Short-term 4-speed: Worth the effort?

[307 Regal]

Ever since the early days of my "Buick Regal GTB" build thread (which has long since been deleted) I've always day dreamed of using a manual transmission. The plan was always to use a 5-speed or better, but some other aspect of the car always came first. Paint, suspension, engine swap, rear gears, etc. So I made due with the trusty 200-4R.
The way I use the car has really changed. I got more interested in handling-oriented racing and the automatic trans is starting to show its drawbacks. Also, the Regal is now my spare summer vehicle so daily use is rare and long trips are only made to get to a race track (since I have no trailer). What I'm hinting at there is that maybe I don't need an overdrive right now, although I'd still want one later.

As it sits, my Regal has a mild Buick 350 V8 with a mild/moderate cam and a vacuum operated 4-barrel carb. The rear is a 7 5/8" 3.73:1 (with 28 spline axles and a girdle cover).
What I think I need is a transmission that shifts up and down easily (easier than using a stock auto shifter anyway) that will hold up to abusive driving moderately well behind my 350 in all gears. The engine currently makes somewhere around 250ft lbs and will be like that for at least another 2 years or more. (Power will go up one day.)

I already have an F-body BOP bellhousing set aside and a set of pedals. I plan on going hydraulic for the sake of versatility and simplicity.
Does this sound like a good job for the cheaper, easier-to-find 4-speed transmission? Would a good used or rebuilt Muncie/Saginaw/Borg-Warner fit the bill?
Yes, I could wait who-knows-how-long to get the money saved for a TKO 600 or even a T56 swap. But I could also be dead tomorrow if you get my drift. And I'd sure love to row gears in my car before that happens.

 

[bob64]

4 speeds are alot of fun until you below a shift, sh*t happens! After years of messing around with them l have found that an Automatic can be just as much fun with a full manual valve body. I have 2 cars running full manual valve body's, 1 is a 4l60e in my olds and the other is a 4l80e in my camaro. Everyone thinks there standard until they look for the petals. Whatever gear you put it in its bang in that gear, down shifts are bunny hoping if you do it to soon.

Just my opinion.

 

[307 Regal]

Are there any good road racing oriented shifters for automatics? I've thought about using a ratchet shifter but I dislike the idea of having to ratchet a lot to make a large gear change like reverse-to-first. (Not terribly common, but with the way I use the car it'll happen.)

 

[bob64]

I got B&M shifters in both of mind, there both ratchet shifters but simple to go to reverse. Mine just pull t-handle up and it skips from first to reverse

 

[pontiacgp]

I have a T5 WC with a little more power than your engine and it hold up fine. As long as you don't put drag radials on it and bang it hard you won't have any issues. All those 5.0 mustangs ran a T5 and they are not known for blowing their transmissions. The reason why IO like my T5 is it is about 50 lbs lighter then a T56 and I do not need the .50 6th gear that is in the T56. I have 3.08 rear gears and on the highway at 75 mph I'm reving about 1800 in 5th. The T5 WC shouldn't cost you $1,000, if it's in good shape with the belhousing it should be no more than $600. The only upgrade I suggest for a T5 WC is to get a good shifter, the stock one is real sloppy and it will let you over shift.

 

[307 Regal]

it should be no more than $600.

Ebay and my local Craigslist never gives me good results. Whenever I see a V8 F-body T5 for 600 bucks (if at all) it looks like it was just pulled out of a field. ...Actually come to think of it pretty much all of the ones I find look like that. No bellhousing or shifter either. I may have to come up to Canada.

 

[DRIVEN]

Unfortunately those awesome 3.73s create a layer of complication. When shooting for that magic 10:1 compound 1st you have limited options. The problem with most T5s and Saginaws is that they were typically paired with highway gears and had pretty wide ratios and deep 1st gears. So that pretty much leaves you with the option of a Muncie or TKO. Id save for a TKO and choose your ideal ratios.

 

[pontiacgp]

Ebay and my local Craigslist never gives me good results. Whenever I see a V8 F-body T5 for 600 bucks (if at all) it looks like it was just pulled out of a field. ...Actually come to think of it pretty much all of the ones I find look like that. No bellhousing or shifter either. I may have to come up to Canada.

there is a few up here that think they are gold but I ignore those ads and wait till I see one that is reasonable. The last time I put an ad looking for a T5 WC and one guy contacted me who has a few and they came out of his camaros so he knew if they were good. He seemed to be an honest guy and he was. I now know a guy who rebuilds them and he can upgrade them if I want. The stock rebuild is $850 so I won't rebuild any of mine when it costs me close to $600 for a rebuild kit so for $250 and a warranty I'll gladly give him the work

 

[Texas82GP]

there is a few up here that think they are gold but I ignore those ads and wait till I see one that is reasonable. The last time I put an ad looking for a T5 WC and one guy contacted me who has a few and they came out of his camaros so he knew if they were good. He seemed to be an honest guy and he was. I now know a guy who rebuilds them and he can upgrade them if I want. The stock rebuild is $850 so I won't rebuild any of mine when it costs me close to $600 for a rebuild kit so for $250 and a warranty I'll gladly give him the work

Steve, I like your way of thinking, obviously, since I have a T5 for my car. How would he mate a T5 to a Buick 350, and what would he do about the slanted mounting pad on the tailhousing? My solution was to get an 83 Camaro bellhousing, so the trans will go in canted the same as in a 3rd gen Camaro, and I can run mechanical linkage using the G Body equalizer (Z-bar).

 

[307 Regal]

I may have a misunderstanding of it, but I thought I could mount it to a regular BOP bellhousing and just change the shift lever.

EDIT: and fabricate an adapter for the slanted tail.