I recently swapped a Richmond Street 5 -speed (Doug Nash 4+1) into my 67 Special. I made some videos of how I did it.
Nice swap! I put that trans into my 66 300 Special and another in my 66 GS 401. It's a huge improvement in the fun factor as both originally had 2 speed automatics. If yours ever gets stuck in second gear with shifter in neutral, you need to shorten the 1-2 shift rod a bit. Both my cars had that issue! What happens is the shifter doesn't fully pull it out of second gear when going towards third. Stranger yet is that the Special has a Hurst shifter and the GS has a Long shifter. If it does get stuck in 2nd while driving, you have to get under the car and move the 1-2 shift arm out of 2nd and into neutral. Another tip..... be careful when downshifting from 5th.... I've buzzed reverse a time or two!
Thanks! And thanks for the tips. Luckily no issues yet. I'm trying to put miles on it to break in the clutch. Even though there was nothing wrong with the 400 automatic I had in it, it does make it feel like a whole different car. Pretty cool.
Some more details on this swap... Richmond "Street" 5 speed (non-overdrive), 26 spline input, rebuilt (not avail new anymore) 1st...3.28 2nd...2.13 3rd...1.57 4th...1.24 5th...1.00 Rev...4.79 Torque rating...450 GM Bellhousing 9785581 American Powertrain Billet Steel Flywheel FWBU-10001 Standard GM bronze pilot bushing filed down to 1.085 diameter McLeod 75021 Street Level clutch, 11 inch disc Hurst Competition Plus shifter Hurst shifter stick 7236 Hurst backup light switch kit 2480003 Inline Tube flywheel to crank bolts, and pressure plate to flywheel bolts ARP 617-1500 9/16 head, 1/2-13x1.5" trans to bellhousing bolts ATP Y-808 speedometer cable extension Energy suspension trans mount 3.1158G Existing ST-400 driveshaft Move trans crossmember a bit forward and drill 2 new holes in frame The Parts Place 67 Buick manual conversion kit (pedals, clutch fork, pivot ball, z-bar with pivot balls and frame bracket, upper and lower clutch rods, return spring, firewall boot, bellhousing boot) The Parts Place inspection cover for bellhousing, Trans tunnel hump, shifter boot and retaining ring for non-console The car has .060 over 430 Buick big block, Comp 268 cam, Performer intake, Q-Jet, 2" dual exhaust, original 2.93 standard axle.
I was interested in seeing what you had to do with the cross member: yours, vs my R.O.D. I as well had to account for limited clearance between the trans mount and trans housing. Additionally I had to move the chassis mounts back a bit but still got lucky with the header collector flanges. But that was 20 yrs ago. My how time flies. Love the videos and scrolling comments. Well representing the Buick community!
Thanks for the compliment! For the crossmember, I'm pretty sure I had to move it forward a small amount. 2 holes existing on the frame lined up, and I had to drill two additional holes for the clam shell crossmember mounts. My car already didn't have the original drivetrain in it, so I'm not sure if those holes were always there or done by some previous owners. I had to trim part of the crossmember also where it goes under the trans because it was contacting the case of the trans. I had to use a shorter aftermarket trans mount, because the standard one pushed the trans up too high in the tunnel. I hope that answers your question.
