<VV> Origin of the name of the "Saginaw trans"

[Sethracer at aol.com]

In a message dated 9/8/2010 6:51:22 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
airvair at earthlink.net writes:

It's  just that, right or wrong, the '60-5 tranny is often refered to as  a
"Muncie" and the '66-9 tranny as a  "Saginaw".

-Mark
 
 
Folks - It is pretty simple. Almost all other GM cars, including the  
Corvette, used a Borg Warner T-10 4-speed through 1963. The "non-Super" T10  was 
too light-duty a trans for the horsepower wars of the 60's. In 1964 GM  
changed over the cars that needed it to the stronger "Muncie-built" M20, M21  
and, eventually, the M22 Muncie trans. But these were expensive all-aluminum  
transmissions and GM decided to build a lighter duty, cheaper trans for 
other  applications. This was the Saginaw-built 4-speed used in cars from 
mid-1965  through, and including Vegas. Folks inside and outside  of GM 
differentiated between the two transmissions as "The Muncie"  and "The Saginaw" 
4-speeds. For the 1966 model year, there was no  other car for the Corvair to 
share trans parts with - unlike the Tempest had  been through 1963. So GM 
decided to share other parts into the Corvair.  They could use the Saginaw built 
4-speed as a source, because,  unlike the T10 and the Muncie, it had all 
three shift forks in the main housing.  They adapted the interior 
gears/bearings/shafts into a special Corvair housing  and shifter. That is why the 66 and 
later 3/4 speed trans is called the  "Saginaw" 4-speed. Because it is 
Saginaw 3/4speed transmission based, in  reference to all the other GM 
transmissions. I don't recall the earlier  transmissions being referred to as anything 
special until the Saginaw-based  trans came out, then just "not-the-Saginaw".
 
 
 
Seth  Emerson

C's the Day! - Corvair, Camaro, Corvette

San  Jose, CA