Buying a rebuilt transmission th350

[Craig Nedrow]

I built mine with an ATSG 350 book, and a HP books Rebuilding your Turbo-Hydro 350, Wished I had had Nick back then.
Listen to the shift, blew the right side rear tire chunk. Modified 454.

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[NickTransmissions]

Nice work, @Craig Nedrow !

 

[HotRodPC]

Thank you for the advice and you are right I did freak out. Thanks for taking the time to help me out I really do appreciate it.

Not a problem. That's what we do here. Help others, get help from others, share ideas and get opinions.

 

[HotRodPC]

I built mine with an ATSG 350 book, and a HP books Rebuilding your Turbo-Hydro 350, Wished I had had Nick back then.
Listen to the shift, blew the right side rear tire chunk. Modified 454.

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hahaha, but wait, you can't put a Th350 behind a Big Block. Just can't do it. It won't hold up. Yeah well, I call BS too. Back in the day I was a Muncie 4 speed guy. I had a buddy kept telling me I needed to go auto I said helllNO, not even. I"ll keep my Muncie and Hurst Comp Plus shifter and spank everyone. Well, I did unless I broke, and breaking driveshafts, Ujoints, rear ends etc was a bit common until I broke the Counter Gear in the Muncie and it was quite expensive to buy one IF i could find it. So that guy won out. He had a good Pointiac Th350 Core. I had a bad Chev Th350 Core. So he said, bring yours over with a case of beer and I'll walk you through it and we'll tranfer to good Pontiac guts into the Chev Bell case and add a little shift. So we did that. I didn't have an auto shifter yet, so for the first 2 weeks, I pulled the Ebrake real hard and got under it and put in D and drove it that way til I got paid and bought a B&M Quicksilver Ratchet Shifter. That was when and how I sorta built my first Auto Trans at 18yo. I thought, well hell that was easy and as cheap as rebuild kits are, back then it was $32 for a Banner Kit, clutches, seals, sealing rings and gaskets. A major rebuild kit with steels and all bushings was like $50. And Th350's were dime a dozen where even back then a Muncie M22 was $700-$1000 depending on condiition. So I stayed an auto guy after and quit breaking driveshafts, rear ends, axles and U jonts. I did occasionally break an input shaft or an intermediate sprag until I finally bought a dog bone actual sprag instead of a rollerr clutch. Then I started building for buddies and it all went from there. But I did run a Th350 behind the Big Block, because with the short tail length, by the time I took out the Manual and Bellhousing, installed the Th350, Driveshaft length was the same, same crossmember position and all that, so it would be very easy to go to manual if I wanted. I honestly felt like the Th350 gave me the advantage over all the guys running Th400s due to I had a hair better first gear, a bit less parasitic hp loss to the wheels and a few pounds lighter, not to mention everyone wanted a fortune for Th400 cores, even back then. So I took all the JUNKY Th350's that's nooone wanted and had a few cores built up ready for if I broke mine, or a budy wanted to convert and I won races with that little bit of edge and saved a ton of money in broken parts. So yep, I've broke a few Th350's but it didn't even hurt my feelings, unless I broke durning a race but that never happened. It was always me horsing around and giving it a bit more than it liked.

 

[Dlefler]

All turbo 350 are 27 spline output.
Check how far the output shaft sticks out. 2.5 inches is correct for the 208.
The 203 and 205 are 7/8” from the back of the case.
Do you know how to tell the difference between a 2wd case vs a 4wd case?
If this rebuilt trans is from the vehicle as described it would be a direct replacement.

Thank you, very informative I did pass on buying that transmission it came with a 203 transfer case with like you just told me will not work with my 208. Thanks very much for the info though now I know exactly why it won't work and how to tell if I ever get into a situation where I may want yo buy one. Thanks again

 

[Craig Nedrow]

