I'm 22 years old and I am a novice in the shop. I got engaged and my future father-in-law likes me so much that he gave me his 66' Coupe. It's got the 302 in it and it's pretty nice, but it's really slow out of the blocks. It's got the 4 speed automatic transmission and I don't like that at all but I guess beggars can't be choosers. He wants me to keep it nice and calm for my fiance to putt around in but I have other things in mind. What do you guys suggest as far as transmissions go? Can I put a manual in it? Or should I swap some smaller gears?

My first installations are going to be headers and a 4 barrel carb. Any other suggestions to start off with?

Thanks a lot for reading. I'm really excited about this thing.

 

If its a stock trans, its a 3-speed.

You can put a manual in it. You can put racier gears in it. You can do both.....you need to decide what you want to do. If you want to row your own, put in a manual. Leave the auto in and change the rear gears if you dont care about the slushbox.

I would look at rear gears first. Your stock ones are prob 2.80s, for an auto you might want ~3.25, for a T-5 manual trans a 3.50 - 3.80. There are tons of things you can do, but post more about what you want to do with the car, how much $$ you will throw at it, and, most importantly, what your fiancee and future FIL will let you get away with!

Gave you a 66 coupe, eh? Does your fiancee have any sisters?

Welcome to the board!
________
SoldierOfSex live

 

Gave you a 66 coupe, eh? Does your fiancee have any sisters?
I've got three words for that...


Git er done!!!! Great way to think right there.

 

A tranny swap is very possible if you prefer a stick, but the C4 auto isn't necessarily what's slowing you down out of the gate. C4's can, and often do get the "bullet proofing" treatment and are outstanding drag race transmissions. The only real problem is that you either have (with low gears like 4.11's) a great hole-shot potential and terrible highway driving (cruising at 65 somewhere at or above 3K RPM), or you keep the high 2.80 gears that you likely already have and have the reverse scenario.

Either way, an 4bbl carb and headers are a great start to getting some more snap in there.

Post up more (lots more!) details on your coupe, and of course, pics would be great.

 

there's a 66 coupe near me for sale that im interested in. the body is in good shape with just a couple tiny rust spots. my only problem with it is the auto tranny, how much would it run to change over to a manual?