The mechanic that dropped the 318 into my car, had a V8 push button tranny just sitting on the ground. He said I would need that, as the slant six bolt line up wouldn't work. But that V8 tranny would work with the 318. I went to pickup the car from him, and the push buttons wouldn't work. So I had it towed to my house, so I could research it. What I found was the guy who rebuilt the tranny, when he installed the valve body, dropped the two Vs over the neutral safety switch. With that, you could barely move them. That explained why the push buttons wouldn't work. So I pulled it out and installed it correctly. The Vs move all over the place like is should. So I install the gear cable adapter and secure it to the Vs. But trying to move it back and forth, I had to loosen the nut that secured the gear cable adapter. I installed the gear cable, and the Vs don't move too much. Might be the way I installed the cable. But I don't like the fact of that loosened nut. The gear cable adapter was from my slant six tranny. I am wondering if the V8 has a different gear cable adapter. The mechanic said to swap the V8 and Slant six valve bodies. But what happened is what I expected. The neutral switch on the slant six tranny is real low. The V8 is raised. And the V from the slant six valve body, hits the side of the metal piece that raises that button. So does anyone know if there is a difference between gear cables, or gear cable adapters between the two trannies?

I THINK I PEGGED IT. The difference between the slant six and V8 push button trannies, is One the valve body. The slant six has the one V, that goes real low to press the real low button. The V8 has two Vs, and a high safety neutral switch button. So when I moved the slant six valve body to the V8 tranny, it worked fine. However, when it hit that high button it stopped. So I had to use the V8 valve body, but haven't had good luck with the cable. So I was thinking about it. How can I remove that large switch? So on the slant six tranny that is just sitting there, I pulled off the neutral switch. With it, came that low button. Meaning when I take off the V8 neutral switch, it should remove the high button. So replacing the neutral switch, and then the valve b body for the slant six, all should work fine. So that was the difference between the two trannies, that caused my grief.

Comparing A904 to A904 (leaving out the big A727 transmissions), there is no \6 versus V8 neutral safety switch, no \6 versus V8 valve body configuration, no \6 versus V8 shift cable difference.

What there is, is a '65-only versus '64-and-earlier valve body configuration, a '65-'68 versus '64-and-earlier neutral safety switch, a '65-only versus '64-and-earlier shift cable difference.

The reason for the '65-only stuff is because pushbutton shifters were dropped after '64, and for '65 shifters were all lever-type, but still operating the two cables (shift and park). That necessitated changes in the cables and the valve body. The pre-'65 selector valve has five positions in sequence: Reverse, Neutral, Drive, 2, 1. The '65 selector valve has six: Neutral, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, 2, 1. There is also an overtravel spring on the selector valve in '65. The '65 roostercomb detent ball spring is much different than the '64-down spring. There are other differences, too. You can convert a '65-type trans for operation with a '64-down pushbutton shifter, or vice versa, but it has to be done in a complete, coordinated manner. Mixing up parts at random can pretty much only lead to your kind of situation: a collection of random faults and problems.



The change in design of the neutral safety switch was incidental, and for '66 they eliminated the cables altogether and went with a single rod-shift setup.

I suspect you are running into difficulties trying to get '65-spec parts to work with your pushbutton shifter.

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Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

This is what I saw with the V8 valve body and safety neutral switch. I replaced them with the slant six valve body and safety nuetral switch.


And here is what the slant six valve body and safety neutral switch looks like.




To me now, the V8 tranny looks like the slant six tranny. Haven't run it yet, but will within a few days.

There is (still) no "V8 neutral safety switch". The one pictured in your V8 photo is in fact a '65-later switch. What you did was swap a pushbutton (up to '64) valve body and a pre-'65 neutral safety switch into what is looking more and more like it was a '65 V8 automatic trans. What are the numbers stamped into the transmission housing just above the trans pan on the driver side?

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Since that tranny is in the car right now, that number is hard to find. The mechanic who did the work for me, talked me into the 318. But said my push button tranny wouldn't work. The holes to hook it up are different. He had this tranny sitting on the ground on his driveway, and told me it was a V8 tranny. So we had that tranny rebuilt. But he has no idea what year it is either.

Bot the valve body with two Vs just didn't work with my gear cable. The little nut holding on the cable had to be loosened.

I accept there is no V8 neutral switch, and it has to be a year difference. I just didn't know that. I was thinking it was the V8 that was the difference, not the year. Thanks for that clarification.

Hope to hookup the gear cable tomorrow, and see if my push buttons finally work. The schedule and gout in my toe hampered work on it. And today is swamped as well.