1962 special

novchrly · 02-09-2005, 07:03 AM

i just picked up a 62 special that was a 215 but prior owner used motor/trans for hotrod what othe motor trans will fit into this car?

malc · 02-10-2005, 06:18 PM

Depends how much work you want.
225 and 231 v6; 215, 300, 340, 350 v8 all reasonably easy. Anything else less so.
Gearbox: st300, TH350, 3 spd or 4 spd manuals
For a nice project, how about a '64 300 v8 with a Rover LT77 5 spd manual. Fit a good cam, factory 4bbl intake with a BG 525 road demon jr carb, headers and custom waisted stem valves to give you a nice modern high-perf small block?
Malc

**the skylark** · 02-11-2005, 06:23 AM

Transmission tunnel will be tight fit for anything other than original air cooled auto. or manual trans. My brother took a 4dr 62 and put in 350 chevy with TH350 trans. Had to extend front subframe 3 inches, trans crossmember 2 inches and still had to make clearance in the tunnel for trans and rework heater box and firewall for distributor. Used 9" Ford rearend with 3.89 posi. car would fly!! Front distributor engine (Buick) would help a lot, but trans selection limited unless you want to modify. I'm in Western NC and may be some help if you want to go back to original drivetrain. I have spares that I hadn't planned on parting with but also know where some are...

novchrly · 02-15-2005, 04:39 AM

What engines would bolt up to the "original" drive train? ie another larger v8 from same year or later?

**the skylark** · 02-15-2005, 06:52 PM

No larger V8 will bolt to orig. auto. Transdapt used to offer adapters (I'm pretty sure they still do), but rear mounted dist. (IE Chevy, Olds, Pontiac) will require modifications to firewall and heater area. 215 is fairly short, so tall engines might also be a problem. In short Buick 300/340/350 would be best choice. The 215 motor mounts will bolt to those engines, so if you can get adapter for trans would be good swap. One problem is that orig. trans. is air cooled and susceptible to underhood heat. I took apart 5 of them before I got enough useable parts to put one together, then bought a wagon and used motor and trans together from it.

novchrly · 02-17-2005, 12:09 PM

would a newer 64-66 transmission be the best way to go with the larger v8 340 350

**the skylark** · 02-17-2005, 03:18 PM

300,340,350 will take many different Buick/Olds/Pontiac transmissions, but any of them will be too tight in the trans tunnel without some modification. Also, since the orig. trans. was air cooled, you will need to find a way to cool the fluid, either a large add-on cooler, or a different radiator with cooler built in.