Finally got my 5 speed tremec trans in my car and it works like a dream! I wish I had gone this way a long time ago ! The trans has a .68 overdrive so at 70 mph I was only reving around 2100 ( that is with 3:73 gears as well !) The only modification I had to do was to lower the trans mount bracket on the rear cross member and gusset it for strenght. The front u joint angle is a little lower than the rear but it seems to work, if worse comes to worse you can elongate the holes on the top trac bars on the rear end which will bring up the rear u joint angle to match the front one. I have added a couple of pics ! I rigged up a vaccum actuator to push-pull my linkage on the column into reverse and used the switch on the trans ( no external linkage for the reverse brackdrive ) If anyone is undertaking this give me a shout and I will try to get some more pics for them ! The trans came from Keisler and included the driveshaft, speedo cable and clutch disc ! The total was around $4000.00 with the exchange ( it was quite high then ) and worth every Canadian penny ! the car is a joy to drive on the highway and you don't have to use you gas gauge for a tach !!!!
It was suppose to be 3:27 but it feels like my old muncie 2:80( 2:87 from tremec), I checked the tag and it says it is a 3:27 but things can be tagged wrong ! I called keisler on this and asked if they could have put in the wrong first gear, they said no, I had 3:31gears in for the 3:27 first gear but it seemed so lazy so I put my 3:73 gears back in I will be looking in to this for sure !
I ordered the kit from Keisler and had it shipped to a friend in Buffalo NY. The kit was around $4000 Cdn ( thats when the dollar was high). The only modification was to lower the mount on the trans crossmember, they give you a piece of tin for the tunnel but I wasn't going to use it ! I didn't want to cut up my floor!! We took the car to Woodward Ave in Detroit and it worked like a dream !!! I would highly recommend the swap !!
OK, I'm confused about this Vac. set up??? Can't figure out what your activating here with linkage to old column shift? from 5spd. B/up lights are the only thing that come to mind if car was a automatic before?? but wouldn't 5 spd have a b/up switch built into it!!! Put me out of my "missory" quickly"
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Some times I wake up GRUMPY, but today I let her sleep in !!!!!!!!BLACKSTOCK Ont.
I wish it was the same for my 65 Beau. It's tight with the M-20. I can't bring myself to cut a original 4spd car floor up.
Hi Kevin,
I did this same swap a few years ago...actually I did it twice. The first time was when I installed a Tremec 5 speed in my 68 Z28 (3.73 gears). I bought the 5 speed with the 3.27 low first gear because as you likely know the 302 isn't known for it's torque and needs help to get going.
I did not have to cut up the tranny tunnel at all. It is very important to advise the tranny vendor which vehicle the transmission is going in to. Consequently the vendor will ensure the shifter location is positioned correctly. However, if there is any fitment issues the simple fix is to make a small adapter to ensure correct shifter location is obtained.
The swap worked so well, the second time around I did it in my 70 SS Nova which is my daily driver. The Nova has 3.31 gears so the .68 overdrive has me cruising at 1800 rpm @ 60 mph. I have a Crane Energizer 3/4 race cam in the otherwise stock 350 and the cam is designed for 2200 to 5200 rpm. Therefore, passing consists of down-shifting to 4th which put you well into the power band and away you go.
I never had to modify the Nova's tranny tunnel either. The only thing I wish I had done is to have taken pictures to document the tranny swaps. Both my Nova and Z28 have M21's which are now stored in the boxes the Tremec's came in. This is one of the best mods I have ever done to my cars...especially when you take into consideration the cost of gas these days.
Sorry for the long post.
ZAPPER
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1949 Pro Street Meteor Coupe, 468 BBC, 4L80E, Narrowed 9" 3.50 posi
1966 Biscayne post, 427 L72, M21, 4.11's 16600 original miles
1966 Hemi Satellite 4 gear 59K original miles 1968 Z28 302MO, M21, 3.73's, cowl plenum induction
So Zapper , do you think the same would work for my 70 Z28 ? I would put the 5 speed in if I don't have to hack the floor up too ??
I don't see any reason why not...as I stressed in my previous post, it is very important to tell your vendor what car the transmission is going into. They will (should) make sure the shifter location on the Tremec is compatible for your stock tunnel bearing in mind the transmission presently installed.
ZAPPER
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1949 Pro Street Meteor Coupe, 468 BBC, 4L80E, Narrowed 9" 3.50 posi
1966 Biscayne post, 427 L72, M21, 4.11's 16600 original miles
1966 Hemi Satellite 4 gear 59K original miles 1968 Z28 302MO, M21, 3.73's, cowl plenum induction
The original muncie had a back drive linkage to turn the column back to activate the back up lights when shifted into reverse. I wanted to keep it looking and operating like factory so when the car is shifted into reverse the back up light switch in the tranny operates the vacuum switch to apply vacuum to the servo and turn the column back to activate the b/u lights and to let the key turn back. When the trans is taken out of reverse the vacuum is taken away, sring pressure inside the servo makes the the column turns down to disconnect the back up switch and turn out the lights . I hope I didn't confuse you more but I just had to have the column turn with the shifter handle like with the muncie originally did and this is the way I came up with to do it !
