400 ci in front of metric 3 speed for time being
i have a 1982 z/28 ,,,it was a 305 car with a 3 spd metric auto ,,,,i am about to fit the new 400 ci vortec headed engine,,for the time being i am going to have to use the metric 3 spd ,,,,till i get a t700r4 rebuilt ,,to go into the car,,,,,will the starter motor fit,,,,,,,,will the torque convertor from the metric 3 spd fit the 400 flexplate,,on the new engine,,,what else will i encounter,,,,up till now the 400 oil pan had to be modified to fit the exhaust setup on these cars,,,in regards to LH,,,RH,,,dip stick setup,,,the 400,,has a dipstick on the other side,,and the pan was longer in the front,,than the 305,,and i couldn,t swap the oil pans over,,to clear the exhaust,,,that was problem 1,,,,,will i encounter any more drama,s ,,,before i attack this job,,,,,,i want to do it in 2, days,,,that includes ,,,cleaning and detailing the engine bay,,,,

 

For the pan, use one off of a late 70s Camaro 350.

There's no way the left-hand dipstick will clear the exhaust manifolds in one of these cars. You'll have to change to headers.

You'll need to use a "pork chop" weight to unbalance the small flex plate to the stock 400 balance; and you'll need to use the 400's harmonic balancer. The starter that's in the car is probably for the 12¾" flex plate, but the 400 one is 14"; you probably won't be able to use the 400 one. But if the one in the car now (and the starter that goes with it) is 14", then it will all bolt up.

Other than that, it should be a total drop-in.

 

i used the gm starter made for the 502 for my 400. its a mini starter for added clearance.its got the diagonal bolt pattern my 400 has also

 

Well, you can 'pinch' the dipstick tube between the manifold and head... it will crush the tube a little, but it will still work fine. I didn't think of doin this during my swap but a friend at school did this and its working fine for him. The dipstick just gets REALLY hot if you pull it out before the motor has a chance to cool.