Please help Bill with '55 Pres.700R4 Install

[StudeRich]

Hi guys, a friend in our Chapter (Bill) has a nice frame-on restored '55 President State long wheelbase Sedan, and he got the GM Trans adapter from Jon Myer and is having his Brother Dan who has built several street rods, install a GM 700R4 Overdrive onto the Stude. 259.

He needs help figuring out how to best connect the:

(1) Speedometer cable, adapter gearbox available?

(2) Shift linkage, has anyone used the stock Stude. Column shifter?
Or just used a Lokar or other floorshifter unit?

(3) Throttle pressure linkage.
Can the Stude. throttle Press. bellcrank lever be used?
Or a Lokar cable to Carb.?

(4) Two piece driveline with slip joint to a slip yoke GM Tranny.
Will a custom driveline shop front shaft work, with [u]TWO</u> slip-joints?

I told him I am the wrong guy to ask, as most of you know... I would leave the factory engineered stuff alone!

Can some of you "Stude. Rodders" help him out please? He is pretty much a Chevy guy so knows his way around these Transmissions.

StudeRich

[sweetolbob]

OK Studerich, let me take a shot.

1-I'm no expert on Stude speedo cables but just try to put the Stude cable on the 700R4. If it's a true 700R4, which is the early 4-speed, the speedo drive is not electronic but just like the earlier tranny's. You can buy any number of gears to change the ratio from either GM or TCI. If you need a special cable, just google adapter cable and a custom cable is under $50. I switched my 4L60 (not E) to standard gear speedo drive by just buying the 700R4 gear drive from a junk yard.

2- If the guy is a tranny guy, it's his best judgment on how to do it.

3-I'd switch to a cable type (Lokar style) accelerator linkage and adapt a GM TV cable and bracket to the engine. I used an 89 Firebird pedal and linkage on the 54K. I know it's an SBC but adapting the bracket is a lot easier than adapting the stock Stude linkage.

4- The 700R4 will add some length. Probably best to just adapt the GM yoke to the drive shaft. There have been several discussions on the forum recently. I used a one piece shaft on the 54K.

JMO

Bob


,

[KGlowacky]

I used a 400R on my last project and it just had a standard mech. gear drive built into the tail housing. If it is electronic I would find a older 400 trans with the mech gear and swap them out. Then all you have to do is change the plastic gear to meet your speedo.


1956 Studebaker Pelham Wagon Houston, Texas
Remember, "When all is said and done. More is always said then ever done."

[Relark]

Good advice Bob. I used a cheap carb bracket for the TV cable in my 700R4, it bent and causes the trans to slip badly. My trans builder couldn't stress it too much about proper cable adjustment. I'll look to see the brand, but the replacement was about $100 from Jegs. Money well spent.

Art Rigsby

[Relark]

quote:Originally posted by sweetolbob

OK Studerich, let me take a shot.

1-I'm no expert on Stude speedo cables but just try to put the Stude cable on the 700R4. If it's a true 700R4, which is the early 4-speed, the speedo drive is not electronic but just like the earlier tranny's. You can buy any number of gears to change the ratio from either GM or TCI. If you need a special cable, just google adapter cable and a custom cable is under $50. I switched my 4L60 (not E) to standard gear speedo drive by just buying the 700R4 gear drive from a junk yard.

2- If the guy is a tranny guy, it's his best judgment on how to do it.

3-I'd switch to a cable type (Lokar style) accelerator linkage and adapt a GM TV cable and bracket to the engine. I used an 89 Firebird pedal and linkage on the 54K. I know it's an SBC but adapting the bracket is a lot easier than adapting the stock Stude linkage.

4- The 700R4 will add some length. Probably best to just adapt the GM yoke to the drive shaft. There have been several discussions on the forum recently. I used a one piece shaft on the 54K.

JMO

Bob


,

Hey Bob, my speedo has never worked, even though the cable fit right on. The 700R4 case was built from a "K" (4wd) truck. Could the output shaft not have the plastic gear? If not, how does the electronic sender mount and work? Other than expense, I have no problems changing to an electric speedo. Sounds like a challenge!

