Left Handed Skyhook? - Orig Owner Story and Option

[Bill Pritchard]

My friend Rick had a 70 L78 Nova w/ T400 brand new. He called it "Houdini" because it would do just as stated here. Pull the shifter (it had the floor mounted shifter with bucket seats & mini-console) down into low, nail it, and not only would the trans shift when it hit ~7K, but the shift lever would physically move up into the 2nd gear position

[flyingn]

Yea every GM automatic that I owned including the 200's from the 80's did this..

[Kim_Howie]

The first trans. to do this was the t-400 in the Gibb nova's. My understanding They had extra clutch packs just for this. All trans before this you had to let off the gas to get them to shift.

[PeteLeathersac]

So aside from M40's as orig. equipment in a '68 & up w/ L78 or better, no other '65 to '69's had this feature...but all '70 & up M40's did? .
And what about the 6-bolt torque converter M40's in commercial trucks...would they have had this pre '70? .

Where I grew up (have I yet?) apprentices were sent for a "Long Stand" and you were told to be specific that a short one just wasn't sufficient and stress that you really wanted the longest one available! . It took a while sometimes but after standing there waiting and waiting, it usually clicked...if it didn't, the guy was a marked man! .

~ Pete

[Kim_Howie]

I think all 400t's in solid lifters cars in 1969 had them. They also had the 6 bolt converter. A lot of taxis had the 6 bolt conv. but it's not the same type.

[kenny M]

Hi there LOOOONG time lurker first time poster, My 68 SS 396 Chevelle L34 had this going for it although I never experienced the 2-3 shift my 72 Corvette did the same thing until I changed to a manual valve body. By comparison my Infiniti G35 sedan that I bought in the spring doesn't shift 1-2 in manual mode much to my suprise instead it bangs off the rev limiter ( fuel shutoff probably ) but wow does 6500 rpm ever come quick.

Ken

[Musclecarkid]

Isn't this bang shift deal caused by the governor on the side of the trans just doing it's job? My TH400 did the same thing at about 5500rpms if left in low gear. Chirped the tires like a 4-speed. I know the Z28's and solid lifter big blocks had a different governor that shifted near 6500rpms.

[x Baldwin Motion]

my 04 5.3 (327?) silverado does that shift thing too. there is a switch on the shift lever for racing (has a picture of a trailer going up hill !!?) flick that on and get another 600 rpm's before the bang and chirp. hey, it's waranteed might as well stand on it !!

Chris

p.s. pass that tube of elbow grease and the light bulb repair kit.

[69LM1]

Here are some pics:
http://www.69lm1.com/70grnz

Man, a couple of friends were over last night, and I told them about this. Same reaction, naw, no way, bs. Took em for a ride one at a time, you should have seen the smiles. Ear to ear. Gotta try the 70 COPO now (it's a TH400 as well).

Rich

[Bill Pritchard]

Rich,

A bit more info from my friend Rick who had the Nova back in the day. He said that, although the shifter in his car did physically move when the trans shifted from 1st to 2nd, it was not really fully engaged in the 2nd (or L2) gear position. He quickly learned to move it fully into that position, because a couple times he did not move it, and when he let off the throttle, the car would violently downshift back into low gear.....such that the rear tires would lock up and the rear end would hop