Colorado '63

I got a 1963 Muncie transmission when I bought my car a few months ago. The story is that it was original to the car and working when it was pulled to restomod the engine (LT1) and add a Borg Warner 5 speed. Since I've never had it in the car, I don't really know anything about its condition. The engine is long gone (probably late 90's) so it seems like going back to matching numbers is out of the question, but it has been suggested to me that I should keep it with the car.

Does that make sense? I can't imagine a possible use I would have for it.

The numbers I am using to confirm the build are:
GM 3831704
P 05 31

Frankie the Fink

Those early Muncies are fairly rare beasts - in your particular situation IMO its a toss up...some future owner may put a restoration engine in it and want the originality, or, you could sell the tranny on to some '63 owner. If its not taking up valuable real estate in your garage then I tend to keep such things.

project63

If original to your car, your VIN derivative will be stamped on it just above the P 05 31 date stamp. If it is, I would keep it with the car. If no VIN, or the VIN does not match, it's just another 63 muncie to you and someone else may need it.

tc

ifitgoesfast

If it's original to the car, it would help the value of the car more than selling that 1963 only 3831704 muncie. Even though the engine is missing, some people care to have the other original stuff on this car if it was born with it.

And you never know if you might run into that born with engine somewhere out there. I'd hold onto it, clean it up, maybe put it on a stand as garage art until you, or a future owner puts it back in the car one day.

tuxnharley

I have the original Muncie from my '67 - even tho it now has a ZZ4 and a Tremec TKO 500............. My original engine was gone in 1971

GTOguy

I agree with these gents....if it matches the car, keep it. It does add value. Much more than you could get by selling it as a unit.

warrenmj

How much further on the restomod did you go (frame, interior, brakes, etc)? Did you do significantly more than the new engine and trans? If you did then someone looking to restore a car probably won't be interested in yours, even with an original Muncie, because it would cost serious money to restore it and they'd probably continue looking for a more suitable car. If you did more than just eng/trans, I'd sell it and get some money back, but if you only went as far as the eng/trans, then I'd keep it.

tbarb

Keep it with the car, I know it does not matter in this conversation but a C2 with a non original motor but correct casting and date gets a lot of respect even with the engine pad stamping wrong.

MikeM

I don't see where it adds a dime to the value of the car as long as it's not in the car. It's maybe worth $3-500 and it's in the way, tying up your money.

My $.02.

warrenmj

I still think we need more info from Colorado '63 about how much of a restomod he has.

Colorado '63

Modded? Not much. Like I said, it has an LT1 from the 90's and a Borg-Warner 5 speed. There are no major suspension or frame mods. There are several small non-original parts, fixes and general bubba redo's. For my purposes, I will fix it into a reliable street daily driver. Right now it is in for a transmission change. The B/W needed to be rebuilt but instead I am putting in a 700R4.

There are other numbers on the Muncie that I don't know about:
60498(?)2, 311686 (4?), and a non-matching number on the bottom of the case GM3831731. Someone wrote to ask what ratios it has. You're asking a newbie. How do I tell that?

warrenmj

Here is a good site to learn about Muncie's http://www.5speeds.com/casting.html Your numbers seem to match up for an original '63. I put a Tremec in my '66 about 8 yrs ago and when I checked the numbers of my Muncie M20, I found it came from a '69 or '70 Firebird, so it immediately went on Craigslist and I sold it for a nice price.

ejboyd5

Never get rid of anything - a lesson just brought home to me yesterday. My parents purchased a property in '58 including a barn/garage built in the early '20s. Hanging on the wall of the barn was an unused roller hanger for the sliding doors similar to the six that were in use. One of those collapsed leaving the door inoperable and where would one find a 90 year old part - hanging on the wall, that's where.

project63

311686 (4?) This is the VIN derivative. What is the VIN of your car? You can find the VIN on the rectangular stainless tag spot welded to the bar under your glove box.

dahogan

me too