I believe I currently have the 3 speed cruise o matic. Possibly the one that came in the car but I have not verified that.

There is a C4 that I came across that I could pick up for $250. The guy said it runs fine and his customer just wanted an AOD unit.

Would the C4 be a better tranny for being more durable and handling more horses keeping in mind I plan to eventually build myself a decent 302 (or maybe 289 haven't decided) sometime in the next year or two?

 

Your "cruise-o-matic" is a C4

 

I had thought that might be the case...always confuses the you know what out of me.

So would the one I have be ok with a decent build on a 302 or so...or is there something that is more of an upgrade that I should be looking out for?

Mine needs to be rebuilt since it leaks and makes a 'whirling' sound in reverse but it is about 13 or 14 years and 50k or so miles since it's last rebuild. It also sounds kind of "strained" at about 50 - 60 mph.....

 

Depends on what you call a 'decent build.' It won't hold 400hp, but I'm sure a competent tranny shop could build it to handle 300+ for you reliably.

 

I am basically thinking of 4 bbl and a top end kit that has heads, cam, etc.

I believe they advertise one kit I have been looking at as around 360 hp....now whether you would really get that or not I don't know but I have seen similar crate engines that advertise about 340 hp. Not that I would be flooring it to red line on a regular basis anyway and have zero plans to go anywhere near a 1/4 mile track.

What I really prefer is manual transmission but not sure how hard a conversion that would be.

Ironic really, sold my five speed manual car when the twins were born. I pretty much hate automatic but I own three of them now...go figure huh?