Thanks alot guys. I had considered a 5 speed swap, and I know that the shifter on most 5 speed trannys sits further back than the Saginaw 3 speed or 4 speed. I thought about a Tremec type transmission, because the shifter location can be changed, but that's alot of coin. Right now, I'm just trying to figure out where I'm going with this job, and whether or not GM used different shifter locations on these cars. Thanks again for your help.
Manual trans shifter hole location?
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I had the crazy idea of trying to use a 3.35 1st T-5 from a 93-96 V-6 Mustang, built in a World Class Camaro or S10 case. They look the same to me. The trick is the input shaft length. Might need a spacer, and have to use a Mustang clutch disc, plus sort out the speedo sender. The benefit is that Mustang T-5 mounts straight up. Shifter looks about a half inch forward of the Camaro location. If you are up for a challenge, swap some ingenuity for lots of money.
For the T5 WC I bolted the transmission into place and used a jack to lift it up to the tunnel. Then took a drill and put a hole through the tunnel on each corner of the shtfter housing. Lowered the transmission and covered the open shifter housing, had a beer then cut the hole and jacked up the transmission to make sure the hole was good, then had another beer. It's not hard, just time consuming
Originally, I thought about swapping the 229 V6 and 3 speed out of the Malibu, and swapping in a carbed 4.3 V6 and an S10 5 speed. I have the S10 transmission here, but I know its not made to handle V8 levels of torque. I figured that the shifter location on the S10 transmission should be close to where the shifter on the 3 speed is located.
Don't underestimate a Saginaw trans. It does use a strong cast iron case and as long as you don't do 10,000 rpm clutch dumps,it will live. My '81 Malibu wagon also came with the 229 w/3 speed and I replaced that with a Pontiac 400 w/4speed. It lived for 10 years and I was not kind to it. I feel that if your rear end gears are correct, you won't strain the drivetrain. I like a 10 to 1 overall ratio so I don't need to ride the clutch to get rolling. Right now I am using a Pontiac 301 with a Saginaw 4 speed w/3.50 first gear and a 2:73 rear gear for easy takeoff and nice cruising rpm's.
I have to pull the interior out of the Malibu, to see what kind of shape the firewall and floor are in.
I have an '81 Cutlass wagon with the floor & firewall badly rotted, and I'm hoping to be able to graft those sections in from the Malibu, thereby ending up with a manual trans Cutlass wagon.
The Cutlass has a 305 Chevy in it, and I'd like to upgrade to a 350 Chev. I'm doubtful as to whether the Borg Warner S10 5 speed would last behind the Chev V8 for any length of time.
I have an '81 Cutlass wagon with the floor & firewall badly rotted, and I'm hoping to be able to graft those sections in from the Malibu, thereby ending up with a manual trans Cutlass wagon.
The Cutlass has a 305 Chevy in it, and I'd like to upgrade to a 350 Chev. I'm doubtful as to whether the Borg Warner S10 5 speed would last behind the Chev V8 for any length of time.
Do not follow these instructions....the housing is nothing like the G body housing and puts the pedals too high and too close to the driver. I tried it and it does not work. I ended up using the F body clutch pedal with a few modifications and used the G body pedal housing with the G body brake pedal.
http://www.monte-list.com/tech/fivespeed.shtml
http://www.monte-list.com/tech/fivespeed.shtml
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