ent72olds

I met a guy at the Nats while he was looking at my VC and we got to talking...one thing led to another, I was telling him how I want to put a '66 Toro engine in this car as the factory might have....turns out he has a '66 Toro parts car, showed me pics of the car and engine, and the motor does turn...he never ran it though. Has oil and antifreeze in it. The motor looked real clean in the pics...and the aircleaner and piepan looked mint! I said, "if the cleaner is part of the deal, I'm interested!" Answer, "yes!" He would deliver to Hershey in Oct. if I would meet him to pick up there! $250........delivered.....is it worth it!! Would it be worth rebuilding and putting in my '65 Vista....anybody please give opinions and advice! Thanks!

BerBer5985

I think hell yes for that price. You could probably pay for the motor by parting out the rest of the car.

ent72olds

Thanks, the price is for the motor alone....now how does it sound? I think he said it had "B" heads?!

redoldsman

Absolutely. The mint air cleaner will go for somewhere around $100 if you sold it. For that price, I don't see any downside.

2blu442

Yes, that's a good price. Air cleaner, big valve heads, Toro oil pan. Those three items are at least $250 and if you decided not to use the air cleaner or oil pan I'm sure you could sell them. John

hotrodpc

I think that is one of those no brainer, "Does a bear $^%* in the woods" kind of questions. Like stink on $^%*, or White on Rice, you better be all over that deal.

geckonz08

of course if you do decide to not want it .......at that hugely inflated price ........ in a bear market/economy ......... say no more
mike

hotrodpc

I'm with you Gecko. Naw, you don't want that piece of junk. BTW, whats that guys phone number??? He may not have to meet me, I may show up at his house with a trailer.

geckonz08

Yes I can`t see it --with 385hp stock ,if you port n polish the large valve B heads and get some nice headers that motor is going to be too dangerous --Best send it this way n save yourself the grief .
good luck ,sounds great.

hotrodpc

Yeah, you don't want that gas hog. And you have to put hardened seats in it. Probably won't run on pump gas. Whats that guys phone number???

ent72olds

You guys are killin' me........could a properly built TH-350 hold up behind this motor and how difficult would it be to put in a '65 VC? Thanks to everyone for the input so far...keep it comin'....

wmachine

Good find, Erik. Even if you don't use it, it is "money in the bank".
I would not use the TH350. Go with the TH400. From what I've been hearing, it is not that expensive to get a drive shaft made to the right length if that is an issue.

hotrodpc

Hahah, you got that guys phone # yet??? I am not so sure I could wait til October.

I know for a fact, there will be some that disagree with me, but I would put a T350 behind it. The question is, how long do you expect it to last??? I would do it if it were me, but I have transmissions laying around to build and I build my own, so its not a problem for me. The T350 will perform better in my opinion, but, you will likely break it eventually. I used to have to build me a new one almost like clock work, between 11 and 12 months. Everyone will tell you just to get a hardened sprag gear and it will last. Not true. You will break other things. I have broke the input shaft 2 times on a T350. Good thing is though, when it snaps, it snaps, its done. No metal shavings throughout the trans, no pump pressure to ciruclate any bad stuff throughout the trans, so its a simple as pulling the trans, pull the pump, new shaft, back togheter and reinstall with the same converter and no problems until you break it again. I did have a guy weld the input shaft in last time I built one. It addded some meat and I did not break that one. I sold the truck after that trans was in there for about 18 months. The sprag would be the first thing you'd break, so to fix that weak link, get the hardened sprag gear, and if you can find it, in an older model T350, use the wedge or dogbone style sprag, not the roller sprag and that will fix that weak link. IF you want bullet proof, that will last for several years, go T400. Again, the only weak link I am aware of is also a sprag, and easily fixed by finding the dogbone style sprag. When you get ready to pull the trigger and make a decision on which trans you'll go with, let me know I can send you some info.

ent72olds

Good to know....I'll hold off on building the TH350!

ent72olds

Hotrodpc, thanks for the input! I would be looking for longevity so the TH400 would be a better choice. I'll hit you up when I need some info. Thanks. The car will be a driver!

hotrodpc

Good idea. You can still have plenty of fun with a T400 and sacrifice very little to have the longevity and strength. The T350 is about 18lbs lighter, robs about 14 less horsepower, and has a tad bit better first gear to launch. Those differances make about a 2/10 of a second differance in the 1/4 mile. Not much, but when you figure 2/10ths, into car lengths, then it matters. So all those times you lose by a nose or a fender, you can say, dang, if I had a T350, I would have beat him. But then, he may be going home on a tow truck, you are driving yours home. Simply put, that is the differance. I like the T350 as far as driveabiltiy, and having a detent cable to set throttle pressure etc, and I will use a T350 whenever I can over a 400, but you can not beat the longevity and strength of a 400. Here is what blows my mind. I can break T350 input shafts, but never broke a 400 input shaft and never heard of one breaking on a mild street/strip car, but the T350 and T400 can interchange Torque Converters. ahhhh, they must have the same size input shafts. So how does it not break on T400 but does on a T350???

hotrodpc

Here is a pic of the differances in the Sprag I am reffering to. You can find the good sprag in transmissions up to 69 I believe it is, then they go roller sprag. There is also another sprag that can be roller or wedge dogbone in the rear of the case. That one is not as critical so long as you are not launching hard or using a trans break. If you launch hard, like pulling the front wheels, or using a trans brake and putting a lot of pressure on the rear sprag, then yes upgrade it, and it is very hard to find, but you will need it. This sprag I am reffering to is a bit more common but still rare, and I reccomend anyone using a shift kit in a 400 that will be hitting 2nd gear pretty hard, to upgrade to the better sprag. Here is a pic of the differenaces.

ent72olds

Great info....I'll keep all of this in mind. Probably won't be doing any racing since there are no longer any tracks left here on LI. But, you never know!

geckonz08

Erik --hotrodpc has not mentioned the th200-4r . You get overdrive and they are available built to take that Hp--I am told --thats the way I am going .Not cheap built but depends on budget
As an aside , have you got that no. I need it before hotrodpc arrives at the driveway.

hotrodpc

I ve got the truck fueled up, the trailer hooked up. All I am waiting on is an address for my GPS and I am on my way with $250 cash in hand.

True, I have heard some hoopla about the 200R4 but really could never fathom that as being a good trans, so I never did really check it out. I probably ought to. I know a 700r4 can be built good with the right expensive parts, but a 400 can built strong cheap. What I would like to try someday is a 4L80-e without the computer. It can be done, BUT you have to have a full manual valve body since you do not use the computer to set the shift points and control lock up on the TC. You get the strength and the Overdrive, you just have to like a ratchet shifter.