Ok lady's and gents, would like to throw some stuff out-here and hopefully have you guys mull it over and maybe provide some further insight.

Factory mating of the 350 CID and a manual transmission, either a 3 or 4 speed. As best I can tell the factory only had this combo available from 1968 -1973 ?

Stick shift 350s had more aggressive cams at the top of the food chain. 310 HP manual shift have a more performance orientated cam vs 310 HP automatic.

So from 1968-1970 a 4 speed manual was likely a quicker car than an automatic, but what about a 3 speed manual ? Who's gearing is a virtual match to the TH350. Did every single 350 engine in this time frame get the more aggressive cam whether 3 or 4 speed manual ? Low compression 2 bbl to high compression 4bbl ?

What about post 1970, from 1971 to 1973 the peak 350 Engine was 200 HP. Where the manual shift and automatic cams equal in these years ? From 160 HP 2bbl and up ?

 

Good question. Wasn't just the 1970 350 4bbl high compression 4spd, assume 3 spd as well that had the hotter cam? I wish my 70S was optioned 350 4bbl dual exhaust 4spd with 3.08 gears factory. Really would be an ideal all around cruiser.

 

I guess it depends on the year. In 1971, there were four different 350s available with manual trans:

A-body cars could get one of three:
L65 (QI) 2bbl only available with the column-shifted Saginaw three speed manual got the 400064 cam used in the AT cars
L74 (QB) 4bbl available with the column-shifted Saginaw (?) three speed or the HD Muncie floor shifted three speed (M14) got the 402486 "MT" cam
L74 (QO) 4bbl with M20 four speed got the 402486 "MT" cam

B-body cars could get:
L65 (TE) 2bbl only available with the column-shifted Dearborn three speed manual got the 409717 cam used in all B-body 350 motors (MT and AT)

This info comes from the 1971 engine assembly manual. I'm uncertain about the QB motor with the column-shifted three speed. The Saginaw wouldn't likely live long in that application. I don't know if QB motors actually got the Muncie column shifted three speed. I guess I need to do more research. And yes, the 1971 B-body cars were the last use of the Dearborn top loader three speed by Olds. I bet you could count the number of those sold on the fingers of your hands.

 

I agree what a sweet combo that would be. The only part I would likely swap would be the actual 4 spd trans. My first Olds was stick, drove it on and off for decades (late 80s to Mid 2000s). So now after about 15 years of all automatics, I've lost my taste for manual transmission. Maybe I got lazy, maybe the overdrive trans had me say why bother. But even the TH350 makes me happy... so far. Who knows maybe someday again.


joe_padavano thank you for all that. I really appreciate it. So lots of variables and no clear cut answers without verifying certain traits.

If I'm reading your post correctly even the 200 NET HP 350 for 1971 is likely overrated, underrated, or dead on, depending on whether automatic or 4 spd manual ?

 

Surprised the 8.5 to 1 350 on a good day with the manual trans got a 216/217 duration cam in 71, what Supercars Unlimited has it speced at. Interesting information thanks Joe.