've got and see where it goes. I've got close to a year in learning and rebuilding the transmission. These transmissions are hard to come by, and the parts are getting harder. The bell housing is unique, the shifter is unique, the inspection cover is unique, etc, etc. By comparison, I only spent 2 months on cleaning the engine up & replacing gaskets ($20 ebay set). It may not be worth it for most people unless you're pulling the whole thing from a parts truck.

wibilly - glad you like the engine. The transmission came out of an early '80s chevy pickup. It's a new process a833 or as gm called it a my-6. I've been told they came behind 4.3 sixes, 350s, 454s, probably all of the chevies? Most of the time you'll see them for sale just the trans. From what I've seen, they were available from 82-87, plus or minus a year in either direction.

I meant to spend more time with the clutch linkage, but I ran out of time. I'll still need to replace some things, but all the rods are stock '69 stuff, expect the one the make contact with the clutch fork. I used the clutch fork correct for the transmission, and had to cut off about 3/4" off the rod to make it fit. I believe the hydraullic setup was used after '83.

[69_hafton]

Update - if anyone is reading this: no major leaks, except the overflow tube spitting, and sometimes spits quite abit - anyone know why these trucks leak coolant that way? Got a couple drips from the trans drain plug, but it's brass - should have never used it - I'll put in a steel one tomorrow, with some teflon pipe tape to be sure. Speedo's off by at least 10 mph, don't know what I'll do for it right now.

I really opened her up today. Got a face full of leaves today on the freeway when I opened 'er up. You guessed it, I opened the kick panel vents for some air in this 90+ degree weather. Forgot I had the truck sitting for 2 months under a tree.

The pic is a "before" of the engine when I bought it in 2001