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Saw a 77 listed was just looking, it has a semi auto, so what did owner do? Was kind of interested because had very low miles. Would only consider a stock car since my mechanical skills are limited like my pocket book.
I grew up in the family transmission shop and have never heard of a semi automatic, unless we were talking firearms. That shifter says regular old auto trans. I guess he could be talking about a manual valve body? That just takes away the auto shifting feature and you have to do all the gear changes yourself.
Automatic trans shift kits such as B&M Trans-go, give you the option of holding the vehicle in any gear at any speed. And manually up shift / down shift.
Or, just put it in "D" for normal crusing.
The up shifts have zero delay for tire chirping, gear banging without a clutch.
One indication that it has remained a near virgin is the horn cap! Its the original brushed aluminum where as there was a recall to replace it with a painted cap to prevent sun glare in the driver's eye...a safety thing back then.
In 1977 a brushed aluminum horn button was introduced with N37 tilt-telescopic column through VIN 418637. The lock ring was brushed aluminum between VIN 413504 and 418637. Prior to that, the level was color keyed. Brushed aluminum button and lock ring were recalled due to reflections from sunlight could affect driver vision.
I suspect if you crawl up under from the passenger side, you'll see the broadcast code that on the body that will tell us if its the original transmission. I would venture to say it is. Look for a CB, CZ or XH. The image is from a 78 L82
Last edited by hunt4cleanair; Oct 11, 2022 at 04:55 AM.
To know if that is the original T350 just look for the VIN number stamp right of where the shift cable attaches.
Should match VIN on engine and left vertical hinge pillar viewable from outside front windshield.
Should have thought of this yesterday but the hood emblems, I assume read L82, in which case the automatic is a THM 400 or M40, the heavy-duty transmission. It would have a pale blue plate with the CB on it. The L48s came with the smaller, passenger M38 automatic. Look for a square pan (M40) versus a pan with a corner cut off (M38).
77 C3 transmission question
