××××I will always be needing help and advice and can not do it with out the Wagon/Buick/Olds community. So stay tuned as I ask questions and get dirty. 1963 Lesabre wagon. Intended drive train? Olds 425. Swith Pitch 400 trans. Parts needed? Interior back panels. Rear fold up seats. Budget? Hahahaha Paint/body? Body looks strait, but who know if body filler lays underneath. Paint is a temporary thing, door jams not sprayed and they look old with light surface rust. Will need patch panels on floor in the front or a big cut out, either way it's gotta get done and will be stronger. Most chrome is rechromed but not all. Future paint ideas are blacked out, black with stock chrome, a bright red, two toned some with unknown color. To far away to know. Windshield and tail gate window need to be installled. Inferior. No typo Im thinking, been thinking something stoopid like keeping OG dash, steeringwheel, seat hard ware and doing all the panels in a modern way, possibly taking it off a 2000 to 2019 Buick and get the seats done ( by me) same color/ texure. Or old school two tone
That looks like a good start. The switch-pitch with the Olds, you want to make sure you put a nice, large aux trans cooler in the cooler circuit. Finding trans techs that can rebuild a switch-pitch are few and far between, and that engine has the torque potential to burn the trans up. As for budgeting, make every part of your resto work its own job, with its own budget as you go along, and your wallet won't act like it was raped.
Glad to see you are getting started on this project. It will be pretty neat when it is finished. As far as the interior goes, I'd vote for keeping it old school.
That's a wise vote. I might just do that but won't know till I get the final paint scheme figured out. My main thing right now is getting this moving under it's own power
Do you know if I can use the innards of a th400 heavy duty from RV's and busses in a Switch pitch? I also have a heavy duty th400 sitting on my moms patio.
That's likely a big NO, but only a trans expert could tell you. IIRC, the Switch-Pitch morphed into the T350, and the T400 is its own design, sharing nothing from the 350. But, as I said, talk to a trans guru. But, if you want to use a T400 with the HD internals, you only need to find one with the BOP (Buick-Olds-Pontiac) bellhousing with short tailshaft, and everything should transfer into the BOP case. Can you snap a pic of the HD T400 at your mom's, post it up here so we can see it? Especially a pic of the bellhousing pattern?
OK. Someone on here will be able to give you some direction. And if it turns out you can put it in, you can sell the Switch-Pitch, recoup some cash.