Equipping a G-Body with a manual trans

[malibuSSwagon]

I'm using a John Bzdel pedal (pricy, but worth it!) and a 4th gen Camaro master/slave setup with a 3rd gen hydro bellhousing. Yup the sideways one. Thats my plan. Gonna be cheaper than the mechanical setup (can't find it for under $500!) This way it'll cost me $330 and I get nice new hydro linkage

 

[pontiacgp]

I used a 3rd gen camaro clutch pedal...I cut it and welded in a 3/4" extension and angled the pedal back a bit and I moved the pin back about 1.5" and it works great...and I used the G body brake pedal and just cut the foot pad to size and increased the joggle in the shaft to move it a little closer to the gas pedal to give a bit more room for the clutch

 

[prime]

Anyone know what sort of 5 speeds could be mated to a cutlasses stock 305?

 

[Doober]

T5, TKO500/600. You could hook an NV3500 up to it as well, but you'd need a hydraulic setup, and I'm not sure what tunnel clearance would be like with that trans... they're definitely stronger than a stock T5 though. I'm almost considering looking into one myself, I just can't find any measurements online to compare them to any other 4/5/6-speeds. It would be nice if it fit, because the S10 ratios would line up almost perfectly with the setup I currently have.

 

[prime]

Well I'm going to have to drill holes in the firewall anyways, setting up a hydrolic clutch master cylindar shouldn't be to much of an issue, last time I peeked into a cutlass engine bay there was enough space for a big block, I don't think positioning the hydralic cylindar will be a huge problem, and I could move the resivour around if I needed to. I think I'll check out the NV3500, and let you know how it goes. Given my purpose I'd really prefer the stronger transmission. Inevitably I see pain in my future anyways.

 

[pontiacgp]

the master cylinder is installed using the hole in the firewall just below the brake booster that was intended for the wiring for the cruise control. You'll just need to drill two holes for the bolts to secure the cylinder.

 

[Doober]

If the car originally had cruise there is already a hole in the right spot for the master (pontiacgp beat me to it :lol🙂, you'll need to drill holes for the mounting bolts though. Check out Craig's (388bu on MalibuRacing.com) conversion info. He used to have carbed - then EFI'd 383, now it has a sick little LS7 in it
http://www.shiftn6.com/

 

[Chillin014]

Anybody ever use a SBC 400 with the t5? The flywheels are very limited for 153 tooth, 2 pc seal, EXTERNALLY balanced flywheels, and they are expensive! Is it possible to use a 168 tooth?

 

[pontiacgp]

I got my flywheel from a race team that's out of a corvette...10.5..153 tooth externally balanced....check the classified section of a local circle track and you should find something there reasonably priced..just make sure someone hasn't machined it paper thin for weight reduction

 

[Doober]

Anybody ever use a SBC 400 with the t5? The flywheels are very limited for 153 tooth, 2 pc seal, EXTERNALLY balanced flywheels, and they are expensive! Is it possible to use a 168 tooth?

It is, but you'll likely spend more buying a compatible bellhousing/clutch fork than buying the proper flywheel for a G-Body bellhousing. Your options for other bellhousings are '84-'88 Corvette bellhousings, or '82-'83 F-Body bellhousings, but they're a)rare, and b)only 153-tooth. There is a 168-tooth G-Body bellhousing available, but it's a)rare, and b)not all bellhousings with the 462697 casting number were for a G-Body. You could however get a traditional 168-tooth bellhousing and run a hydraulic setup with a hydraulic throwout bearing, that would solve your flywheel dilemma, but you have the added cost of a hydraulic setup.