hahaha, but wait, you can't put a Th350 behind a Big Block. Just can't do it. It won't hold up. Yeah well, I call BS too. Back in the day I was a Muncie 4 speed guy. I had a buddy kept telling me I needed to go auto I said helllNO, not even. I"ll keep my Muncie and Hurst Comp Plus shifter and spank everyone. Well, I did unless I broke, and breaking driveshafts, Ujoints, rear ends etc was a bit common until I broke the Counter Gear in the Muncie and it was quite expensive to buy one IF i could find it. So that guy won out. He had a good Pointiac Th350 Core. I had a bad Chev Th350 Core. So he said, bring yours over with a case of beer and I'll walk you through it and we'll tranfer to good Pontiac guts into the Chev Bell case and add a little shift. So we did that. I didn't have an auto shifter yet, so for the first 2 weeks, I pulled the Ebrake real hard and got under it and put in D and drove it that way til I got paid and bought a B&M Quicksilver Ratchet Shifter. That was when and how I sorta built my first Auto Trans at 18yo. I thought, well hell that was easy and as cheap as rebuild kits are, back then it was $32 for a Banner Kit, clutches, seals, sealing rings and gaskets. A major rebuild kit with steels and all bushings was like $50. And Th350's were dime a dozen where even back then a Muncie M22 was $700-$1000 depending on condiition. So I stayed an auto guy after and quit breaking driveshafts, rear ends, axles and U jonts. I did occasionally break an input shaft or an intermediate sprag until I finally bought a dog bone actual sprag instead of a rollerr clutch. Then I started building for buddies and it all went from there. But I did run a Th350 behind the Big Block, because with the short tail length, by the time I took out the Manual and Bellhousing, installed the Th350, Driveshaft length was the same, same crossmember position and all that, so it would be very easy to go to manual if I wanted. I honestly felt like the Th350 gave me the advantage over all the guys running Th400s due to I had a hair better first gear, a bit less parasitic hp loss to the wheels and a few pounds lighter, not to mention everyone wanted a fortune for Th400 cores, even back then. So I took all the JUNKY Th350's that's nooone wanted and had a few cores built up ready for if I broke mine, or a budy wanted to convert and I won races with that little bit of edge and saved a ton of money in broken parts. So yep, I've broke a few Th350's but it didn't even hurt my feelings, unless I broke durning a race but that never happened. It was always me horsing around and giving it a bit more than it liked.

Very cool writeup Hotrod, now I know you a little better. Wish I was closer Doug, would give ya a hand. I to had a Muncie with Hurst comp plus in a 53 3100 PU 63 car rear
end, 4:56 posi, it was fast but not real good at high speed, but hey that 283's never blew up, and it saw 8000+ often. I built that truck in my 20's did all the work myself, learned lot's and caught the bug. BTW, I drove that truck with that Muncie behind a 235 with split exhaust, (of course I did it myself!) and a Carter YF. Drove it to Bakersfield, then to New Orleans, Gainesville FL. Going home Fort Collins Colorado, it was -13 heater could hardly keep the windows clear, and the Vacuum wipers worked slow, remember those you ol' coggies out there! Kalispel, then to home in Selah, WA. Never missed a beat, except I ran out of gas on the long viaduct over the swamps with all the alligators. think by Shreveport LA. Geez.

 

[HotRodPC]

Very cool writeup Hotrod, now I know you a little better. Wish I was closer Doug, would give ya a hand. I to had a Muncie with Hurst comp plus in a 53 3100 PU 63 car rearend, 4:56 posi, it was fast but not real good at high speed, but hey that 283's never blew up, and it saw 8000+ often. I built that truck in my 20's did all the work myself, learned lot's and caught the bug.

Mine was in a 64 3/4 ton GMC PU, With factory Dana 60 rear axle and it had a limited slip posi and 4.56's too. It was a fun wicked ride. Then got even a bit scary with the big block after I broke some rings in the 327. I thought I couldn't kill that motor and I didn't, I just broke some rings and it smoked a lot after that happened. Started with a small journal 327, and had a big Isky cam in it. I spun that motor pulling power to 7200rpm with the cam that was in it, and I could rap it to 7500 but never really pushed it over that, as if 7500 wasn't enough already. Those small journal engines, like the 283 and 327 through 1967 were factory forged steel cranks. You didn't need 4 bolt mains to spin then up there. Bottom end was never a problem. Probably one of the most reliable engines in history and able to tolerate abuse too. No doubt about it, those small journal engines loved loved loved high rpm and in a shorter stoke 283, and smaller journals, it would get there quick too. I wish I kept that engine now. I'd love to have a small journal 327 with double hump heads, but really, I'd probably go with Vortec heads now and get the bolt holes and unldeaded safe fuel.

 

[HotRodPC]

BTW, my frist truck was a 62 half ton, that was the one I was constantly breaking the rear end, and find a used one to replace it with. Usually 3.90 gears. I was glad to upgrade to the 3/4 ton GMC, beefier drive shaft and Dana 60. Didn't break near as often then and it was only driveshaft then. Never broke the powertrain other than input shafts or intermediate roller clutches once I went Th350. Auto trans do provide some hydro cushion and I don't care how hard it shifted, still easier on the powertain than speed shifting Muncies with an awesome shifter. No doubt, as you obviously know having a Hurst Comp Plus yourself, you could certainly slam some gears and they were rock solid. My Th350 was neck snapping, spill your drink shifts and with the posi rear end, the rear end would kick sideways and bark tires.