Has anyone completed this project lately and if so can I pick your brain about it???? Wondering what pieces/parts I need. Also, what to do about kick down etc. etc..

Thanks,
Pete

Jump straight to a 200R4. Do not pass GO, do not collect $200.

I hear that is not as straight forward...

You are right. What I would do, for starters, is pick up a 68 3-speed auto shifter. Either from a want ad on the board or eBay. Hopefully you can find one with the 3 speed indicator included.

I have an ST 300 in my 68 bird also. I believe it is the original trans. If you take yours out let me know maybe I will buy it for parts. But I like it. Now dont get me wrong I wont win any races but for a cruiser its fine. Mine has a clunky 2 1 downshift when cold but is fine when warm. Is yours like that? Any ideas for a fix? Good luck.

Pete, be a man - go Muncie! Better yet, TKO! nothing like shifting gears and you can roll start it when the battery dies or the starter craps out.

I had a th350 in my bird when I bought it, though it originally had an st300. It appeared to be a straight swap except for the kickdown. I had to manually downshift, but I'm sure you could hook the cable up somehow. I have column shift. 1st gear was just below the 'L'.
It takes the same crossmember.

I changed to the 200-r4. It takes a little more work. Worth it IMO, but I also changed my rear gear and have a 6cy. I had to modify a 400 crossmember.

Bob, great idea. No kickdown wire to worry about.

In all seriousness, there are kits available to install a Tremek 5 speed in camaro/firebirds. The shifter is moved so it's in the right place, you get a cross member, drive shaft, correct speedo gear, clutch, bell housing, pedals, etc. The Tremek has a 1:1 4th gear then overdrive 5th gear. It's kind of pricey, though.


http://www.keislerauto.com/gm/transmissions/camaro_67-69_auto.asp

Pete,
Mine came with a ST300. I put a TH400 in it in '77
and that wasn't too hard at all. Since then I went to the 200r4. That too was a breeze in regard to using existing and come creative salvage parts scouring, primarily for the detent cable bracket. Get one off of a later model Pontiac powered car and it will work in conjunction with your accelerator cable bracket.
The travel of that cable is ALL important in the way it will shift. As far as I know, THAT would be the same with the TH350.
I used my TH400 cross member and didn't have to modify it, but I did use a couple of spacers to properly clear the pan and cross member.
I used my shifter throughout all the changes, but the shifter cable bracket on the transmission I did get from a place (I think) called gearworks.
They have the detent plate to go into the shifter housing so that you have a stop in each gear. I did that too.
I did not use a lock-up converter, but that was by choice.
It IS a tight fit for the speedometer cable in the tunnel. I did go through at least a couple of cables and tried an adapter (corvette gear drive tachometer adapter is the same size as the fitting, but was too bulky to offer an advantage).
The transmission cooler lines will need to be messaged, and I lost a little room to change the PF24 oil filter, so I went to a PF61 (skinny) filter. I don't feel bad about the size of the filter as often as I change the oil.
You will most likely need to have the drive shaft modified and I'm not sure about the slip yoke for the transmission. The one you need however, is a very common piece. Measuring for a drive shaft is not as much of a problem as people make it out to be, however is very VERY important.
High performance Pontiac did a series of articles a couple-three years ago on it. I saved all the info that I felt necessary to keep and would be willing to share it with you should you decide to go the overdrive route.
With the 3.73 rear end, for me it was the best piece of work I've done in the 31 years I've driven the car.

Pricey is right Bob. I'm prety sure I'm going to go with a TH350. From what I've read here it seems to be a pretty straight forward swap. I can get a transmission from Accurate Transmissions remanufactured for a reasonable price, modify my shifter with a kit from shiftworks and a kickdown cable from Lokar to adapt to my Edlebrock carb. It sounds like I know what I'm talking about but in reality I don't. It reminds me of some of my college classes, where your lost from day one and struggling to keep my head above water. Anyways the 2 speed is leaking pretty bad I may have a tranny shop look at it or just fill it with fluid so I can drive it to the Saratoga Show.

Thanks

All 3 are roughly the same length and will use the same driveshaft, and the shifter with or without modification. The 200-4R will require a different rear mount and a similar kickdown arrangement as with the 350. Other than this and the cost of the tranny itself there isn't a lot of difference.

The 200-4r and TH400 both require a TH400 crossmember and the 2004r needs a $110 brain box telling it when to lock up the converter. The TH400 requires a different drive shaft length than the ST300, and the 2004r needs a TV cable.

The TH350 is identical except for the downshift cable. No need to change crossmembers or drive shaft length. Rigging up the downshift cable is not that tough.