4 Speed Convertible Restoration

[glenn4spgs]

awsome gransport. Brings back the memory of the first look at my first 65 4 speed at 16 and then again in 08 with my current one keep the pic's coming!!

[dsags]

Thanks for the compliments. Here are a few more pictures. Got a peak at the transmission and it has the 'GS' casting on it by the shifter.

[glenn4spgs]

1-22-65 on the door panel ! 1B on the cowl tag should be 2nd week of Jan. did it take three week's to build?   

[dsags]

Holy crap, I never even thought of that. Actually that would probably be the third week but still after the car should have been completed. Checked the other panels and no marks of any kind. Have never seen marks like that on a door panel which is why I posted the picture. Even looked for those "part numbers" 4456718 and 9 but can't find those either. Anybody have any ideas ?

[Mark Ascher]

Dan,

My door panels are dated like yours. I'll go take a look at them. One thing to keep in mind, I believe the date on the tag is the body build, not when the car was assembled. I thought GMs process was that Fisher body supplied trimmed out bodies to the various assembly plants, but I'm not sure how this worked at Fremont.

Mark

[dsags]

Mark,

Appreciate the assistance. I'll probably need more help later. Not familiar with the non-ac car details.

Dan

[option B9]

     Hi Dan
   Also check under the console where the storage compartment is. I just restored the console out of my coupe and when i turned it over to clean it i found a part number and a date stamped on it plus a tag wired on to the harness next to the light on the back.  mine is a Flint built GS.  No AC

                                                    Tony

[glenn4spgs]

Dan my car is fremont car and the acc # tells me nothing about options. I you get a chance I would like to see some close up pic's of the screw locations for the counslette and how many because your's look's to have never been tampered with. Mine has had a square boot that is larger than the factory one and there are some extra hole's on the tunnel that might have been from a counsle would like to find out and if it did would like to maybe find one.  thank's Glenn!

[dsags]

Glenn,

Three holes highlighted in yellow in the last pic.

[glenn4spgs]

Thank's Dan. Look's like I need to add a counselett to my wish list 'I have the same hole's plus the extra one's from the aftermarket boot. Glenn!!                               

[dsags]

A couple of friends had some time, a cherry picker was available and weather was warm, for Wisconsin, so we pulled the engine last week and took it to the rebuild shop. Won't get to it for a while though. Here are a couple of shots of the transmission. A little uglier than Mark's photos. Note the 'KR' marking on the side. Mark says that is the way they all came. Also the three 'rings' on the input shaft. All the '65 GS 4 speeds had high nickel content gears and are close ratio units. The close ratios have a  2.20 low gear vs. the 2.64 of the wide ratio. Makes it a bit more difficult to launch. Hope I got that all correct.

[Brian]

From the looks of the holes in the tailhousing, the shifter body was mounted to the rearward set of mounting holes?  It is supposed to be mounted to the front set of mounting holes.  The linkage is adjustable, so it can be put in either location, but it makes the shifter hit the edge of the hole in the consolette in 2nd and 4th gears. 

[dsags]

Brian,
Thanks for the observation. Now I can put it back in correctly. Not sure if the car was actually driven with the shifter attached like that. The car was off the road for quite a while. The front holes without the bolts in were where the reverse light connector was mounted. Only there were no wires attached and the switch is pretty grungy.
Dan

[Brian]

The reverse light switch is reproduced--it is the same switch that fits a Muncie trans in all the chevy stuff.  I can't remember if the repo switches come with the wires attached to them or not.  The two wires that attach to it terminate in bullet connectors--the same ones that are on the backup lights, so you can harvest them off a set of no-good backup lights.  The only difference is the wires in the backup lights are green, so to be correct, you would need to put some vinyl paint on the wire insulation. 
 The bracket is what is specific to the T10 and that is NOT reproduced, so don't lose the bracket that attaches the switch to those two side cover bolts. 
If you need someone to go through the trans, send it on down here--I have rebuilt more T10s than I can count and know the tricks to keep them from jumping out of 2nd gear when you let off the gas and coast down. 

[WkillGS]

Brian, The early 63 vette used the T-10. The T-10 reverse light bracket, shield and rod is avail as a repo from Ecklers Corvette.  Ive seen a repo switch avail from Pontiac vendors, about $60. Not sure if the connectors are the same. I'll take a look at the next swap meet.

Dan, Trans usually has a vin stamped on it too. Look on either the top of the extension housing at the flange, or on the plate between it and the main case.