Any small block transmission/bell housing will fit, probably more choices than any engine ever made. The pickup 4 speed is probably going to be a truck transmission with the "granny" first gear. Tough for what they were designed for but not the best choice for a street ride. It is basically 3 usable forward gears, not suitable for any kind of fast shifting, and heavy.
I think any flywheel except the 400 should work

 

it's a chevy small block
just about any chevy/gm trans will bolt up to it.
even the LS series, most of the bolts line up on the bell housing.


4 speed truck will have granny, if you don't need it don't get one.
also look at the s10 trucks (they're not really trucks), they had 3,4 and 5 speeds that will work

your problem will be your starter,
i believe the 283 only had the 3 bolt to the bell housing starter
and has no provision for a starter to bolt to the motor
can anyone confirm this?

 

...
your problem will be your starter,
i believe the 283 only had the 3 bolt to the bell housing starter
and has no provision for a starter to bolt to the motor
can anyone confirm this?

This is a pic of the starter listed for a 65 Impala, 283, with "Slip and Slide" (Powerglide) trans.

The 3-bolt ones that bolted to the bellhousing were on M/T only.

 

thanks 66gmc
i stand corrected
the only 283 i owned was in a 58 truck
it had no side mounts either

 

I would suggest a super T-10 myself as trhose work well for that app..get the lower first gear as that is a heavy car with a smaller engine..

Sam

 

Thank you all for the help. My parts picking just got much easier. I should've mentioned that this is going into a 51 Chevy coupe, which I suppose will be a little lighter than the Impala.

 

i did this swap on a pasenger car 350 from 1978 and did not have provisions for the 153 tooth flywheel.

i used a 1985 camaro t5,bell,starter, flywheel from a 305
a mcload hydrolic slave(a must with long tube hedders)


here was the tricky part......

the block ws only drilled for the offset stater bolt paturn.

so i made a drilling jig out of some plate and small pipe using the 305 as a template.

i then bolted the jig to the offset paturn on the 350 and drilled the hole for the inline paturn started.

taped and cleaned the holes and bolted in the 153 starter without issues.


the only problem i have run into is the 265 ft lb rating in the t5.

ive had to replace the output shaft and 4th gear(one peice) and second+mainshaft.

when scrapyards are full of 93-4?up camaros i will rob a t56 that has a much higher rating and 6 forward gears

 

trans swap

the cheepest way would be a saginaw 4 speed they are cast iron and can be had cheep.you can tell one by all 3 shift levers are on the cover,and it will hold up fine behind a 283.and from what i remember they have a 3.06 first gear ratio or something like that which would work good if you dont have that much rear end gearing they were used in alot of 60/70 chevys small block cars.

 

You're in luck. You can forgo the 'high performance' transmissions with their high 1st gears and still have a great ride. I would look for either a Muncie M20 (2.5 1st gear) or a T10 with a similar 1st gear, then run an axle with something like a 3.55 or 3.31. If you fall into an appropriate saginaw, thats fine too.

You could run a T5, you will either need a S10 T5 and swap out the guts for the camaro/firebird guts; or use a Camaro/Firebird T5 and swap put the tailhousing for a S10 piece. This locates your shifter more correctly for your application. As far as the bellhousing; You need to make sure you get one thats appropriate for your flywheel and your clutch mount. Me personally, I see a lot of problems with hydraulic clutches in street rods, mostly from sitting for half a year, and low quality aftermarket products. If you can get a Z bar setup (mechanical linkage) for your ride, thats what I would do. It simplifies everything if you ever need a part far from home