Making an automatic transmission out of a manual?

[wrecker388]

I want to make a replica of my moms 65 GTO and her car was automatic,but the AMT kit has a manual tranny. The interior already doesn't have a clutch, but how could I make the manual trans into a auto?

Thanks in advance.

[camarofreak82_427]

U could always cut the trans off and replace it with an auto

[Casey]

I believe the Revell '72 Olds Cutlass kit has the B-O-P (Buick-Olds-Pontiac) TH-400 (maybe -350) auto trans.

[Ace-Garageguy]

An automatic transmission isn't just a manual trans that shifts automatically....it's an entirely different machine and there's no "converting" the one to the other.

A factory '65 GTO with an automatic box would have been equipped with a GM Super Turbine 300 two-speed unit. This is NOT the same as GM's 2-speed Powerglide auto box, though they look kinda similar.

The only way to make an ACCURATE model is to cut off the manual box at the back of the block as suggested above, and replace it with an appropriate auto box cut from a different engine (or a resin part). The TH 350 looks kinda like a ST300, in that it has the servo in roughly the same place. The TH400 has the servo in a different place.

Most modelers will never know the difference anyway, but if you want to get it right, look at pix of the Super Turbine 300 and find something that looks like it, or modify what you've got until you're satisfied with it.

To find pictures, do a google image search for: Super Turbine 300

Edited September 23, 2012 by Ace-Garageguy

[crazyjim]

I popped resin copies of the auto trans in the '69 Olds Cutlass 442 kit.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I popped resin copies of the auto trans in the '69 Olds Cutlass 442 kit.

If the kit is accurate, that would be a TH400 transmission.

[wrecker388]

I asked my dad and he told me the car had a 3-speed Power glide 350. He said he had never even heard of a Super Turbine 300. Any kits with a Power glide?

[Chas SCR]

yes any kits with an automatic in GM upto 1975. 3 350 and 400 basicly looks the same in a model and you would never know the diffrents.

[wrecker388]

Would one from a '64 Impala work?

[Ace-Garageguy]

I asked my dad and he told me the car had a 3-speed Power glide 350. He said he had never even heard of a Super Turbine 300. Any kits with a Power glide?

I sincerely apologize for posting accurate information that contradicts what you might have heard.

All GM Powerglides were 2-speeds. Any GM 350 trans is a Turbo-Hydro 3 speed, so a transmission can be one or the other, not both. The Super Turbine 300 is a two-speed but a totally different design from a Powerglide, and was used in Tempests (which the GTO is based on) through '66. A simple and effective cure for "never even heard of (it)" is to look it up (unless you've worked with this stuff for more than 40 years, like me).

Here's a pic of a Super Turbine 300 mated to a Pontiac engine.

Edited September 29, 2012 by Ace-Garageguy

[Bartster]

l haven't seen the '64 lmpala kit for almost 40 years, but if it's an automatic, & accurate, it would be a powerglide.

[ZTony8]

The real cars were factory equipped with a two speed automatic.If your dad's car has a three speed auto,it was changed.

[mnwildpunk]

Once again Ace is 100% right. from questions I have seen him answer and then researched myself later I can tell Ace is on the ball.

[Doug Beebe]

who does automatics in resin? havent been able to find any,,,,,,

[High octane]

Competition Resins and a few other casters do automatic transmissions. Check on some of the websites on: www.socalcarculture.com/modelcarlinks.html

[Kris Morgan]

who does automatics in resin? havent been able to find any,,,,,,

http://www.madmodeling.com/store/ccp0-catshow/transmissions.html here ya go

[Doug Beebe]

great site,,,thanks,,,,