Dec 2004 Dec 04 //////////The factory made a adapter plate for the manual tranny's in the Chevy powered 65/66's. How does the FOM automatic bolt to the back of the GM motor? Is the bellhousing special?, maybe a adapter plate from the GM bell housing to the FOM? What starter is used? What flex plate? Anyone know? Thanks, KM//////// ----------- Chevrolet style flexplate and starter on the McKinnon sixes and eights. It has to be a factory made special bellhousing as all the McKinnon eights and sixes I've removed had automatics and theres no adapter plate between the tranny BH and engine block.---- ---------- Checking the parts book, the adapter plate was only used on 194 cid six powered cars with the T-96 tranny.(inbetween bell housing and tranny). -------------- The early (66-70) Avanti II's used a Powershift with the 350 engine. It uses a special bell housing and Delco starter for the GM flexplate. ----- How does the TC mount to the flexplate? Is it different than the earlier engines? Or are the bolt patterns coincidentally the same? --------- Torque converter bolts to the flexplate ala GM. ----- It is my understanding that the G.M. to Borg Warner bellhousings were purchased from Checker. This goes for both stick and automatic. Starting in '65 Checker got away from the old Continental six and bought G.M. engines, as did Studebaker. While Checker built their own cars, mostly taxi cabs, they were also an O.E.M. supplier of bits and pieces for other makes. ------ That makes sense Keith, specially since they had to do it (the adaptations) in a hurry. ------------ So that makes me think of another question, Is it a Stude torque converter? or a GM, It'd be nice if it was a GM converter, you can get all kinds of HIGH stall converters for GM's ----------------- The '65-'66 Studebaker torque converter has no ring-gear welded to it. Otherwise it may be the same as the '64 and prior. The chevybaker torque converter does have the usual six bolt pads on the front side. Instead of the round flex plate used on the '64 and earlier, the '65-'66 used a common Chevrolet ring gear. The only difference being it had six more holes in it, to fasten it to the torque converter. At one time I bought a 283 out of an Impala, to use in my '65 Daytona. Since my old ring gear was void of teeth, I bolted both ring gears together so I could drill new holes in the good one. KK ---------------------- The 65/66 FOM was a different beast from the prior, so these were not "on hand". The sixes didn't use a model 8, but a model 35. They bought every tranny hooked to the GM engine. With all the adaption done, and with the eventual demise of the marque, why the FOM? Just seems illogical, but trying to figure out this one small thing is impossible at this late date. The PG was cheap to produce, and was as sorted out as it would ever be by this time. The lack of a low gear? Try every second gear start tranny. Just another question mark. ----------------------- Perhaps it was simply a good relationship with the supplier coupled with confidence in the transmission. ------------------------ I was thinking (very dangerous) that they might have been fufilling some contractual issues. Still it is one more head scratcher amongst a hugh list of head scratchers. I had no idea of the complexity of putting the GM stuff in the Stude car. Or maybe someone didn't want the final cars to turn a profit like they did. It seems to me the "bean counters" had their way, but the car defied them. Never count a Stude out. -------------------------