trans. swap

[Terry J]

HI this is my first time in this fourm. I ended up with the same car I owned in my senior year of high school. It's a 1963 oldsmobile cutlass F-85 conv. I have just finished restoring it but I now want to change out the 3 speed on the tree with a 4 speed or 5 speed and am looking to find out what trans. would interchange with the least amount of changes.

[Shaggy's Dad]

The key word is "restore". It won't be a restoration if you swap the tranny. Both of your options involve cuting a hole in the floor pan which would destroy the resale value. The least invasive would be an auto shift 4 speed overdrive, non computer control like a 700-R or a 200-R if you have the small bellhousing pattern. You can also adapt your BOP pattern to chevy if you need to. The Buick Electra estate wagons had BOP pattern RWD 200-R's and can be had cheap. I'd get the Buick collumn and linkage in a package deal with the tranny because you'll spend hundreds on custom linkage otherwise.