Thread: Need some help!!

Is it correct to say that your priority is keeping the column shift?

There are two ways to get what you want and a third way to get something good but different:

1. Have the rear of the V6 block converted to the Trimatic pattern (as is sometimes done on Turbo-pattern V8 blocks) and retain the current gearbox.

2. Install the V6 with its T700 auto and work it with the ute's column shifter (see how here).

3. Find a donor VN–VP ute with column shift and transplant the engine, transmission and steering column.

I don't seem to be reading you right, Pete. I can't tell where your priority is.

The easiest conversion, and the best result on the road, is to fit the V6 and its T700 4-speed auto as a pair. There is no good reason to keep the Trimatic 3-speed other than maintaining the workings of the original column shift.

If you commit to the T700, shifter choice depends on what you want in the cabin. From easiest to hardest, you can have: the Commodore T-bar, use an aftermarket T-bar (e.g. B&M), adapt an HQ–WB T-bar, adapt the HQ–WB column shift, or swap in a Commodore ute steering column.