T50 3.8L bellhousing?

[truck6driver]

So my Cosworth engine deal fell through. Looking at other (non-V8) engine swaps for my Astre. I want something different. Seeing the V8 swaps are getting boring.

Current thought is a Supercharged Buick 3800. From everything I have read so far they have the same bellhousing as the early 3.8L. I have the 7.5 rear built with 4.10 gears and posi. to go with my T50 5 speed(not installed yet) and I want to keep that setup.
A stock L32 3800 makes 260 hp and 280 ft lbs of torque. A smaller supercharger pulley will increase power easily in the low 300's. For reference, the LS GEN III 4.8L V8 has 250 hp and 285 ft lbs of torque stock. Now i know the potential of higher HP of the LS platform is there, but lets be honest, in this car it is completely unusable for anything other than turning tires in a glob of melted rubber.

So back to the question. Was the T50 5 speed ever offered behind the 3.8L V6 Or will the 4 speed 3.8L bellhousing work on the T50?


Ray

[Tomcars10]

truck6driver,
Yes - the T50 was offered behind the 231/ 3.8 V6 in the Oldsmobile Starfire and Buick Skyhawk. The T50 was designed to go behind the Cosworth/Vega because it has a higher speed rating - the internal bearings are needle bearings without cages - as opposed to the normal caged ball bearings. To use the T50 - or any GM standard trans mounting pattern ( Muncie, BW T10, etc ) you will have to use the special bell housing from the H body cars. This bell housing is a cable operated clutch mechanism and also has a second starter relief cast into it to relocate the starter to the opposite side of the engine - probably to be able to clear the exhaust down pipe on the single exhaust in the unique H body engine frame rails.

There are two ( 2 ) different internal gear ratios that were used in the T50. One ratio for the 4 cylinder 2.5L engines and a second one for the V6 / V8 / Cosworth-Vega installations. The weaker ration has a numerically higher ( steeper) first gear, while the V6/V8 applications had a lower ( shallower ) first gear. The tags and casting #s on the cases are all the same - don't be mislead by this. I have one of both of these transmissions and they are identical from the outside.

The T50 was also used in the Oldsmobile Omega SX ( Chev. Nova clone ) behind the Oldsmobile 260 V8 and may have been found behind the Chev Monza with the 262 V8.

The bell housing is the to key making this work - the housing may or may not have been used in other 231 V6 vehicles - but not sure of that because
GM may have wanted to have a common bell housing to use - rather than having a unique casting for only one body style. I have one of those bell housing in my inventory - but looking at is now - don't see any casting # on it to help. The cable operation of the clutch is also the key to working. I may have a Pix of the bell housing - or you may find an image somewhere on the internet - they are unique. If I find my copy - I will try and forward it to you. good luck !! - should be an interesting build.

Tom E.

[truck6driver]

Thank you for your information. Unfortunately, Looking at what it will cost, I have changed my plans and will be using a Chevy 4.3L V6 instead. Same power but less required to make work. I really wanted to use a supercharged 3.8L but that is no longer a viable plan.

I have the one with 0.82 5th gear ratio
For what it's worth.......
Extensive research, several years ago, I found that GM made 4 different T50 transmissions for the H and G bodies. They even offered a rare non-overdrive close ratio T50 "Direct Top" (best info shows it was in the '78-'79 Olds. Cutlass with 260 V8 and '76 -up Pont. Lemans with 2.56 rear ratio diff.)

Forward Gears Syncro'd Forward Ratios Reverse Ratio

Borg-Warner T-50 5 Yes 3.49, 2.48, 1.83, 1.37, 1.00 3.39
Borg-Warner T-50 5 Yes 3.41, 2.08, 1.40, 1.00, 0.80 3.37
Borg-Warner T-50 5 Yes 3.40, 2.08, 1.39, 1.00, 0.82 3.36
Borg-Warner T-50 5 Yes 3.10, 1.89, 1.27, 1.00, 0.84 3.06