Manual Transmission Conversion

[Bonnewagon]

I think you got the right idea, start finding parts and wait untill you have everything then have it done, or research the job and do it yourself. When looking at trannies be carefull for old junk that is weak and obsolete. For example, you will find T-10's that look great, but are from the 50's and not worth a crap. Saginaws come with anything from 2:56 to 3:11 to 3:50 first gears. I had a 3:11 first gear Saginaw behind a 400 GTO motor and 3:23 gears out back that was a total ball to drive, and never gave up. The Super T-10's are way better, even better than the Muncies they replaced. Also most Muncies are from the "Muscle Car" age and have like 2:21 first gears. Great for racing, but for a highway cruiser, later ST-10 models came with very low first gears that you can use with low highway gears for the best of both worlds. My aluminum ST-10 is an 82' with 3:42 first, and I have it in my 77' TA with 3:08 rears. My wagon has a Saginaw with 3:50 first and 2:78 rear, it gets 20 mpg with a 301 V-8. I call that my "poor man's overdrive".I have no knowledge of 5/6 speeds to share but many on this site do and will be glad to educate you. So take the winter to research and decide what you want so in the Spring when swap meets start up you will be armed with the right information.

 

[pontiacgp]

as far as the 5 and 6 speeds the T5 WC can handle about 300 lbs of torque and can be built to handle quit a bit more....the T56 can handle more power then a T5 WC but it's about 75 lbs heavier and personally I don't need a twin overdrive...the T5 WC has two different overdrive gears to chose from, 68 and 73 while the T56 has 2 overdrive gears, 74 and the second over drive is 50 which when running a 3:08 rear I would never use the second overdrive. I have 2 T5 WC's and the unit with the 68 overdrive gear I'm revving 2000 at 75 mph. The T5 WC with the 73 overdrive, which is close to the T56 first overdrive, I'm revving 2300 at 75 mph so like I said I have no need for another overdrive gear...


as far as price and availability the T56 is about 3 times the price of a T5 WC and is defiantly much harder to find. If I was going to build up my engine any more I'd put the money into having the T5 WC built than to try to find a T56...this upgrade would handle more power that I would ever throw at it and it's about the price I'd pay for a T56

http://www.thirdgen.org/techboard/astro ... t-5-a.html

 

[Papa_Wheelie]

Thanks for all the possiblities, guys..Of course, I was hoping You would tell Me what I want to hear: That I could get a manual transmission swapped in for approximately the same price as it would cost to rebuild my TH200-R4 (roughly $1200.)

I will probably end up going with the 4 speed.

 

[pontiacgp]

I had the same thought pricewise when I was doing a conversion. The used T5 WC goes for around $500 and that's usually with the bellhousing...the rest is up to you on how much you want to spend but you could keep it close to the $1,200 range doing the work yourself of course

 

[monte-n-313]

i used a 4 speed w/ bell housing out a 69 camaro i found at a swap meet for 150. pressure plate was 150, clutch was 230, used pedals out of a 87 camaro ( mod the bracket,gotta relocate the fuse on the box to the top) was 30,hydraulic clutch outta 98 camaro was 60, had stainless steel braided line made with fitting $35, retro fit kit from novak.com came with nice billet slave cylinder,fork, brackets all matched to that factory bell housing, you have to match the slave bore with the master bore. that was like 190 shipped. thats the option i went

 

[anakputa]

I am using a Hydraulic Master and Howe Hydraulic Throwout bearing. I had to use this setup because the Mechanical Linkage hit on m headers. I got the trans assembly T5 off of EBAY and it has taken a while to find the right parts and do the conversion. Hopefully in a few days it will be on the road. I ran into a small problem, the starter application I was using interfered on the bellhousing. I ordered one for an 86 Camaro Manual Trans. Let's see if I get the right one. The Bell Housing is form a Camaro but who knows year now. I cut off the flange for slave cylinder to clear my Dynomax Headers and ran the braided lines in through the fork hole. This car has been a money pit but it will be worth it when I am done. If I could and still might one day is get a T56. Just plan for the car to be down a few days or more. And if you are paying someone to help, I hope you have a lot of money.

 

[Doober]

That's odd you had issues with the starter/bellhousing, far as I know all the F-Body manual-equipped cars of the '80s/'90s had 153-tooth flywheels.

 

[Papa_Wheelie]

Lucky us, we got a Unique shop nearby that does specialty jobs..Lambo doors, Right-side drive conversions, front wheel drive to rear wheel drive conversions, handicap vans, etc..The only thing is, they charge an arm and a leg..It cost Me $600 just to get a gear drive installed.

 

[Doober]

You paid over 3 times the cost of the part to have it installed? That's an afternoon of easy wrenching :shock:

 

[Papa_Wheelie]

Easy wrenching? Not for Me!! I found detailed instructions on how to do it..The guy who bored out my motor and who builds stock car engines and truck pull engines didn't even want to do it.