Whose seen these tranny's

[CaveBlazin]

Whose seen these tranny\'s

SM318/SM326/SM330/T-89A/T-150 3 spd. (2.47-3.50:1 First Gear)
Whats the story with these trannys and how do you tell them all apart? And are they any good. Ive got a buddy who thinks he has one and was curious how do you tell which is which.....

 

[CaveBlazin]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

37 people so far and none have seen or know anything about these transmissions WOW these must be rare and ancient...

 

[pr1aw]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

They ran a T-150 in a Jeep that I know of. The others?????

 

[dyeager535]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

Yep, I saw that you already have the ultimate 4 spd, didn't figure you needed any help in knowing what is good ; )

 

[CaveBlazin]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

Don't know if you guys know but these transmissions come stock in alot of K5 Blazers but how do you tell which one you have. O yea and your right Dorian I do have the good one and wont let it go my buddy wants it but he's gonna have to go else were to get it. hehehehehe

 

[Jeff427]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
SM318/SM326/SM330/T-89A/T-150 3 spd. (2.47-3.50:1 First Gear)


[/ QUOTE ]
My 77 has one of them because it shifts on the column, but heck if I know how to tell which one it is. I would assume the SM trannies would be the most common being they are Saginaw trannies. I would be interested in finding out more about the one I have too.

 

[HarryH3]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

They're pretty rare in K5's and highly UNdesirable due to the lack of a granny low gear. /forums/images/icons/wink.gif I think that the 3-speed tranny was the trans that came on a totally stripped, no-options K5 back in the early days. But most seem to have come with either an auto trans or a 4-speed manual instead. I've been messing with K5's since around 1976 and I've never even seen a 3-speed manual trans in a K5! /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif

I did a Google search on the SM318 and came up with a list of transmissions for some pretty old trucks at: http://home.cshore.com/djcvjc/1955-59gmcguide.html Looks like a pretty ancient design! /forums/images/icons/shocked.gif

The oldest shop manual that I've got is for 74's, but it doesn't give models numbers for the 3-speed manual. It just says that there was a Muncie version and a Saginaw version.

 

[CaveBlazin]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

Thanks for the info I could'nt get the link to work but thats ok. My buddy has a 84 I think and he has a 3 speed thats why we are trying to figure what kind it is it's pretty crappy....

 

[dyeager535]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

At least in '82, there were only aout 3 manual trannies available for the whole C/K line. A 3spd HD, a 4spd HD (although I *thought* the 3 spd was considered even heavier duty) and a "car" tranny, which looks like a 4 spd Saginaw to me.
I'm not looking in my service manual, thats just what i remember, I've seen exactly *1* "car" tranny equipped truck (4wd with 208 at that!!) in my 'yard excursions, and have only seen a few column shifted trannies...

I doubt if GM used more than 5 different manual transmissions in these trucks from '73 on, but I guess on the 1st gens, there was a bigger selection of bad trannies to choose from lol : ) Besides, at that time, you could order just about anything you wanted, instead of being forced into the "package" deal like the later ones. (two tranny choices, woohoo)

 

[CaveBlazin]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

Anyone got pics of a saginaw trannie cause Im confused with the wording is it the brand or what????

 

[dyeager535]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

I use "saginaw" as the description for the light duty car 4 speed. Time was, you could only get either a Muncie 4 speed, or a "saginaw" 4 speed, which was the weak one. (light duty I'm sure GM called it) Anyways, the saginaw I'm talking of uses a cast iron case, with external shift linkage.

I'm sure the generic terminology doesn't help, but thats just what I know them as.

 

[Seventy4Blazer]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

SM? thought they were muncie.....?
maybe i am wrong...
maybe its saginaw muncie....
i dunno
grant

 

[Blazer1970]

Re: Whose seen these tranny\'s

"Saginaw" trannies were made by GMs Saginaw division, same division that makes steering gears and pumps. Most of the column shifted 3 speeds were Saginaw trannies. As others have noted, there was also a Saginaw 4 speed used in some applications.