Saginaw, Borg Warner Super T-10 Or Muncie

Ernie · Last edited by Ernie on Sat Feb 23, 2008 8:33 pm; edited 1 time in total

I recently bought an 80 el camino last fall that had a 350 engine 400 hp and TH 350 aUtomatic. The car was originally a 4 speed and I switched it back to it's original state within the past several weeks. I used the original Saginaw trans that came in the car (received it when I purchased the car) it is a -0- ring 2.85 1st gear ration trans, and the car has a 3.73 posi-traction rear end.

I live in southeast Michigan and haven't had much opportunity to take the car out for a test drive till yesterday. The car seemed to buck in 1st and 2nd gear but pretty much cleared up in 3rd and 4th. shifted well through all gears till I tried to down shift 2nd or to 1st. There was slight grinding down shifting into both gears at slow speed.
I was having problems with the idle of the engine being too low but this was due to adjusting the idle after the swap.

I have several questions so I'll just list list them from here, any help would surely be appreciated.

Also, I know Saginaw Transmissions aren't the best, before anyone goes off in that direction.

1. could the low idle stalling effect the 1st and 2nd gear downshifting sycronization?

2. Is there a direct swap for the saginaw transmisstion without any modifications? This saginaw is a 10 spline front input shaft and 27 rear. I have seen on e-bay rebuilt Super t-10's and Muncie's with 10 spline fron and 27 spline rear, I don't know the actual length.

3. Will the low ratio 4 speeds work ok with a 3.73 gear rear end? What are the real drawbacks of this set up?

4. I am sticking with some type of 4 speed so what would be the very best set up?
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Ernie

66trar · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 7:55 pm Post subject:

I don't know about the older super T-10s from the 70s, I've never had any experience with them, but they're probably pretty stout since they were the Muncie replacement. As for the new ones from Richmond, don't touch them unless it's a relatively mild engine, their gears are cheapies and any decent power, (like over 375hp) will waste them if driven hard, as I've seen personally. I have one of those new wide-ratio M22s in my Elky with a 2.52 1st gear and it's pretty nice off the line, although any Muncie doesn't really have a 'low' 1st gear compared to some other 4-speeds. I don't really know the difference in length of transmission though, you could probably check out some chevelle or transmission sites specializing in 4-speeds, they should definitely have some information regarding the overall length.
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It's not the prettiest, but it's all mine....
"This is my El Camino, that's Spanish for........the Camino!"
1966 El-Camino 327, M22 4-speed.
1968 Mustang Coupe, 289, C4.
1968 Cougar XR-7, 390, C6.
1975 Corvette L48, TH400

Ernie · Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2008 8:50 pm Post subject:

I am willing to spend the money for muncie M-20 or 22 or Borg Warner super t-10, if either would allow me to maintain my stock shifter position without making modifications to the floor board. If anyone has run into to this issue please share you experience.....thanks, Ernie
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Ernie

MarkZ28 · Posted: Thu Apr 03, 2008 8:25 pm Post subject:

They will be all the same as far as shifer position and driveshaft, excpet maybe the M22 Rockcrusher, it may havew the bigger turbo 400 yoke. Also it may have more splines on the input shaft. Anyway, any non M22 Muncie, Borg Warner T10, or Saginaw will interchange. Had all three in a 66 Malibu and they all swapped over. You will need different shifting rods for the shifters though.