Comment

Comment by Chris on October 29, 2022 at 8:27pm

Jason, thank you for that. I really want to activate this feature on my 64 just see how it feels. The car already pulls pretty good once I get on the gas, but for some reason that snappiness that it had before has been lost somewhere. Im not sure if it’s the Carb, or the Petronix ignitor III that was installed, because before I had the ignitor I installed actually, not the ignitor II, and the engine seemed much snappier prior to installing the Petronix III setup. So I don’t know what’s going on. I think I’m going to try to reinstall the ignitor I and see how the engine runs, and if it does indeed accelerate better than I know where the power loss is coming from and will stick with the old setup. I’m definitely going to look more into the transmission side of things as well. 

Comment by Jason Edge on October 29, 2022 at 9:54am

Chris, The pink wire to switch is the 12 volt + feed from the ignition cranking harness. The white wire goes to the transmission terminal. This can been seen in the 1964 Shop Manual in 12-114 on page 12-102.  I have zero experience putting a 65 or later THM in a 64 or prior and do not know wiring or other mods needed. Perhaps others here have had experience and can reply.

Comment by Chris on October 29, 2022 at 12:52am

Thanks Jason. to activate the switch pitch inside the trans, can I just use the same 64 kickdown switch at the carb for it to work or would you recommend getting a 65-67 kickdown switch for it to operate properly? So the red wire that plugs into one of the kickdown switch terminals acts as the 12V source to the white wire that connects to the side of the trans? 

I think my trans has the the 2 prongs from the white wire that connects to the side of the trans as the top terminal activates the switch pitch solenoid inside the trans, and the bottom terminal activates the kickdown feature. I have a 65 shop manual somewhere i just can’t find it for the life of me!! 

Comment by Jason Edge on October 28, 2022 at 9:06pm

Chris, The connector on the side was for the kick down switch, a white wire that runs up to the kick down switch attached to left rear of 64 Carbs with the THM transmission.

The 65 THM was changed from the "Buick Borrowed" 1964 THM that needed the adaptor ring to mount to back of the 429 engine.  The 65 was revised to mount directly to back of engines had dual Drive Ranges and a couple more internal changes. So the main differernce from 64 to 65 would be the shape of the bell housing that went from Buick pattern in 64 to Cadillac 429 pattern in 65.

Comment by Chris on October 28, 2022 at 7:48am

Jason, instead of creating a new thread, I just wanted to comment and ask what is the little plug where a single wire connects to on the side of the transmission, and where does it connect to? Because mine was just dangling sitting under the frame not connected to anything. And also wit the 2 wires that connect to the kickdown switch at the carb, where do those wires come from? Are they coming from behind the dash somewhere? 

I am also curious because after looking under my 64, I have a tag on the side of the transmission that says AA-65 and some other numbers that I can’t really see well. Meaning that my transmission is from a 65 Caddy but it looks exactly the same as the 64 THM400 in the pictures above. Does the 64 THM look physical different from the 65 trans? Such as the drain pan, oil cooler lines etc? Reason being is as you know a billion times by now that my block is from a 67 Cad and wont bolt up to a 64 THM transmission. Because knowing that the 65 THM has the switch pitch, I would like to be able to use it somehow but I just don’t know if I would need a 65-67 kickdown switch for it to work properly. 

Thanks. 

Comment by Frank Herrera on April 15, 2017 at 12:27am

Hi Jason,
Planning to rebuild my 64's CDV motor and trans.. also I finished my 63's CDV motor and I plan to go through and check the trans on the 390.. question: will the 390 trans combo fit in my 64 space tfrom 429 while it is out? Will the 390 adapt in the same spot the 429 was without any additional adjustments?
Also, are both the trans are TH 400's? Please shoot me some answers and pointers! Thank you! Hope all is well!

Comment by Jason Edge on August 29, 2012 at 11:19pm

and a final response to Jeff's question:

"Jason, The underside of your car is ridiculous! What paint did you use on the frame? Did you paint the transmission pan bolts, or are they new? How did you prepare the chassis for painting? "

I used Rustoleum Engine paint on the frame section I cleaned up and a truck bed spray on lining type paint for the underside of the tunnel. I really like the way the Rustoleum Engine paint goes on. Keep in mind this is just the transmission tunnel section. Still need to work my way around the rest of underside of car. It will not be perfect but presentable.

I used Acetone and my Steel wire impact brush to clean the frame. Bolts are all just cleaned in gas then acetone

Comment by Jason Edge on August 29, 2012 at 11:19pm

continued:

Posted 7/31/2010:

Oh...Im' having some fun. I went over the driveshaft today, and have it hanging from the trusses right now all painted up. I have to say, I've got a lot of paints in the garage and have recently descovered that the rustoleum high temp engine paint goes on really great with no runs, and no roughness in the spray pattern as I've seen with resent duplicolor paints. I also jumped underneath the car and removed the leaking pinion seal, and tomorrow I will install a new seal. I don't have a pinion seal installer but looks like I can make something up for this one time deal. It's like the transmission seals....just bigger, and as I remembered have a new one to go back in.

