Author Topic: 68 396 auto to 4 speed conversion. clearance problems  (Read 5947 times)

396bud

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68 396 auto to 4 speed conversion. clearance problems
« on: April 08, 2007, 10:51:52 PM »
Ok .....I will try to give enough info to make this easy, but if I have left anything out, please e-mail me. Mark_sanders@bellsouth.net

My car has a 396 engine in it and is a factory big block, but has a turbo 350 trans. It is mounted to a smallblock crossmember. When I installed the 4 speed and put the big block cross member in, the mount will not line up. The trans is too far to the drivers side. It has the proper big block engine mounts to clear. It is a power brake, power steering car so you know if it had the wrong mounts that would not clear. Do you think it is possible that the previous owner bent something to make it fit? Or do you think if I took the motor mounts loose that I could shift the trans over the 1" it needs to go? Any ideas?
The 4 speed will not shift because the linkage hits the trans tunnel. PS this was a factory turbo 400 car, but it is long gone. THANKS Mark

maroman

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Re: 68 396 auto to 4 speed conversion. clearance problems
« Reply #1 on: April 11, 2007, 09:23:14 PM »
I'm going to take a shot at this in hopes someone else will give you a better answer. To the best of my knowledge there is no BB crossmember. There is one for a  turbo 400 and another that fits all the other transmissions.
Doug  '67 RS/SS 396 auto I know the car since new

william

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Re: 68 396 auto to 4 speed conversion. clearance problems
« Reply #2 on: April 15, 2007, 11:32:56 PM »
Nope; BBs used BB specific xmembers; one for maunal trans another for the T400.

You should have the BB manual trans xmember. It is nearly identical to the SB xmember but can be identified by the opening at the center. If it is uniformly oval that is all SB. The BB xmember has a more rectangular hole with one corner being angled.

I believe the problem lies not with the motor mounts but the frame brackets they bolt to; 67-68 BB Camaros used specific brackets to offset the engine; the LH bracket is quite a bit taller than the RH. SB brackets are the same height.   

Step 1: Go check the frame brackets. Also are you using a stock bellhousing or a scattershield? You will also need the BB specific z-bar.
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