i finally got around to looking at my new project car
1966 starfire

now my first question
i thought it had a turbo 400 transmission
but the shifter has
PNDSL

what does the S mean?

thanks in advance

scott

 

second

 

It is second but i always thought in Oldsmobile talk it meant Super.

 

Yes its a Turbo 400, the S range was termed super. It is your passing gear also second gear. You actually should have P-R-N-D-S-L

 

The switch pitch TH400 is an incredible trans. When I was a kid (16-17) my second 442 was a 67 with an automatic. I drove it like I was trying to break it most of the time. I would leave a stop and let it just shift the car automatically then at about 15-20 mph would pull it to 1st and stand on it and that car would come unglued. I had put a 3:55 posi in it. that car was so much fun. I sure treated it crappy and it took it for a long time.

 

If you have an owner's manual for the car, check in there.

Correct.

I don't have a '66 manual, but I do have an owner's manual for my '67 Delta. Here's what it says in the section on the transmission.

 

Don't confuse marketing hype with reality. The trans is a TH400, period. There are three (count 'em) gears. First is 2.48:1, Second (or Super, or L2, or whatever you want to call it) is 1.48:1, and third is 1.00:1. Yes, this is a switch-pitch, but that doesn't change the mechanical gear ratios, it only changes the stall speed (and thus torque multiplication) of the converter.

 

thanks everyone

and i dont have an owners manual yet

scott

 

If you manually shift into "L", the trans will stay in first. If you manually shift into "S", the trans will downshift into second if you are currently in third. It will automatically shift between first and second depending on load and road speed.