Posted Aug 2, 2010:

Oh...Im' having some fun. I went over the driveshaft today, and have it hanging from the trusses right now all painted up. I have to say, I've got a lot of paints in the garage and have recently descovered that the rustoleum high temp engine paint goes on really great with no runs, and no roughness in the spray pattern as I've seen with resent duplicolor paints. I also jumped underneath the car and removed the leaking pinion seal, and tomorrow I will install a new seal. I don't have a pinion seal installer but looks like I can make something up for this one time deal. It's like the transmission seals....just bigger, and as I remembered have a new one to go back in.

Posted Sept 12, 2010:

Well. I couldn't stand not having my 64 Coupe DeVille on the road and this weekend I installed the rebuilt and painted transmission. Before I could install it though I wanted to clean up the tunnel and framing where the tranny sits and that took some time but in the end is well worth it. I'm not doing a frame off or anything like that but am going over my car one section at a time.

Saturday I went wide open all day cleaning, getting the tranny up in the car. After the transmission was installed I popped the pan and cleaned and painted it early Sunday morning and had it all installed by Sunday afternoon. I tried to take my time and not be rushed and getting everything back in and installed and for this project everything turned out perfect. This was a rebuilt transmission and when I pulled the pan it looked brand new. In the car it shifts absolutely perfect...nice and firm.

I've posted pictures starting with the one you see on the right. (Just click and then scroll to end to see new pictures.) You can also see my dirty engine! LOL. I had thought about pulling the engine also but am really glad I went ahead and installed the transmission and got all of that mounted back up in the car right. with a rebuilt transmission, cleaned and painted driveshaft, new Pinion Seal in the differential. and gas tank detailed with new hoses, I can now focus on the engine later this fall. With the transmission secured and in place I will just unbolt the engine and lift up and out with tranny in place.

I was having major withdrawal not having my car drivable and it sure felt good getting it back on the road today. I tried to take quite a few pictures from underneath. It really makes you feel good when a project like this goes right and you see the results of your efforts! Jason
Also just to add...I took a 2" by 6" board and countersunk a large 7/8" bolt that I could sit on my floor jack to lift the transmission. You still have to balance the transmission on it, but no worry about the board sliding around. That cost me $0..... not bad considering the $300 transmission Jack I was looking at!

Comment by Jason Edge on August 29, 2012 at 11:18pm

Copied from Transmission thread on old site:

Posted 7/24/2010:
Well, I''m really missing having my 64 Coupe DeVille on the street, and as some of you know pulled the perfectly fine Turbo Hydra-Matic out of it a few weeks ...or was it months....back, to replace with a rebuilt TH transmission. As most of you also know I've had a part time parts business for 15 years and the main purpose is to pull in parts cars with nice parts for my personal car and to maybe make a couple bucks on the side selling all the other parts. A few years ago I pulled in a parts car with a just rebuilt transmission (car was a rust bucket and engine was blown but had a rebuilt transmission) and well., my transmission was fine and listed it for sale for a while, but knew what I had and wasn't going to give it away. A while back I decide I've got a rebuilt transmission...why not use it!

First, I wanted to paint the transmission the original Cadillac Blue as they came from the factory. This weekend I finally got some time to get the transmission really clean, and prime and paint. I've posted pictures of the transmission as I'm cleaning it up, after I've primed it and just after I've added 2 coats of paint.

I tried to think of the best way to paint the transmission, but ended up realizing the best way is to put it up on a large storage bin with wheels, and paint all but the bottom pan. I will later remove the pan, once up in the car, and paint the pan. It was 100 degrees in Raleigh today so took advantage of the heat to help cure the paint. I will go back and add the trans line fittings, new seals, regulator, etc, and post a couple finished pictures.

Just to add, While the transmission was already in pretty clean condition, I cleaned before painting with everything from my wire impact brush, to Acetone, to the pressure washer.
I used Hi Temp Engine Primer, and before I painted did a side by side comparison between the Bill Hirsch Cadillac Blue and the Eastwood Cadillac Blue and found the Bill Hirsch paint went on thicker with one coat, but was more prone to running and went with the Eastwood paint. As far as I know Eastwood does not sell the engine Cadillac engine paint in spray cans anymore, which is sad, as they were about 1/2 the price as the Bill Hirsch paint!

Posted 7/26/2010:

I reused the vac modulator o-ring....both were new..or newer from the rebuild.

I've only temporarily attached the dip stick to the pan, and will remove when I install transmission and will remove pan once under the car, to clean and paint the pan. From glancing at it yesterday that seal looked new too so will probably re-use unless on close inspection when pan is removed it looks like it might need to be replaced. Both seals look pretty standard..and since the THM (turbo 400) is one of the most popular transmissions ever I would try to match up at the local parts store first. I know Kanter and others sell complere rebuild kits...not sure if they sell just these small o-ring seals.

Posted 7/28/2010:
...just to add about the THM O-ring seals, the one on the vac modulator is listed the same 1964 to 1969 in the master parts book and listed as 11/16" ID. There is also an Oring seal behind the speedometer gear and it is listed as the same 64 to 66, and some of the body styles for 67 to 69. The THM oil filler tube seal however is listed as one year only with the 65 and later being different. In terms of O-rings I highly recommend an SAE O-ring set. I've had this one I picked up from summit some time ago and generally never have a problem finding standard O rings: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/WMR-W5202/?rtype=10