need some imput here....im himhawing

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A1awind

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i have a 65 Lemans sedan with 32,000 original miles.
its a 326 2bbl that now has a edelbrock performer and holley 600 cfm 4bbl (installed by previous owner) and it has an ST 300.

its slow and i am fairly certain that the transmission is to blame.
after reading what another forum memeber posted from TCI, i was thinking of doing the 2004R conversion on it because it seems quick and easy (as far as swaps go anyway) and i should be able to get the parts fairly cheap. but i am getting other gearhead friends telling me that since its pretty much all original, i should leave it as it is.
another and maybe cheaper option is swapping in a turbo 350 ( which IIRC makes the car perform better than the ST300?) is it a 100% direct swap? should i not touch it? or go ahead and do the swap?

Here is the deal.... Im in Pa so this car never sees snow or rain. i dont really make long road trips in it. at most i drive to my moms 50 miles away... and i am planning on taking it to carlisle next year for the GM nationals.
so yes OD would be nice but probably not nessicary.
when it comes down to it I dont want to hurt the value of the car (yes its a 4 door but is is a really low miles 4 door) but i want to make it more enjoyable to drive.
 
If you are going to swap, I would look at the 200/700 R. A T350 doesn't make it any more original than an od tranny.
 
Turbo 350 is a direct bolt in , Overdrives need the driveshaft shortened, and also the TV cable adjustment has to be precise or the trans will burn up.

Doug in P.R.:cool:
 
what is the current rear end ratio? you avoid the issues of a different transmission and get a performance gain going to a numerically higher ratio
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My point with the "originality" statement was, I didnt want to "permanently" modify the car. I.e. I knew the cross member had to be moved back which would require drilling new holes in the frame. I didnt know about the drive shaft needing to be shortened. I figured if I swapped in a turbo 350 it would be more pleasant around town and if I decide to sell the car...the st300 can be easily put back in.
 
The T-350 will be a direct swap, but will require a Kick Down Cable be hooked up. It will not really effect your MPG, but it will accelerate better with the lower 1st gear, and having a middle gear will also make the city driving better. Plus you can install a better converter, and a shift kit in the T-350 for quite a bit less $$$ than a 200R4. I did this swap a couple of times in the 80's before OD Trans were really an option. It did greatly improve drivability.
A Properly prepped, installed, and adjusted 200R4 is much better even compared to a T-350. But the swap is more complicated, as you already know you will have to move the crossmember back, and either have a new drive shaft made, or yours shortened. The TV Cable needs to be set up properly to control shifts, and not damage the transmission.
Anouther thing to consider is if you want to use a lock up converter, I always did as I don't run High HP engines (over 500 HP) and I always thought you might as well get the full benefit of the OD while cruising.
But I think the OD transmissions almost require a 3.55 or higher rear gear ratio. Your car with the 326 2bbl probably has a 3.23 rear gear. And that gear would be marginal when cruising in OD below 70 MPH. You really want to have at least 2200 to 2500 RPM while cruising on the highway. A 200R4 swap will probably cost you $2000+ even if you can do most of the work yourself.

A T-350 swap could be done for $1500 or less. And if you are just looking for alittle quicker low and midrange acceleration I would lean that way.

Also I am assuming that you 4-door has a Column Shifter? If so look into what modifications would be needed. I have never done a Column shift swap so I can't help you with that.
 
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