[fried_daddy]

I have seen lots of questions about transmission crossmembers and how to reverse them if you are installing a C6, etc.. I never knew mines was reversible until I had it out a few months ago. I picked up a spare crossmember and it is the kind that is not reversible. I thought I'd post pictures of both of them next to each other so people can see what the difference is.

The black one is the one off my 66. It is reversible. With my small case cruise-o-matic, I have it with the mount on the forward side of the bolts.

The dirt one has 65 written from it, so I will assume it is what came in the 65 Galaxies. It is not reversible.





Straight across on the 65 crossmember.


Offset on my 66 crossmember.


On my crossmember, the boltholes are mirror images of each other on both sides, along with the parking brake cable hole. Everything can be reversed.

 

[5851a]

They really did have some engineers back then didn't they. Thanks for the pics.

 

[Ragan64]

Thanks for the pics. I used the 66' CM on my 64' Gal C-6 swap back in 68. Also on my current 64'. They are hard to find but the finished job looks factory. Use the rear most frame tab bolt holes and the CM will give you the proper set back and drop that the C-6 requires. To correct the e-brake geometry, un bolt the 66 bracket. Cut off the original bracket and weld to the 66 CM. Shorten the adjustment rod by 1/2 it's length and you will not have to clamp cables. Once again , thanks.

 

[gearheadct]

Thanks for the pics. I didn't realize they changed in '66. I could have used a '66 cross member on my '65 project - might have made it easier to mount my T45 5 speed. In the end I modified my stock '65 cross member to work.

BTW, your '65 cross member looks exactly like the one from my '65 Z code/3 speed car.

- John

 

[puttster]

I see from your pic that the bolt holes on the convertible allow the mount to set in about one inch vs the 65. Reverse and the mount will set out 1" from the 65. How do you use it on a 65?

 

[fried_daddy]

I see from your pic that the bolt holes on the convertible allow the mount to set in about one inch vs the 65. Reverse and the mount will set out 1" from the 65. How do you use it on a 65?

Yes, it is either in, or out. Then the slots on the car frame allow for a inch or so of adjustment.

I guess you can just bolt it into a 65 if you have a transmission that you are installing other than factory.

 

[fried_daddy]

Thanks for the pics. I didn't realize they changed in '66. I could have used a '66 cross member on my '65 project - might have made it easier to mount my T45 5 speed. In the end I modified my stock '65 cross member to work.



BTW, your '65 cross member looks exactly like the one from my '65 Z code/3 speed car.



- John

Having a spare to modify was my original intention. I bought the 65 CM to modify. But, I ended up rebuilding my same transmission instead of doing a swap.

You have any pics of how you modified you crossmember?

 

[Neeek]

Very interesting, thanks for posting this up!

Vindicates me slightly in that so many people said that for 65s you just flip the crossmember around to fit a C6 in place of the C-o-M... when I was knee-deep into my swap, I discovered that this wasn't the case at all. With your pictures you can easily see why.

Hopefully the next person to do a C6 swap on a 65 will see this, and be 100% informed.

 

[fried_daddy]

Very interesting, thanks for posting this up!

Vindicates me slightly in that so many people said that for 65s you just flip the crossmember around to fit a C6 in place of the C-o-M... when I was knee-deep into my swap, I discovered that this wasn't the case at all. With your pictures you can easily see why.

Hopefully the next person to do a C6 swap on a 65 will see this, and be 100% informed.

No prob. Hopefully anyone doing a swap will be informed before they get knee-deep into it.

 

[dadurweird]

I have a 66 Gal with a FX Cruise O Matic. If I swapped out the COM for a C4, will my original crossmember work?

Frank

 

[gearheadct]

You have any pics of how you modified you crossmember?

I did a couple of things. Here you can see the fabricated mount I welded to the back of the '65 cross member.



What you can't see are the extra holes I drilled on the ends, to allow the cross member to slide back further. Seems like a '66 crossmember will help, although it still may not go far enough back to work without modification.

- John

 

[fried_daddy]

I did a couple of things. Here you can see the fabricated mount I welded to the back of the '65 cross member.

View attachment 114689

What you can't see are the extra holes I drilled on the ends, to allow the cross member to slide back further. Seems like a '66 crossmember will help, although it still may not go far enough back to work without modification.

- John

Thanks for sharing pics.