Hello all, I called steve at Fortes parts today. I told him that I wanted to order the tko600,and was going to install it with the lakewood bellhousing,spohn xmember-t/a kit. He told me that I would still need the f-late package(adapter plate,t/a bracket...). Also that my driveshaft would need to be shorten, and that the shifter from my t5 would swap over. Is this right? I read some where on here that with the lakewoodbellhousing,it delete the need for the adapter plate. Same with the spohn crossmember-t/a! Any one know which way to go, need to get my car back on the road for spring and summer. I have been saving up for this trans and the right parts to install with it. Just want A clean and simple swap. Please any one. THANKS

You will still need the adapter plate with the Lakewood bellhousing, I did. The TKO-600 that works in our cars has the Ford length input shaft. The adapter is basically there to move the shifter location back as far as possible. Your shifter from your t-5 will not work. However, he modifies a stock TKO shifter that moves the stick back some. I bought it and didn't like it. I bought a Pro-5.0 and modified it (I still have the modified forte shifter if you want it).

Definitely get the spohn crossmember for the TKO and the T/A, you'll save yourself tons of headache. You might have to modified the tranny mount. I bought a poly piece and had to modify it slightly to work, really no big deal.

You'll definitely need the "special" pilot bearing that comes with it.

You're stock driveshaft is probably about 3/4" too long after the swap, mine was. I didn't shorten mine because I was going to buy a new one. If I would have kept the stock one I would have shortened it.

Thanks for the info, Thomas Aquinas.
I also noticed that there are two types of tko's. One is a gm, the other is a ford. So is it the input shaft length between the two that matters?
Seems that the fords are longer or something!- just a guess?

i havent shortened my driveshaft, works fine.

yes you do need the adapter plate, and maybe the shifter stick will swap, but not the mechanism itself

Good, thanks 86TA. By the way, what trans do you have? The gm or the ford trans.
Because I see some with the gm trans and some with the ford trans. Some have to shorten the driveshaft while others do not. Some have to use the adapter plate, and some don't, thay use the lakewood bellhousing.
It has two bolt patterns, one at 18deg, one up/down.
I just dont want to be ordering extra parts.

i have the tko600 for GM cars, and the lakewood bellhousing, with the adapter plate and the whole nine. the adapter plate bolts to the bellhousing using the 18 degree cantered holes, then the trans mounts to it straight up. I believe it was like this... originally, the trans was the 3550, the ford version and it didnt need the adapter plate, but used a ford clutch 10 spline. the new tko500 and 600 have a different input shaft that uses the standard GM 26 spline (or is it 27 spline?) clutch.

You NEED the adapter, You NEED the gm version of the trans for the f-body, you NEED a ford c6 yoke for the trans output shaft. The stock shifter will be too far forward, you will need to use the offset shifter that fortes makes and a straight stick, or fabricate a stick to work with the factory shifter, or go aftermarket. Im thinking about trying a steeda tri-ax myself, it looks like it will fit perfectly.

He sells you a mechanical speedo adapter that uses the stock t5 sender i believe, if you dont have a t5 now dont waste your money on that part, its about 80 bux or something and i bought it not knowing what was going on, so i think i still have it and i could give it to you if you go that route. I ended up using the tko's ford speedo output and a Dakota digital converter box to get my speedo running. I assume you have an electric speedo?

You can bolt the T5 torque arm bracket to the tko, or go with an aftermarket crossmember setup. Im using a UMI 700r4/T5 crossmember with a couple aluminum spacers i made to lower the crossmember 3/8", it works great, i feel it should actually sit higher, but the trans tunnel is in the way. and a Prothane trans mount, my energy suspension one broke with the trans, i dont know why.
fortes sells a relocation kit for the stock crossmember, it works but requires some small mods to the crossmember. One guy here uses it, i forget his name.

Does this help clear things up a bit?

Yeah 86TA, that just about clears it up for me. Thanks alot!
Guess I'll try and order mines any day now.
TKO600, with adapter plate, lakewood bellhousing, spohn crossmember t/a, and a new driveshaft from spohn I guess the top gun. I'am thinking about getting the tri-ax also!
Any one useing or hear much about spohn's topgun driveshaft?

Yea, that pretty much sums it up. Mike Forte was pretty helpful when I ordered mine. He should be able to answer any questions you have.
I believe the one that fits our cars is actually a Ford length input shaft, but with a GM bearing retainer shaft. The ford length helps move the tranny back for shifter location, and the GM brs allows us to us a stock throw-out bearing.
As for driveshafts, I'm running a custom length AL one from precision shaft tech. The DS spohn makes are very nice pieces.

bringing this back from the dead to correct some info. The TKO600 is available with the trans case drilled for the Muncie/Saginaw bolt pattern. If you use the 6.6" regular GM input shaft, you can use the Lakewood bellhousing without the adapter plate. There are members on this site running this setup. Antman89iroc is one of them. I will be shortly as well...

but that moves the shifter even more forward, to about 3" further forward, thats almost under the radio pod is it not?

I just put a Tremec 3550 in my 69 Camaro, and it has the 6.6" GM input, and the mounting holes on the trans face are routered/drilled out slightly so it'll bolt up to a GM pattern bellhousing. The 3rd gen specific TKO's use the longer input shaft and the adapter plate so that you can rotate the TKO to the proper "straight up" position instead of it being tilted like the stock T5. You could use the shorter GM input shaft in a 3rd gen, but you'd have to use the lakewood housing with the dual bolt pattern so that the trans sits at 12 o'clock. It wouldn't work with the T5 bellhousing since the only mounting holes are in the tilted position, hence the need for the adapter plate. As far as the shifter position goes, I've got a 3rd gen specific TKO from Forte's that has the longer input and adapter plate, and it came with a spacer plate that mounts the stick about 2" further back, which puts it in the perfect position. So if you were running a TKO without the adapter plate between the trans and bellhousing, all you'd have to do is make the shifter spacer plate holes about 3" instead of 2". Btw, I've got the Steeda Tri-Ax shifter on the 3550 I just installed in my 69, and it feels pretty nice when I shift it just sitting in the car. Nice, short throws. I'll be test driving it for the first time tomorrow, so I'll be able to tell you how well it works pretty soon here.

Yea, even with the adapter plate between the BH and the trans I still had to move the shifter stick back a good 2 inches. I would imagine you would have to cut up the console if the adapter plate wasn't there. Maybe post some pics of your new setup?

Yeah, I've been meaning to take some pics, but I've been so busy fitting everything up I haven't even snapped a single pic yet. Lol. I'll probably take some today while I'm putting everything together for the last time.