Mr.Gearhead

Has anyone tried this swap. I have a 4spd Muncie now and was think of going into overdrive. Does anyone know of any direct fit 5spd manual trans out there?

What does Kamis have in his hotrod? I guess I should check uhhh? :D

GDaina

Doug Nash/Richmond Gear 5 speed and 6 speed, done all the time

Mr.Gearhead

Is there any special hook up for the clutch linkage? Is it a direct bolt in? I the Richmond in the Summit catalog and was curious...hmmmm. Overdrive on the highway... yeah.... overdrive! Still would like to hear from those who have done the swap.. any tips?? TRICKS??? Thanks alot :D

SmokedTires

Mr Gearhead, there are many people on the forum here who have sapped O/D's into their C3's. Merlin has a 6spd in his car which is about $3000. I going for the Tremic TKO 5spd which Monty is using behind his ever increasing HP motor (now going from 650hp to 1400hp :eek: ) . The TKO goes for about $1900 from Fortes. Be careful of the Richmond 5spd as it's not an O/D. If your going with a 6spd, check to see if it's going to require a hyd. clutch or not before you buy.

As far as fitting, if you have a 4spd as I do, your crossmember is probably welded to the frame which you'll need to make removable and the tranny mount will need alittle modifying. Norval is doing a swap right now in his C3.

Flareside

You don't have to cut the crossmember if you install the trans and engine at the same time (as a unit).

As far as clutch linkage in concerned, you don't need to change anything. The linkage and clutch are contained in the bellhousing (which you don't have to change).

-Joe


[Modified by Flareside, 1:42 PM 11/28/2001]

Lohkay

I have the richmond 5spd in my car. I wasn't the one that installed it but I can tell you that its using the stock trans mount so you don't need to make it removable. It is not an O/D tranny as the fifth is 1.0 ratio.

groovyjay

I ordered Richmonds Road Race version of their 5-speed tranny and it arrived today! I got it from www.gforcetransmissions.com and now I have to decide what I'm going to use for clutch I got two choices McLeod and Center force. You might wanna give Gforce(mike Long) a call to see if they still have these trannys left for 1450$ with shifter. As my car is originally automatic I'll have to make few changes to my frame work, but I don't actually mind doing it now that I have body off the frame anyways. :cheers:


[Modified by groovyjay, 12:47 PM 11/28/2001]

SmokedTires

Groovyjay congrats on getting one of those tranny's. If I didn't want the O/D gear so bad, I surely would have ordered one also. Are you making good progress?

Well it looks like I may have been alittle misled about having to remove your crossmemver, if that's so, it'll make my swap much easier since my car is only about 14 inches off the ground. :)

groovyjay

SmokedTires: Thanks for asking, everything is going just fine I just order misc. parts from Ecklers for over 2,200$US, huh! I think I should have all the parts I need here before the holidays(except wheels and tires) and I can just concerntrate on the car and not just making money to spent it on more parts. :D. It seems everything should be finihed by the next summer. Engine is going to be dynoed(after many delays and such) next week I'll let you guys know how it turned out (keep your fingers crossed for over 550+). I wanted O/D really bad too but not for 3000$, maybe in the future...

BeaterShark

Most people that I've read about that installed a Tremec 5 sp have made the cross member removable, as the tranny is a little longer than the Muncie (which if my memory serves also requires a shorter drive shaft). I think that some people believe that it does not need to be made removeable if the tranny is always removed with the engine, but I have never read where somebody has actually done that.

I do not believe that the Richmod 5 sp requires any mods, but as has already been stated, does not provide an overdrive.

Flareside

groovyjay, which shift handle did Mike give you? I got the 1012 with the trans, because his book said it would fit a C3, but it's doesn't look right to me since the **** is set back (toward the rear of the car) 7.25 inches from the base and 3 inches to the left. Allan71 recommended the 1085 handle, which puts the **** 9 1/8 inches directly above the base. Mike said he'd swap the handle for me if I need to. Anybody else know which handle they're using on the Long Engineering shifter?

I'll take a few pictures tonight.

-Joe


[Modified by Flareside, 2:25 PM 11/28/2001]

groovyjay

Joe: I actually haven't claimaed the tranny yet, it's at the Airport, I'll pick it up tomorrow and find out. Too bad if the shifter doesn't fir right, I see another 3 week delay ahead!!! When I ordered the tranny Mike told me to try the shifter first just to make sure it fits and if it doesn't send it back and they'll change it. I'll get back to you on this one soon as I've laid my hands on the package.

Flareside

Hey Gearhead, check out these threads for everything you wanted to know and more...
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=182595
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/zerothread?id=183437

SmokedTires

Groovy it sounds like your car is moving right along :) . I've been keeping my eye out for updates ;) . Be sure to let us know the dyno results :D .

Garys '68

If I was going to try to do a 5 speed OD conversion on a budget. What car/truck could I get a used tranny out of to use? Camaro/Firebird? Would you use the donor bell housing & clutch or the vette?
Gary

SmokedTires

Be careful Gary, you may run into hydralic clutches or not very strong tranny's. One of the reason's that you could only get a 5spd with a 305 is that they couldn't handle the hp/ torque of a 350. Check before buying, the later trannys may be stronger.

I had a 83 Camaro Z28 that I put a 300hp 350 in front of the 5spd. I broke 3 trannys before I sold it :eek: .

Garys '68

SmokedTires
Why not a hydraulic clutch? It's about the siplest hydraulic mechanism around. Clearace for the master cylinder shouldn't be a problem. Not sure about the slave cylinder though. I haven't looked at the linkage crefully enough to see if the mechanical linkage could be used.
I was not aware of the strength issue with the 5 speeds. Anyone else have any input on these issues.
Another possibility, I recall seeing an add on tailstock electronic overdrive. I think it was for automatics though. Anyone know if there's one that will work on a 4 speed?
Gary

WESCH

Yes, GEAR VENDORS offer a o/drive gearbox that bolts to the original tranny.
Electrically, every ( except 1rst )of the 4 original gears can be o/driven , so you get 7 gears.
This gives a o/drive of 0.78 in 4th gear Over.
Check their site at http://WWW.GEARVENDORS.com
Kind of expensive.
Gunther
:seeya

av8vito

As a note, I just dropped the 4-spd out of my '80 to replace the clutch, and it has a removeable cross-member. I'd been told that only automatics came with the removeable cross-member. Hmmmmmmm. Guess I'm just lucky.

SmokedTires

Gary's68, there absolutely nothing wrong with having a hydraulic clutch. It may actually have an easier pedal pressure, although my Centerforce pedal pressure isn't bad at all. I just wanted to make people aware that some of the newer transmissions use hydraulic clutches so there would naturally be more parts to purchase and fabricate to fit our cars in those cases (it's amazing the steps we'll go when we want something bad enough though ;) ).

av8vito, I believe the later 80-82 vettes all came with removable crossmembers. Monty's car came with an automatic when new & his crossmember was removable. I wish GM :chevy would have done this for all of us :rolleyes: .


[Modified by SmokedTires, 6:34 PM 11/28/2001]