According to The Standard Catalog of American Motors 1902-1987, the AMC V8 was introduced on March 5 (1956) in a new model called the Hornet Special. It displaced 250 cu. in. The 2 V8 engines were sold side-by-side until October 25, when the 1957 models were introduced. The 1957 cars, all of which were called "Hornets", came _only_ with the 327 cu. in. AMC V8 (the Hudson and Nash 6 cylinder engines were no longer available).
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Quote Originally Posted by misterc9 View Post
AMC bought V8 engines and automatic transmissions from Packard. They installed them in Nash and Hudson cars in 55 and 56. Their own AMC V8 was ready for 57 so I think they only used their own engines from 57 on.
With manual transmissions in demand, it isn’t surprising to find that a fair number of vehicles—particularly muscle-era vehicles—that left the factory with an automatic transmission are being rebuilt with a manual. Frederick estimated that about 60 percent of American Powertrain’s classic muscle car customers are replacing an automatic transmission with a manual.
“[The conversion] is time-consuming, but not terribly complicated,” Frederick said. “Most of the parts bolt in.”
“It isn’t for the faint-of-heart or for anyone short on patience, but it’s do-able,” Hill added. “It’s just a matter of working through the process.”
Obviously you’ll need a pedal assembly; fortunately, according to Hill, there are a lot of aftermarket units that work quite well.
“That also gives you the option of using a hydraulic release bearing instead of a mechanical clutch linkage, which, depending on the application, can have some advantages,” Hill said. “It’s going to take a longer or shorter drive shaft. It’s going to take a different yoke on that driveshaft. The power bushing in the motor for the transmission input shaft may have to be changed. The starter could be affected by the diameter of the flywheel you put into the vehicle.
“You start at the back of the crankshaft and start matching componentry as well as possible—and if you can’t match it, then you have to compensate for it,” Hill continued. “I don’t think we’ve ever run into something we couldn’t convert, as long as we’re talking about American muscle.”
Many of the same issues crop up even when swapping one manual for another—for example, the customer who has a 454 and a Muncie and wants to put a modern six-speed in it.
Like many other projects, it’s significantly easier with older (i.e., pre-computer) hardware. If either the engine or the transmission came with computer controls, it gets a little more involved. And keep in mind that even some modern manuals now have computer controls—the GM transmission that comes with the LS engine, for example, with its skip-shift function.
Of course, some customers will want to go the other way and replace a factory manual with a new, high-tech automatic.
“It’s most important to make sure you have all the correct components—and that you make the finished job look appealing to the customer,” said Poff of TCI. “It’s the mounting that’s most likely to give you trouble.”
According to the experts, you’ll need to ensure that you have the right crossmembers and that there’s enough room inside the tunnel.
“There is no one-size-fits-all solution; every application is unique,” added Poff. “But once the physical installation is accomplished, it’s pretty straightforward to make everything operational.”
Either way, Nichols suggested finding out from the customer how critical it is to keep the car looking original, versus the cost to locate and install all of the correct original components.
As with so much else in hot rodding, the best results generally come from purchasing and installing complete systems.
“That goes for any product from any company in this business,” Frederick said. “We say, ‘Look, we have a turnkey kit. We figured it all out, and all you to do it plug and play.’ Buy it all from one source and you know all the parts are going to work together.”
This is a great article. If you are building a hot rod from scratch or you are taking your muscle car to a modern level you will find some good information in this piece. I toyed with the idea of putting a modern manual 5 speed trans in my 70 Mustang, but I opted for a rebuild Shelby 4 speed manual. (Check out all 3 parts.)
Derided as “slushboxes” in the days when hot rodding was young, automatic transmissions have long since closed the performance gap and won the respect of (at least some of) the most dedicated lead foots. Today, even the fuel-economy advantages of the old-standard stick shift are more memory than reality, as the shiftless set has drawn even with, or pulled slightly ahead of, the shifters. Backing up these advances is a great deal of detailed engineering, especially of the electronic variety.
But a lot of it’s simply due to more gears—a wider range of ratios, allowing for relaxed, low-rpm cruising with peak torque still available on demand. About 10 years ago, a four-speed automatic with a lockup converter was the hot ticket to optimize performance with economy. Now the OEMs are building five-, six- and seven-speed automatics—and hot rodders want them, too.
Not that the shift-for-yourself crowd has been caught napping—six gears are now the required minimum in any respectable OEM performance car, and that’s left three-pedal rodders craving more ratios, too.
More Is Better
“Enthusiasts in every segment of the hot rod and muscle car markets are removing traditional three-speed gearboxes and replacing them with modern four-, five- and six-speed transmissions,” said Stanley Poff, who heads product and sales for TCI Automotive in Ashland, Mississippi. “As they experience modern overdrive automatics in their daily drivers, they become more inclined to want the same driving experience in their hot rods.”
