New to the board... HI... anyway, i just bought a 69 lesabre 400, 350-4 280HP, and 3sp trans... I assumed it was a t350 that would bolt in place of my st300 and WHOH a T400 sat behind that 350.. didnt knwo sucha critter existed... but now my dillema... since i was lookin for a two day swap, and now i have this upgrade possibility... what is the likelyhood of finding acrossmember and a driveshaft for a swap into a 68 skylark custom ragtop that, like i said, originally had the 350-2 and st300 trans??? Is this possible with factory parts i can find at the scrapyard/swapmeet, or do i have to do some wild fabricatiing to do it??? that 400 trans would be nice.... thanks in advance.. --Mike
You will have to move the crossmember back to the other set of holes in the frame, get a th400 driveshaft or get yours shortened. Check the flexplate, make sure it has the 2nd set of holes to bolt up the converter because the pattern is larger on the th400. You can get away with just vacuum to make it shift, but you should hook up the electric downshift which the th350 didn't use.
Motor \tranny I belive that the 400, in Lesaber "400" actually is for the tranny size? Why I don't have a clue, but I heard that some where on here. As far as the swap goes, it will take some work, but should be no problem with the parts that you have already. What you will have to do is: Get the motor in the car and bolts through the Mounts. Bolt the trans to the motor, make sure the Converter is all the way on to the Transmission before you tighten the bolts on the bell housing. you will need some one to help you mount the transmission if you are doing the job on the ground because a th400 ain't light :shock: Once you have the trans bolted on jack up the back of the tranny and slide the cross member under neath, and bolt the trans to the cross member. Now for the thinking mans part of the deal. you now need to center the tail of the trans so you can re mount the cross member in it's new location. To do this you can measure from the frame rail to the center of the out put shaft, measure both sides and move the back of the trans until you get the same measurement on both sides. When you have done that, then place a vicegrip on the cross member to clamp it down to the frame rail as to hold it firmly in place while you drill your holes. Make sure you have a sharp bit(new), and I personally would drill a pilot hole first to make sure you are drilling in the right spot. Also make sure that you dont hit any fuel or brake lines that may be running down the channel in the frameou: ou: ou: ou: ou: Do as I say not as I do........LOL At this point all you need to do is get your drive shaft shortend (measure don't guess) with a new/ differnt yolk to fit the 400 and some sort of shifter and your GTG. you will need to add the kickdown switch at the gass pedal at some point as you will not be happy with out it. I just got done putting a 350 with a th400 in my 65, and was done as described above, and it works great, but if you didn't know a th350 bolts directly in place of the st300 with out all of the above mentiond problems and has a mechanical kickdown. o No: P.S. I will always love it when a Gopher kicks the crap out of a Huskie or a Bull dog:spank:
where is the electric kickdown???? I didnt see it or any hook up on the donor car, or in the service manual, but i am curious as to how/where it hooks up to??? any pics would help!!! Thanks alot for your input... AND now the update... I do have everything bolted int he car, but i am waiting for a new crossmember and insulators/brackets taht I had to find in PA.. just found that out today... come to find out that a convertible is different in crossmember length than a hardtop, BUT now when that gets here I should be able to asseble everything back together... ALSO anyone have a non ac alternator bracket they would part with??? thanks for all the help.. --Mike
