Time for a new tranny

[Rainer3012]

Ok when I was looking for a vette I definatly prefered a 4speed model, however its obvious that most of the cars are automatics. When I finally found mine however The choice of transmission was second to the car being in decent and well running shape. However now that I've upgraded the car I'm wanting a better tranny for the motor. Heres my stats

1980 L82 vette
350 GM performance parts putting out 330hp and 375 torque
TH 350 3 speed auto tranny
Shorty Headers and straight pipes.

What I'd like to do is put in a manual transmission but I don't know what i need to do to adapt my car. I wouldn't mind getting a 6 speed if its possible. What parts do I need to get? I know I can get the brake/clutch assembly off ebay but what else?

Is it just a better Idea to look at a 700R4 auto? what kinda money could I be looking at? Sorry to be so vague but I know you guys can help me out. thanx

 

[JohnZ]

LOTS of parts involved - fortunately, all are available. You're looking at a minimum of $2,000 for a Muncie or ST-10 installation, up to $4,000 or more for a T-56 installation.

 

[mike weyman]

mine came with the 400 turbo, i swapped it out and installed a 350 turbo. if you're staying auto, just put in a shift kit and a 2400 stall converter, this will wake the tranny up real quick.rear end gears will do a lot for it too .

 

[mike weyman]

you will almost need a scrap vette to get the standard shift parts from. almost for sure there would be 10 or 20 diffrent parts needed for the swap, right down to the pedals.mike

 

[1978L48jafo]

I just completed converting my vet to from auto to manual. To get the conversion parts I contacted a bunch of business on the internet that specialize in used corvette parts. I purchaced from a guy who had everything and made me a deal on the lot. He even had a jig for the placement of the frame bracket to hold the z bar. if you want to go this route here is the email (corvetteusa1@sbcglobal.net) address. He said that he had sufficient parts on hand to convert 3 or 4 vets over when I talked to him in MAy.

If you want to talk about the 6 speed installation let me know, I did it from underneath and it was a bit of a pain. No regrets, 6th is a little steep you really need to be 70 MPH to use it. But the car is a pleasure to drive, IMO I would go with the 5 speed everything from the cross member to drive shaft is already available to bold in. I had to modify shifter, crossmember and drive shaft to get the viper 6 in and I am not sure if the extra over drive gear was worth all of the extra fabrication....


Side bar: if you decide to put the auto back in mine is listed in the parts section low miliage with a high stall converter. If you want to research overdrive automatics try Bowtie Overdrives, they have transmissions and cross members to put into a c3. Definately not as pricey as converting to manual. Last comment watch ebay a GM world class T5 is a reasonable conversion they seem to go from 300-500.00.
good luck

John

you will almost need a scrap vette to get the standard shift parts from. almost for sure there would be 10 or 20 diffrent parts needed for the swap, right down to the pedals.mike

 

[BeaterShark]

This is just some of my random thoughts on this:

Going manual will be signifigantly more expensive than the 700R4. If buying new, the tranny alone (not including bellhousing, clutch, PP, driveshaft, shifter, etc) will cost from $1800 - $3300.

A 6 speed will offer no more performance* than a 5 speed. The extra gear is usually* just another overdrive.
* The Richmond 6-speed has a 1:1 5'th gear and offers closer ratios in the underdriven gears.

A good used T-56 can be had for about $1k and Mcleod makes a modular bellhousing which will adapt this tranny to an old 350 for $400. Although this BH is not SFI rated, it *looks* to be just as beefy as their SFI rated belhousings.

The World Class T-5 is a weak tranny, rated at only 300 ft/lbs torque. This is why the 350 ci F-bodies were only offered with autos. If you go this route, be prepared to have to do an occasional rebuild (I'm not saying you will have to, but at least be prepared to).

It is a lot of work and some trannys may require clearancing the tunnel and cutting for the shifter to fit.

The popular tranny's to use are: Tremec TKO/TKO500/TKO600, Tremec T-56, and Richmond 6-speed (ROD). These are all rated greater than 400 ft/lbs tq.

If I were getting an OD tranny, I'd go with the Tremec TKO600 with the .62 OD gear or the used T-56 route.