I need a little transmission advice....

[Lewis S]

O.K. This is my first post in this forum so please dont't slam me too hard.
I picked up a 81 C10 step side last summer. It's benn through a frame off restoration and I love this truck. Its got a 250 I6 and a 3 speed manual on the colum. I'm alright with the engine as its not a hot rod (already got one of those), and its been completely rebuilt, but I can't let anyone drive it as I seem to be the only one who can get thier head around the 3 on the tree part.
The help I need..
Is there an auto trans that is an easy swap?
could I use an overdrive trans?
Is there a kit for a swap?
Will this work?
Is there a resouce to find out what will actually fit that engine?

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction

 

[CSFJ]

I never realized they made a column shift up until '81. That's kinda cool, plus it's the worlds best anti-theft system. There are many ways to swap it over, the easiest probably being using whatever the factory used for an auto behind that engine. All a matter of hunting down the correct pieces. there are other guys on here who can get deeper into the specifics on length and compatibility than I can.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Three on the tree. Classic haha

 

[Green79Scottsdale]

...The help I need..
Is there an auto trans that is an easy swap?
could I use an overdrive trans?
Is there a kit for a swap?
Will this work?
Is there a resouce to find out what will actually fit that engine?

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction

Hopefully you come back to the site Lewis...

The 250 has the same bellhousing bolt pattern as a small block. All the popular transmissions can be bolted up... TH350, TH400, 200-4R, 700-R4, 4L60-E, and 4L80-E.

You can also bolt up pretty much any manual transmission. If you didn't want to go through the trouble of changing the physical tranny, you can convert it to floor shift. A trip to the yard could possibly net you the parts, or just start looking online.