Hey everyone so I'm looking at a Saginaw 3925656 that came off a 72 nova. I'm thinking about buying for $100 to put in my 73 Cutlass S attached to my 455 Fa block in currently dialing in. My main goal is to get this car moving for the time being. with that being said how much trouble would I have making this trans compatible in my Cutlass. I'm sure it's been done before so I'm just seeing what I'm in for before I make the purchase. Thanks in advance. This site is really valuable for someone like me who isn't a polished mechanic.

 

Pretty much any 455 will have enough torque to make pretty much any Saginaw transmission's insides into powder in very short order.

 

I understand the Saginaw is the red headed step child of the Munich and T-10. But if I'm not looking to drag race is it really a waste of $100?

 

I assume your 455 crank is drilled to accept a manual transmission?

The saginaw will get your car moving, but don't do any Banzai passes or you may be looking for another gearbox again.

 

It is probably worth a 100 bucks just to get your car moving around and then you could probably get your money out of it. The problem is that there is going to be a big temptation to take off and then grab second gear. Then you will be picking up pieces off the highway. You can use the same shifter but the bracket and linkage will be different. I may have the bracket and linkage for the Saginaw that came with a Hurst shifter I bought years ago. The guy wanted to sell me the transmission and shifter but I passed on the trans. I would have to really look in my attic for the linkage but I am sure I still have it.