have any of you nailhead guys ever seen a 401 with a 3 speed manual trans?

would the 401 be drop in replacement for the 364 or would there have to be mods?

 

Good morning.

I owned a 59 Invicta with a Twin Turbine transmission. When the transmission needed to be replaced, I opted to go
with a factory 3 speed, understanding I was 17 years old at the time.

You need a 401 flywheel, not one from the 364. Perhaps a 364 flywheel could be balanced for a 401?? I installed 3.91
gear set for the differential, and a lower first gear in the gear box from a 56 Buick Century. The 401 received a 66 Quadrajet
intake with blocked heat risers and a 1000 cfm Carter Thermoquad.

The shifter came through the floor; the brand was Ansen. Finding the factory 3 speed linkage was impossible for me. A
hydraulic clutch and an aftermarket clutch pedal was installed. The pilot bushing required an adapter.

The car was fast and was my introduction to Buicks and nailheads.

Marty

 

a few questions. what year did all this take place? What donor cars years makes and models would have the factory correct floor shift column and clutch pedal and linkage? I realize you went aftermarket but to keep it factory possible what parts would have been correct? Very interesting. Fast you say? How fast is that? Any pics? Great story, thanks.

 

Good morning.

I did the work to my Invicta in 1971, 1972. The parts came from a 1959 LeSabre and a 1960 LeSabre. When I say (write) "fast", I
mean to me it was a quick car. Never did any quarter mile runs.

I may have a picture somewhere.......the car was a 4 door flat top, black exterior with a black interior, stock wheel covers and whitewall tires.

Marty

 

black on black, sounds gorgeous would love to see pics. So even in 71 you still had trouble finding clutch linkage? Why would that be? We are finding out that 3 on the tree was standard on 59 LeSabres. I would think the junkyards would have been full of 59 LeSabres with clutch linkage back in 71?

 

Why would that be? o No:

Maybe you have missed out on the big red letters, so let me post it again :TU:

Full article :Comp:

 

no didnt miss the letters, just questioned its validity especially compared with eye witness testimony and actual printed literature shop manual from Buick saying the 3 speed was standard and the automatic was optional. Also your quote was out of context.

Heres the full quote from the article.

"Officially, the Le Sabre was offered with a three-speed synchromesh manual transmission. However, Buick literature instead touted the "new" Twin and Triple Turbine automatics. As a result, finding a Le Sabre from either model year with a manual transmission is rare, as less than 2 percent of all Le Sabres were equipped as such both years. "

yet the shop manual does say that 3 speed was standard and the automatic was optional at extra cost. All this article suggests is that the automatics were touted and promoted, in other words the sales guy would talk the customer out of the standard manual trans and probably even say its not available. We are speculating. I dont know who wrote this article or who they consulted with. It says Dennis Manner--whose 37 years in Buick Engineering consulted them on the engine specs, I dont know if he is the source for the transmission question though. Im still not convinced its 2% I mean where are these numbers coming from? Anyone have production numbers? no? then where does the number 2% come from? And how many were made total so if it was proved that 2% how many would that be?

Just cursory research has ucoverd already a few people who have seen, owned or driven 3 speed 59 LeSabres. Maybe marty lived in a small town or didnt really look that hard? There was no internet back then. Everything had to be done the old fashioned way. Im going deeper.

 

"have any of you nailhead guys ever seen a 401 with a 3 speed manual trans?"
Yes, local club member: 64 LeSabre 2dr post, radio&heater delete, manual steering and brakes; 401 dual quad. Not converted, but the dual quad was probably added at some point.
Remarkable fast shifting compared to rowing in molasses in a 55 Buick. I would guess 4.XX gears since it is running 4000rpm at 70mph.
Also 25 years ago I almost bought a 70 Wildcat (455) with 3-on-the-tree.

 

So it was 3 on the tree with FACTORY 401? Nice. Thats one darn strong 3 speed. I was beginning to think that maybe the 401 was not optional with the three speed because they couldnt handle the torque? What was the torque on the 64 401? Another myth busted. I still think the 401 could be had factory in the 59 LeSabre with 3 speed.


Im convinced that 59 LeSabres with factory 3 on the tree exist. I must find one and swap in the 401 to build my dream machine! Manual brakes, manual trans, manual steering. Trifecta.

 

Greetings.

I have checked out LeSabres since 1970 and I have never found one with a "stick". Once I joined the BCA and went to a meet, there was a gentleman with a factory 3 speed......one in my lifetime.

Consider Buick is a luxury car and the dealers want to sell vehicles. Dynaflow had an incredible reputation for smoothness, and the persons most likely to buy Buicks were older. Just because the 3 speed came standard did not mean the dealerships would order the vehicles that way.....it was a business decision.

When I owned my auto repair business a customer brought a 1956 Buick Special convertible with a factory 3 speed stick. That 322 2 barrel could run...I was impressed.

Marty

 

My first 66 GS was a 401 with a 3 speed, on the floor though.

 

3 speed stick? as in factory on the floor shift? wow.

regarding the 59s, well maybe the dealers felt it was easier to sell the Dynaflow than the 3 speed to the older more upscale people and their wives. But still Im sure there wre men that prefered the standard trans.

What years did you have your auto repair business?

 

Wasn't the low compression 2 bbl 401 in 1962-63 available on LeSabre with a 3 speed?
I seem to recall it was, maybe one of the guys who has or had one can chime in.

 

401, Three on the tree, no power steering, no power brakes. Original spare tire too. I call it the Rat Rod. It does run great.

 

is it quick with the three speed? fun to drive?

 

Good afternoon.

The one and only 59 LeSabre "stick" was "three on the tree". I was in business from 1985 to 2005. It was a great run.

I drove my customers 56 Special factory 3 speed on a road test and it drove very well, however, that was a short distance. Perhaps everyday
may be a bit cumbersome.

Marty

 

The '54-'56 shift linkage was awful, combined with a gearbox that had been adapted from a floorshifter meant that shifting wasn't a lot of fun. Normal driving was fine, but if you wished to shift gears in a hurry, you needed to put a floorshift conversion in. The shifter that I used for my two stickshift '55s was also an Ansen (someone posted earlier that they used one too). The floorshifter still didn't allow really fast shifts, but it was quicker then the column linkage.

 

I had a '66 Chev manual column shift.
Not much improvement.
Also , a '77 Dodge truck column shift manual,
and a '78 Dodge truck column shift.
Those Dodges were worse than the Chev, for binding up.
On sub-freezing night, the '78 Dodge shifter collar broke in half ....

 

Due to the rarity of 3 speed manual transmissions with the nailhead bolt pattern, I wouldn't risk breaking it by subjecting it to the added strain of a 401. It would be much easier to buy a aftermarket nailhead bell housing to bolt a modern manual to the motor. Then you can use a floor shifter and not have to worry about finding a factory column shift manual car. Then you can rig up the clutch pedal and linkage. Personally if I decide my next Buick (56-58) has to be a stick that is what I will do for convenience sake. Converting to a open driveline isn't that hard after you have done it once already :laugh:.

 

What do you think about torque tube? I had never heard of it before a few weeks ago when I started reading heavy on 59 buicks.