I apologize if a post on this subject is repetitious but I would like to share some of my information upon completing this swap for my project Super Stock Drag Buick. OK here's my story ...... after my purchase of a running diving 1962 Electra 225 my feelings about the Dynaflows performance was a little bleak, a car powered by 401 cubic inch four barreled engine should have some get up and go. At a salvage yard in central Virginia a 1965 SP 400 with flex plate was found, the seller said it came from a running car and it had been stored in the back of that old bus for most likely 25 years ....... so the trans had to be good right ? Well it had sat so long that the top of the dip stick had rusted completely off and the torque convertor had a rust hole but the cooler lines were crimped so mud dabbers could not get in, my hopes were still up. Once the pan was pulled reality set in, rust but clean red fluid. A rebuilt DACCO B2 convertor was purchased along with a rebuild kit that had the Kolene clutches (good for 600 hp) and a Trans Go reprograming kit. Now a 2.75 low gear set was also installed, hey launching a 4300 pound car a person needs all the help they can get! A little ginger bread was thrown in the build by way of a vintage B&M (old square lettered) deep sump pan and matching NOS trans temp gauge. To change the gears a real vintage B&M series 60 is being used, but I ran into some snags in this department. First a pair of correct bucket seats had to be found since the Electra came with a bench seat, a lucky find on Craig's List netted a pair of white seats with the wide chrome band. The other snag was the first series 60 shifter I bought was really a Dodge mechanism with the B&M chrome cover and shift knob. Luckily the chrome cover and shift knob are in great shape and that B&M hologram shift knob ain't easy to find. A real B&M series 60 was found and restored, I had to make spacers to raise the gate plate because the chrome was worn off shifter making it sloppy. Alright now to get this trans installed, the flex plate had to have the center crank shaft bore enlarged, so the Dynaflow and turbo 400 flex plate were taken to the machine shop to have the turbo 400 flange hole enlarged to the diameter of he Dynaflow's . I got a crank shaft torque convertor bushing adapter but no installation instructions, just how far and tight was this piece supposed to be ? With a 4 pound hammer and a block wood the bushing was installed to the bushing flange was against the crank shaft. SP turbo 400 was longer so measurements were taken to figure out how much to cut the drive shaft. Once the trans was bolted to the engine a second set of measurements were taken this time from the center of the u-joint bore of the trans slip yoke to the center bearing mounting bolt hole in the frame and this is what the front section of the two piece drive shaft was cut to. A new center bearing was also installed on the shaft along with a 1350 Spicer yoke welded on the front shaft to match the turbo 400's slip yoke. When I got the Electra there was always a drive train noise and once the drive shaft was removed it was noticed that the 2 shaft sections were not in faze(or timed correctly) so when going back together the yokes were lined up correctly. Now to another fun part ..... the trans cross member as it now goes to the narrower part of the X frame with no mounting bolt holes. Using a chop saw I cut both ends off about 4 inches from each end then bolted the center section up to the trans (after the holes were drilled for the turbo 400 mount), the cut ends were then slid over the center section and tack welded in place (this was done with the cross members mounting bolt holes up against the frame). The cross member was then removed and fully welded. OK now the cross member was done but just how was it getting connected to the frame? Marking the frame with the cross member in place the removing it I drilled 4 holes straight through and used long bolts. Well and just how does this SP turbo 400 I my 1962 Buick Electra 225 ..... donno yet because the internal shift linkage pin fell out and I have to remove the pan to fix ! ARRGH
Just a FYI. The driveshaft came 37 1/2* out of phase from the factory. I hope you don't, but you may have a vibration related to this shaft not being phased properly. Most shaft rebuilders do this to MANY Buick shafts & the owners go crazy spending MANY $$$$$ & time before finding out why the car vibrates SO BADLY AFTER the shaft was rebuilt. Tom T.
Tom, Are you saying 37 and 1/2 degrees counter clock wise or clock wise and from which end of the shaft ? Would 37 degrees be about 2 teeth at the splined end ? Thank You Bill in Richmond, VA
At this point Bill I can only tell you to find the shop manual for your car. ALL of my stuff is in 3 storage containers at the moment.
Tom, Thanks for the heads up on the drive shaft timing, I will do my research. I perform diagnostics on drive train problems of class 7 and 8 over the road trucks so when I removed the two piece shaft and saw the yokes not in time (and judging from other problems found from poor workmanship done on this car) I figured it was incorrect. Bill in Richmond, VA
Andy, How similar is my cross member set up compared to yours ? For trans cooling I used a Hayden 405 8 row cooler and bypassed the cooler in the radiator. What did you use to cool with the smaller 300 convertor ? In the picture you can see the new SP 400 ready to be installed and the vintage Stewart Warner 8 grand tach on the steering column. I believe I watched You Tube videos of your '62 Buick. Bill in Richmond, VA
I used a crossmember from a '64 Full Size car. It fit perfect, and then just drilled/tapped the frame to mount it. I'm using a Derale trans cooler. Nothing too fancy but it works well.
