What the heck is a Tri-Matic 3 speed?

[Kirk]

I cant for the life of me work it out, im guessing its an auto 3 speed?

I have a manual 3 speed but someone said more gears the better, is this true (ive a red 202 currently).

[Adam S]

Hi Kirk - great that you've got o many questions - however many of the more basic ones can be solved yourself with a bit of googling lol

Trimatic as you've guessed correctly is easy enough to work out... "tri" as in three, and "matic" from 'automatic' gearbox... so a three speed automatic gearbox.  Just google trimatic and read to your hearts content.  I have one in my Bedford matched to a 253 v8 and it works a charm.  "More gears is always better" is an oversimplification.

[Kirk]

Yeah i do realise most are simple questions, and yes some hours googling i would find the answers myself, however i just thought since the site is new, and there isnt many questions so far, it would be a good chance to put some normal simple questions up, the kind a newbie might ask or be afraid to ask (like this question), i love sites that explain simple stuff, its too me like learning the alphabet, makes reading much easier down the track?

My hesitation with the Tri-matic thing was more based on the fact it seemed to have a special name...so i wasnt sure if that was important, cause you dont hear "Quad-Matic" so just checking:).

[Adam S]

No probs... trimatic just a marketing name used by Holden for it when they released it

[hammers_spanners]

Kirk in the states I think its call a Turbo 200?? There is a kit about to fit a Turbo 700 or a 4L60 from a VN or VP commodore to the Holden six. The T700 is a 4 speed auto with a lock up convertor.

Castlemaine Rod Shop has a fitting kit Part No. AP51 at $450 $$  plus you supply the auto, modify the rear cross member and change the tail shaft length.

It would be a good conversion but maybe a bit pricey.

Craig

[Bren]

if you have a manual 3 speed in there already, your easiest bet would be just to put an M20 or M21
in there, which would just bolt straight in. M20's don't cost much.
just make sure you get the shifter with it as they are slightly different. 6cyl VH commodores also have
either an M20 or some other box (a "phillips" box i think they call it) and the other one has different
ratios to the aussie m20.

by the way, the tailshaft / rear mount etc is all the same trimatic and the 3spd manual, so its a much easier swap.

[ShaneJ]

Do they require a cooler to be fitted?

[Warren]

if you have a manual 3 speed in there already, your easiest bet would be just to put an M20 or M21
in there, which would just bolt straight in. M20's don't cost much.
just make sure you get the shifter with it as they are slightly different. 6cyl VH commodores also have
either an M20 or some other box (a "phillips" box i think they call it) and the other one has different
ratios to the aussie m20.

by the way, the tailshaft / rear mount etc is all the same trimatic and the 3spd manual, so its a much easier swap.

I went the M20 swap route, with a few slight mods to a HQ speco shift, it was a relatively simple and painless swap.

Makes the CF a lot better to drive.

Warren

[Warren]

Do they require a cooler to be fitted?

Shane if you are refering to the M20/21, then no, they are manual boxes.

But if you put in a trimatic then yes a cooler will be required.

Warren

[hammers_spanners]

Bren it's a Phillipino box called a Torquemaster. Not very tough and hard to get parts for now.

M20 or M21 or a Celica 5 speed would be the options if you want a manual. The crappy gear change on the Aussie boxes is their downside. Speco make better shifts but I found they flex as well. I welded bracing onto the main base plate to stop any flex. Worked a treat on all those race shifts I did as a wild youth!!