[jchilds]

I am going to go ahead and do the conversion, since I read that my C6 is costing me at least 30HP at the wheels. Plus, I really hate automatics.

Anyway, I have researched some of the past posts here about the Tremec swap, but I have not seen much about putting one in a 69/70 body car. My big question is will I need to do any clearancing on the trans tunnel to make this work? If this is the case, I will probably go with a T5.

Also, I am planning on using the Modern Driveline crossmember and cable clutch conversions, a standard tremec bellhousing (read that the scattershields are a pain to install).

If anyone has any insight on these questions, I would greatly appreciate any info.

 

[CantedValve]

standard TREMEC bellhousing?

Consider a shortened input shaft and a STOCK 1970 bellhousing. Less hassle... no adapter plate.

There should be NO tranny tunnel clearance issues, but I havae NOT done the swap, so take my word as hearsay only.

 

[Mach1Pilot]

We did the swap from C4 to Tremec on my '69 convertible. There was no problem with the tunnel and no need for cutting. We did need a new cross-member, used a standard 351 manual transmission bell-housing, and accommodated the difference in transmission length with a shorter driveshaft. If you do the research and gather all your parts up front, you should have no problem doing the conversion and you will definitely like the result! Keep in mind that my car does not have the cable clutch, so that may change some things with your conversion.

For mine, we also swapped in a 3.50:1 TracLoc center section.

 

[sharkmouth]

www.moderndriveline.com

 

[roadracer]

Agree strongly on the use of the shortened input shaft, standard bellhousing and no adapter plate.

I have not done this swap on a 69'-70 but suggest this logic.

Toploaders were used on all years. The Tremec with shortened input shaft is a direct swap for the toploader assuming you used a modified crossmemeber that drops the rear of the transmission about 1".

It should work with no problem.

 

[jchilds]

Well, I may have definitely put the cart before the horse here. Last night I bid on a Tremec bellhousing on and won it today, so my first question is--will this work or do I now have a big paperweight? Also, what clutch fork am I going to have to get if I am able to use this?

Thanks for all the replies so far.

 

[abn]

You should not have a problem with the Tremec housing...and it will save you the expense of a shortened input shaft.

If you were starting with a manual transmission car and were simply switching for overdrive...then the shortened shaft Tremec would probably be best. It would be essentially bolt in and you would retain the stock mechanical linkage. However, since you are converting to a cable clutch, the Tremec housing saves you the effort of modifying your existing housing for the clutch fork ball pivot required in a cable system. The only hassle is that you may have some driveshaft length issues. You will have to measure and see if you can retain your stock shaft.
So in short, I don't believe you have a big paperweight.

 

[jchilds]

Since you went from auto to manual, maybe you could shed some light on this question:

I had my engine balanced, which included the flexplate in the calculation. Did you make any effort to match up the flywheel you used with your old flexplate, balance-wise? I do have the correct 28.2oz counterweight flywheel, but I am not sure how big of an impact using this with the rest of my reciprocating assembly will have, or if it is even possible to transfer the balance characteristics from my old flexplate to the flywheel.

 

[Mach1Pilot]

We used the same weight as the original (28 oz., IIRC) but keep in mind that I didn't do the work myself so I'm not nearly enough of an expert to render an opinion on this.