flyitlikustolit

right now I'm running an 82 T/A with a 383 and a TH350. I know that a T-5 won't live long unless I'm nice to it, but I plan on beefing it up before i put it in. rather than attempt to install a manual transmission that wasn't available in my year and face that potential nightmare, can i use a V-6 car? my idea is this:

buy a V6 stick car. gut it. install all of my v8 go fast goodies, including the engine and all the suspension.

use a V8 T-5 behind the motor.

will al of the v6 manual stuf work with the v8 t-5? pedals, master/slave assembly, all that? If you want to know why I'd wanna do all this, I'll explain later, but the short version is that my v8 chassis isn't going to hold together much longer due to serious body issues, and I'd like a manual anyway. thoughts?

AC

iTrader: (3)

flyitlikustolit, my opinion is for the money spent on a V6 car, the time you'll take to gut / transplant, misc, you'd be better off and possibly in the black instead of red getting a used Tremec. A WC T5 isn't going to take much abuse from a well built 383. I know there are people who'll say "I run 410 at the rear and my tranny is 2 years old or I put down 370 all day on my stock 10 bolt rear end." Yes, some times you have the luck to temporarily run the components into their upper limits of designed fatigue and then "BOOOM". Again, just my 2cents. If you really enjoy your car / project then try and see if putting the extra money into it would be feasible.

flyitlikustolit

that is a possibility. I may wind up buying a tremec of some kind, (t-56, t500, t600, t3550) but before i bother getting the tranny, i'm trying to figure out if i NEED to get a v-8 car, or if a v-6 car will work if i use the v-8 style tranny. basically, does everything else interchange/work with a v8 style tranny? if not, then I'll either get a v8/t5 car to swap the stuff into or i may suck it up and do a manual conversion on my car.

AC

iTrader: (3)

flyit, in a nutshell YES. A V8 car can be a donor to a V6 car BUT, there are suspension items (springs, tranny xmember) that I know of that will need to be V8 instead of V6. I did a V6 to V8 like 8 years ago and the main things I rember were the ECM,engine harness, tranny xmember, front springs. What have you found doing a search?

flyitlikustolit

not much. I realize all the suspension stuff is different, and the fuel pump, and the motor moutns, I'm well aware of all that. all i need to know is the about the transmission. I don't want to buy a v-6 car, get to doing the swap, and find out I'm basically going to need a 3rd car for all the v8 manual tranny pieces.

battman

iTrader: (2)

The V6 car has a different bell houing(will not mate to V8), Transmsission has a different spline count(V6=14 spline V8=26 spline, clutch disc is smaller in diameter. Stuff that will work, clutch hydrolics, pedels, and console. If you use a V6 body you will already have the pedals and hydrolics in place but you would still need a V8 T5 bellhousing and a v8 tranny.

flyitlikustolit

that is exactly what i wanted to know. I don't mind finding a v8 tranny, it's not terribly hard, and if i find i have the money, I'll just get a t500, t600, or t56. I know the t56 would take a little more work, but if the price is right.....

basically, I'm looking for a car with a straight body and preferably good paint. I'd like another t-top car, though if i find a good enough hardtop, i might do it instead. my car is going to require another 4k-5k in body work and paint, and then i still have interior. i already have 10k in it. for 4k-5k i can get another freaking car that's already in good shape. preservation is usually easier than restoration. it'd be carb'd so wiring issues aren't a big deal, and I can use a v-8 cluster from my current car with my MSD box and dizzy, so the guages are a non-issue. as for the suspension, the entire v8-suspensions is going on the car, along with a tube k-member (since I'm swapping motors too.) and a-arms. I have tubular adjustable everything else. and my 4th gen rear and brakes would also go into the new car, along with my stereo system. i figure it'd take me a month, but it'd be easier and cheapr than fixing the body on the one i have now.