i have a 61 x frame car with a 401 4 barrel, and that shiftless dynaflow. what are my options, i was told it vould be hard getting a different trans to fit in the tunnel, and would require cutting fabricating and welding. i was also told my block being a 61 the starter wont bolt up like it should because the starter bolts to the trans and not the motor. i also was told dynaflow cars have a bellhousing that nothing but a dynaflow will work on. please advise me on my options and recomendations
Chris, again most of what was stated is totally untrue. A NailHead TH400 will bolt up to your engine, '64-'66. It is no bigger or smaller than the DynaFlow, but is sure lighter so I don't believe there will be a problem with floor pan clearance. You will need a TH400 flywheel/flexplate. You will need a '64-'66 NH starter or you could purchase one of my mini's. Something will have to be done about the driveshaft as well as the front yoke on the driveshaft. You will have to fab a crossmember to hold up the back of the trans. You will have to do something with the shift pattern on the colomn. Most of this can come from a donor car & fabbed to work in yours. Not quite a driveway job, but mostly a bolt-in. There will not be a problem with engine balance since it's already a 401/425. You just need to install the flywheel/flexplate in the proper orientation for engine balance. You will also need the electric kickdown for the TH400 & wire accordingly. Run a vacuum line to the trans. from the engine for the vacuum modulator. The starter bolts to the BLOCK, like all NailHeads. You will need an adapter for the back of the crank for the TH400 since the rear of a crank from '64-'66 is different. Don't let some tell you to just grind the center of the flywheel/flexplate, this will weaken it substantally. As I stated not exactly a driveway job, but not insurmountable either. If you DYI, please!!!!! properly support the vehicle & not with cement blocks.
Tom's advice is good. I might add that you could probably go with a properly built overdrive trans and adapter for close to what it would cost for a quality dynaflow rebuild (if you can find someone that still knows them).
