New proud owner of a Longroof

Hi,
I acquired my 89 oldsmobile custom cruiser earlier this summer, and I'm loving it. I have a small handyman business and I'm able to haul all my tools around with me, put ladders on the roof and load sheet rock or ply wood in there if need be. Its perfect for my work. I have some big plans for the wagon. I'm going to change out the 307 and put in a 366 chevy big bloc and a truck 4 speed transmission. I attended the wagon fest that was held in Geneva NY this summer and someone told me that there's a gentleman that has designed or builds auto to manual conversion kits. I would much appreciate the opportunity to get in contact with this person.
Thanks,
Branden

Brandan, it was nice to meet you at Wagoinfest. Glad to see you joined the forum, so welcome.

Sounds like you might already own the other engine and tranny already. If not, may I suggest you  reconsider, and put in another small block instead of a big block. It would be a lot easier, and more readily available. It bolts right in.  You can take a 350 block and a 400 crank to get a 383 stroker out of it. Mine has the full 400 block and crank in it, bored over, now 406. Gobs of torque, bolted right in.

I'll point out the tranny swaps that I've seen use the Tremac five speed, not the four speed. But most of the swap stuff has more to do with the installation of clutch pedals needed for any manual..

Try here.
http://www.bigfastcar.com/default.asp

Dave Buchholz

bbacharach wrote:

Hi,
I acquired my 89 oldsmobile custom cruiser earlier this summer, and I'm loving it.  I have a small handyman business and I'm able to haul all my tools around with me, put ladders on the roof and load sheet rock or ply wood in there if need be.  Its perfect for my work.  I have some big plans for the wagon.  I'm going to change out the 307 and put in a 366 chevy big bloc and a truck 4 speed transmission.  I attended the wagon fest that was held in Geneva NY this summer and someone told me that there's a gentleman that has designed or builds auto to manual conversion kits.  I would much appreciate the opportunity to get in contact with this person.  
Thanks,
Branden

Um,.. well burt, not sure that a 366 big block would be the best plan,.
Most modern day motors make more horsepower and torque more efficiently than that old dinosaur,.

Welcome to the forum, you should hook us up with some pictures.

Thanks for all the responses!
Yeah I already have the motor. I'll have some assistance with doing the swap so I'm not too worried about that. As far as choice of motor, I'm not looking for street performance. My interest is more torque for towing and just general hill climbing improvement over the 307, plus I like the idea of a bb under the hood.
I'll post a pic in a couple of days.
Branden.

welcome aboard. Having an overdrive gear while not good for towing sure would be nice on a long haul...

Welcome aboard, I am sure we spoke at WF as we had quite a few new folks around that I talked to.

I agree with Nick and Dave on this one.  If you searched out a 5.3 LS style motor with a T56 behind it you will have more torque, HP, and improved fuel efficiency.  That is the engine GM uses in most of its tow vehicles like the full size vans and trucks.

The T56 pedal kit you are looking for is the F2B kit, http://f2bkit.com/.  It is based around the LT1/T56 set up, but may work just fine with the LSx/T56.  JaySS could better answer that question.

If you want an easier swap,. put an olds big block in it,. they have more torque than that old 366

Or go lq4/9