TCI’s new 6x Six-Speed can be adapted to most GM small-block, big-block or LS engines; Ford small and big blocks; and Chrysler small blocks, big blocks and late-model Hemis.
“We build it in a modified GM 4L80E case that’s been machined to accept modular bellhousings, and we keep all of the Reid Racing bellhousings in stock,” Poff said. “We can put together a complete package for all of those applications, including the transmission, bellhousing, EZ-TCU electronic control, cooler, shifter (conventional and/or paddle-type), TCI transmission fluid and a dipstick.”
TCI currently offers the 6x in two models, rated for 850 and 1,000 horsepower, respectively. Models for 1,250 and 1,500 horsepower are in the works, according to Poff.
The market has also responded well to the company’s EZ-TCU, he said.
“It allows you to retrofit a modern electronically controlled automatic transmission, such as our 6x, or the GM 4L60E, 4L65E, 4L70E, 4L80E or 4L85E, to a carbureted engine, or an engine with a self-tuning EFI system such as the FAST EZ-EFI,” Poff said.
TCI worked with FAST to develop the EZ-TCU.
“It follows the FAST model of being extremely user-friendly and easy to install even by people who lack either tuning or electronics experience,” Poff said. “We sell a lot of EZ-TCU units to people who want to put a crate engine and electronic transmission in a classic street rod or muscle car.”
Pete Nichols, sales manager for Hughes Performance in Phoenix, pointed to the classic muscle car market, where “more and more people are building these cars with significantly higher-than-stock levels of horsepower and torque,” he said. “That requires a premium, high-strength aftermarket torque converter and transmission assembly.”
To meet these demands, Hughes now builds all of its GM 700R-4, 200-4R and Ford AOD transmissions with the upgraded, constant-pressure valve bodies.
“These valve bodies contribute to improved shift quality and more consistent shift timing, while reducing the possibility of premature transmission failure due to a broken or incorrectly adjusted throttle-valve (TV) cable,” Nichols explained. “The new design also eliminates a lot of the complexity and hassle associated with the TV system on these transmissions, so retrofitting them into older cars is easier than before.”
Hughes has also introduced a custom bellhousing system that allows builders to bolt the popular GM 4L80E behind a wide variety of GM, Ford and Chrysler engines without using an adapter. The company offers custom 4L80E options for applications producing 500–1,500-plus flywheel horsepower, and for virtually any popular V-8 engine.
Nichols emphasized the need to properly flush the transmission cooler and cooler lines before installing a new torque converter.
“Debris gets easily trapped in the old cooler and then it gets flushed out during the initial run-in period, inevitably working its way into the valve body, governor, etc.,” he said, adding that getting a new cooler is the best way to prevent debris-related failures.
I know the owner and this car has had the best care. It is an AZ car and is always garaged or covered when it’s not moving and it DOES move.
What’s under the hood?
GM’s Generation III V-8 engine as configured in the Corvette. It is the all-aluminum 5.7-liter (350-cubic-inch) produce up to 350 horsepower in the two-seat sports car.
100% Stock. More Pics To come.
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
Asking $9k. That’s a steal in this condition. This isn’t my car, but if you buy and don’t like, I’ll buy it from you!!!!…Actually, I ought to buy it myself!!! I”m going to think about that some.
She looks great with the T’s off!!!!
Engine Pic1 – SOOOO CLEAN!!!
Engine Pic 2. Nicely Maintained!!!
Perfect Stock Interior!!!
Room for 2 in the back. Although it doesn’t look like anyone has ever sat back there!!!!
Interested? Call me at 520-405-5314 or email me at timsweet@cox.net.
Note: Updated to correct mis-Identification of this parking-lot find. It is in fact a 1955. The main details that denote the difference is the placement of the Chevy and BelAir badging and grile.
So I’m lucky. I live in a place where there is not prone to any type of natural disasters, we don’t much rain and it only snow when it’s a cold day, you know where.
It’s also a place were you don’t have to put way your collectible set of wheels, you can drive the year would and a lot of folks do.
Here is my latest parking-lot find.
It is a 1955 Chevy, 2 door Belair. Yeah, I know it’s a couple years before the super wonderful 1957’s came out, but I like these shoe box cars, with their very clean lines especially the 2 door version and I particularly like the lines of the BelAir convertible. It reminds me of the clean lines for my 1966 Chevy Impalaconvertible.
Love the red and white. Fantastic chrome.
Wheel aren’t ordinal but I think that are great for this car.
All Belair came standard with a 6 cylinder with about 353,00 produced, not counting convertibles.
The 6 was an overhead value, cast iron power plant with a displacement of 235.5. With a 3 9/16 x 3 15/16 and a compression ratio of 7.5:1
these cars knocked out a whopping 115 hp. The would breath through a Rochester one barrel Model 7007200 carb or a Carter one-barrel Model
2101S (for the Powerglideauto transmission) and a Rochester one-barrel Model 7007181 for the standard shift.
