 15. We could have hooked up...  15. We could have hooked up the factory shift linkage, but we know there is a better option out there for us. A few days before the swap job, we ordered a Kugel stainless steel shift arm kit from Stan at Early Classic Enterprises. Regrettably, we don't have a product shot for you. While we were at the driveshaft place, Sam, aka Mr. Patient, decided to tear it open and start the installation. Here is a side-by-side of the Kugel, compared to the stock shift rods. The Kugel features sturdy ball pivot ends to reduce the slop in the shift linkage and give you a nice solid engagement. |  16. One end of the rod mounts...  16. One end of the rod mounts into the factory hole in the column, while the other end is hooked to an arm on the trans via this splined adapter. This 48-splined mount allows you to rotate the shift arm in many locations, so you can set it up perfect. |  17. The rod arm needed to...  17. The rod arm needed to be trimmed just a little bit for our application to work properly. Whatever you do, follow the Kugel instructions to a tee before you cut anything. |
 18. With the shift linkage...  18. With the shift linkage working as it should and the driveshaft installed, we fired up the truck and topped off the fluid. |  19. After cycling the truck...  19. After cycling the truck through the gears a few times, we took a testdrive. Everything was good to go, so we decided to drive out to CPT to have Art Carr check our work. He checked our TV cable adjustment and the fluid level before giving us the thumbs-up. |  |
The Final Word
Upgrading our '68 pickup to an Overdrive transmission couldn't have been easier, unless we had someone else turn the wrenches. The 2004R from California Performance Transmission works great, shifting smoothly under light throttle and barking the tires under full throttle. Not only did we get a performance upgrade, but we also received one more gear for highway cruising.
Transmission lengths from bellhousing to tailshaft
| POWERGLIDE |
| Short tailshaft | 26 |
| Long tailshaft | 27 |
| TH350 |
| Short tailshaft | 27 |
| Long tailshaft | 30 |
| Extra-long tailshaft | 34 |
| TH400 |
| Short tailshaft | 27 |
| Long tailshaft | 34 |
| Extra-long tailshaft | 38 |
| 2004R |
| All | 27 |
| 700R4 and 4L60 |
| All, except Corvette | 31 |
| Corvette (1982-1996) | 30 |
| GEAR RATIO COMPARISONS |
| TRANSMISSION | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th |
| Powerglide | 1.76 | 1.00 | | |
| TH-2004R | 2.74 | 1.57 | 1.00 | 0.67 |
| TH-350 | 2.52 | 1.52 | 1.00 | |
| TH-400 | 2.48 | 1.48 | 1.00 | |
| TH-700R4 | 3.06 | 1.62 | 1.00 | 0.70 |
If you had 4.10 gears in your rearend, your final drive ratio would be:
| TRANSMISSION |
| Powerglide | 4.10 |
| TH-2004R | 2.75 |
| TH-350 | 4.10 |
| TH-400 | 4.10 |
| TH-700R4 | 2.87 |