Re: 3 on the tree
Steve, thank you for taking the time to clearly explain the problem with the adapter. I think I now have a better idea of what you are up against.
The bellhousing depth issue you mentioned still has me puzzled though, and here is why: A friend of mine with a 63 GMC V-6 pickup blew his stock 3 speed SM318 transmission and asked me to help him get his truck running again in the quickest and least expensive way. We ended up installing a Chevy passenger car transmission and it went all the way into the bellhousing without the input shaft bottoming out on the pilot bearing. The bottom two mounting holes were unthreaded just as you described, and I had to use longer bolts with nuts in those two holes. The only part we had to swap from the GMC transmission was the side cover because the shift arms were different.
The reason it took this long for me to answer your post is that I had to catch up with my friend first just to see if his recollection of the swap agreed with mine. This happened a long time ago, and my memory isn't what it used to be.
I hope you can come up with a transmission or rear axle swap that will work on Mel's truck to get his engine revs down at highway speed.
Good luck with it.
Ray
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