I bumped in to Bill Holtzclaw from Cartersville, Georgia, virtually (Facebook) and he shared a few pics and some detail on his restoration of a 1967 Olds F-85.
Bill's F85
“I am doing a full, frame-off restoration on this 1967 F-85 Club Coupe. It has a convertible frame, 442 suspension, steel crank 330, .030 over with W-31 cam and 2” intake valves, close ratio Muncie 4 speed and heavy duty 3.91 posi rear. It is a radio delete, heater delete, carpet delete car with the factory cloth and vinyl interior. The drive train is built and the chassis is being assembled. The interior is done, the chrome and bright work is done. Next, we’ll pull the body and put it on a rotisserie. It will be two-tone Crystal and Midnight Blue.”
“I’ve had a lot of interest in this project from some of the leading Oldsmobile collectors in the country. It is my version of what would have been a 1967 W-31, which was introduced in 1968. All of the parts to build this car back in the day were available as either RPO options or over-the-counter upgrades. The W-30 package was available as an over-the-counter package in 1967. The W-30 cam and the W-31 cam are one in the same, and the OIA kit will work for both small block and big block cars. So, it was a possibility! ”
The upholstery turned out awesome! He used NOS fabric for the seat inserts. The car was a factory carpet delete car with a near-perfect vinyl floor covering. “I cleaned it and had it dyed the color blue (same as dash pad) that I wanted. It looks absolutely brand new! I had seat belts custom made to stock appearance, and the standard steering wheel came out nice, too.”
Check out the vinyl floor covering
“I had the gauges restored by R&M restorations in Greenville, SC. The odometer was re-set to zero.” The dash bezel was restored by Chrome Tech USA. They repaired the 44 year-old plastic, re-chromed it and then detail painted it. The radio and heater delete plates were purchased from Red Venom Enterprises. “They only make the radio plate, so I purchased two and trimmed one to fit the heater control panel and the PRNDL panel. ”
Bill did the polishing himself
He installed a Sunpro Mini Tach in place of the factory clock. Looks like it came from the factory that way!
Great Job - Bill!!
Final Product
Bill is also the owner of a 1967 Oldsmobile F-85 Town Sedan with “Police Apprehender” package. It has the HiPo 330/320 hp, Heavy Duty Jetaway and 442 suspension upgrades.
Nice!!!
Might be why he’s known as OldsMoBill. “I am also known as the “Oldsmobile Police”!” Bill states.
Bill, I hope you check back with your status from time to time and thank you for sharing.
This was a 4 cylinder wonder. A common misconception was that the Mustang II was just a Pinto. I’ve even call them that myself. But in reality they only shared a few parts.
Of course these were all either 4 (2.3L) or V6 (2.8L) powered
Ok stop right now. I know what some of you are thinking. A 1978 Mustang II….. oh please!! There were no muscle cars in the mid and late 70’s. There were no power house Mustangs on the market at that time.
While that is true, the Mustang II did sell over 1 million copies. We had one in our family when I was in college. A 1974 Mustang II Ghia:
It was a 4 cylinder and the picture above is an exact match.
The design of the Mustang was developed by Gene Bordiant with help from the Italy based Ghia studios. Good thing, because Ford started out looking at having Pinto as the base model Mustang II or the Maverick.
By 1975 Ford realized that offering only a 4 or 6 cylinder Mustang wasn’t going to cut it. So they made modifications to squeeze the 5.0 L (the famous 302) back under the hood. Of course long gone (at the time) was the massive horse power of the old 5.0L. The 1975 Mustang only mustered 122 to 139 hp’s.
By 1976 I guess Ford was feeling it oats and designed a Cobra II package for the Mustang II. It was a looker:
1976 Mustang Cobra II
But is labeled “all show and no go” by most critics. I like the look!!! Just to make less exciting you could get the package on a 4 cylinder!!! WHY??? WHY??? WHY???? Oh well. The package was added by Jim Wangers’s Motortown company but only for 1976. (Can you say “collector status”? – yes.) Ford began adding the kit at the plant.
1978 the company wanted to one up the Cobra II and created the King Cobra.
The “Boss of the Mustang stable” came only in a hatch back (no coupe). It held the 302 with a 4 speed manual transmission, power brakes and steering. T-tops were an option ($587) and an automatic transmission could be added for $225.
Want to talk about the 700 pound monkey (or snake?) in the room? Ok…what about that hood? Oh the scoop was just fine, in fact it made it look almost normal. You either loved or hated that cobra on the hood.
The Snake!!!
1978 King Cobra
For 1978 Ford sold 4318 units. 1979 saw the first Mustang Fox body, which is now legendary.
