I have converted a 66 Belair 283 from powerglide to 400sb 4 speed muncie quite a few years ago. I scrounged 3 on the tree clutch pedal and linkage and made it factory. It turned out perfect and was my pride and joy. Im not sure how to do it with the LeSabre though because I dont want a muncie, I want a overdrive manual trans but dont know which one will go in the easiest and handle 450 to 500 torque. What OD trans would work the best? I was thinking hydraulic clutch. What bellhousing? Jeep flywheel? What trannys did they use in the Jeeps wth Buick 350? Please advise.
Re: What is the best choice for overdrive manual conversion on 73 lesabre with stock With the power ratings and the desire for O.D. I'd say a Tremec TKO is what you need, just select the O.D. ratio best suited for your rear gear ratio.
Re: What is the best choice for overdrive manual conversion on 73 lesabre with stock how about fitment? bellhousing, clutch availability etc. Bolt into the big lady?
Re: What is the best choice for overdrive manual conversion on 73 lesabre with stock I have a tremec 600 in my Skylark and think it's great. However the transmission floor pan probably will need substantial amount of cutting to clear the trans. A six speed trans would need even more cutting. I've heard intermittent reports that another transmission builder is making 5-speeds with overdrive that don't require much or any real trimming, but I also hear of delivery delays and other customer support issues that go with that. Kisler(?) I think was the last ones to make it, but they folded up and another business bought them... Anyways, it makes me leery, even if the transmission is good, I wouldn't expect any kind of warranty. The TKO bolts to the Buick manual trans bell housing, or an aftermarket scatter shield. I use a stock size 11" clutch, but it has to be a fine spline disc instead of the ten spline one. Alternatively, you could purchase a Richmond 5 speed with a 1:1 5th gear (no overdrive) and have a 2 series rear gear, like 2.42-2.93 gears out back and effectively accomplish much of the same thing. Low cruising rpm and good gear ratio's off the line. These transmissions I "believe" are smaller dimensionally than the TKO's, but you'd want to check on that.
Re: What is the best choice for overdrive manual conversion on 73 lesabre with stock I'd be more concerned about the availability of clutch/brake pedal combo for that vehicle and the clearance on the firewall for a hydraulic master cylinder, or linkage if you decide to go with a mechanical clutch. I just did a TKO conversion on my '64 Skylark and it went pretty smooth, all the necessary parts were readily available, but that car was available from the factory with a manual so I had no clearance issues (except for the floor which required a decent size chunk of metal to be removed).