Art Rigsby

[sweetolbob]

Art

My 4L60 had a signal generator that was driven by a gear on the output shaft of the tranny. It is in the case just at the junction of the tailshaft housing. All I had to do was to take the mechanical gear housing and gear from an existing 700R4, replace the signal generator and I have mechanical output to drive the speedo.

I'm not familiar with the total iterations of the trannys but if you pull the speedo gear you should be able to see the drive gear. If it's a gear then you should be able to match it to a driven gear like I did.

I do know some of the 5-speed manual trannys used a ring on the output shaft instead of a gear and picked up the signal directly bypassing the mechanical gears. Those can be replaced by pulling the tailshaft and replacing the ring with a gear. Your's may be like that. If so I'd add the gear before I'd muck around with the ring pickup unless you could find a good tech at painless wiring or other aftermarket supplier of same.

Hope this helps.

Bob

,

[bige]

Kugle Shiftworks http://www.shiftworks.com/kugel.htm makes adapters that should enable you to use your column shifter.

The TV cable is CRITICAL and just connecting it to the carb and having it work properly would be a longshot. The ideal situation would be to use an Edelbrock carb and either a full cable hookup kit from BowTie Overdrives or the adapter that bolts to the Edelbrock carb linkage. The BowTie kit has a baseplate, cable and adjustable carb linkage adapter. There's nothing else to buy. The Edelbrock adapter ensures correct pull on the cable but you need to buy a cable mount and cable.

You cannot connect the cable to any old spot including the hole on the edelbrock's stock linkage which works with a TH350 only. Doing so will give you very harsh 1-2 shifts but adjusting the cable to reduce the harshness will shorten the life of the trans appreciably.

ErnieR



1988 "Beater" Avanti---R2 R5388 @ Macungie 2006

[keeper]

I installed an edalbrock carb on Billl's car last year, so I should be in good shape if I can come up with the correct adapter kit. I decided to go with the one piece drive line due to the weak carrier mounting. I was hoping to not use a floor shifter but it appears to be the best way to go.
Thanks for the advice, Dan

[StudeRich]

Dan, glad to see you on the Forum. I hope some of this info helps you finish Bill's '55. [^]

Mike said that a '74 Camaro speedometer cable fit his '87 700-4R
Trans.

Also a '74 Camaro driveshaft should work.

The 4X4 & driveshaft shops have the "U" Joint that adapts the Spicer Diff. flange to the GM driveshaft if needed.

StudeRich

[Relark]

quote:Originally posted by sweetolbob

Art

My 4L60 had a signal generator that was driven by a gear on the output shaft of the tranny. It is in the case just at the junction of the tailshaft housing. All I had to do was to take the mechanical gear housing and gear from an existing 700R4, replace the signal generator and I have mechanical output to drive the speedo.

I'm not familiar with the total iterations of the trannys but if you pull the speedo gear you should be able to see the drive gear. If it's a gear then you should be able to match it to a driven gear like I did.

I do know some of the 5-speed manual trannys used a ring on the output shaft instead of a gear and picked up the signal directly bypassing the mechanical gears. Those can be replaced by pulling the tailshaft and replacing the ring with a gear. Your's may be like that. If so I'd add the gear before I'd muck around with the ring pickup unless you could find a good tech at painless wiring or other aftermarket supplier of same.

Hope this helps.

Bob

,

Thanks Bob, I pulled it apart today, the housing for the driven gear was wrong (the part that holds the speedo gear), 43 tooth housing with a 38 tooth gear. Speedo gear was never touching the gear on the output shaft so it just turned freely,like the shaft gear was stripped. What's taken a minute to describe took a whole lot longer to figure out. Always learnin' sumpthin' new! Never, ever ran into this before......I'll look first next time. [B)]

'59 Lark hardtop w/355 blown sbc, 700R4, 8.8" rear w/ 3.73 gears

Dogs are a man's best friend. Just ask my Dachshunds!

[Relark]

Any one know what the Stude speedometers turn in a mile? Most cars '65 and up are 1000 revs. Makes a difference ordering the correct speedo gears (driving and driven)? Earier cars may be 960 revs.

'59 Lark hardtop w/355 blown sbc, 700R4, 8.8" rear w/ 3.73 gears

Dogs are a man's best friend. Just ask my Dachshunds!