How much of a problem is it to change the foot petals from the automatic to 4-speed unit and if anyone could point me to a cheap place to get the change over materials? I have an 82 Camaro custom is i guess what you would call it. Someone took original engine out and put a 350 chevy engine in it, did away with all the computer "stuff" also. Right now it has a 350 turbo tranny. Sounds like a lot of work ive never done it with any of my cars and that being back to 57 chevy, ive always been a 4-speed owner. Thanks, Godbless everyone today, Ron...

 

Why do you want to go to a manual 4 speed, and not a 5 or 6 speed out of curiosity?
Which transmission do you want to get then, have you already decided?

 

Just call me old school I guess, Im 54, used to trannys like the A-833 for my R-Runner the muncie-66 chevelle, saganaw 63 chevys ( I had 2) Just old school. Im not trying to be smart here I love old cars but to me I still have a problem with calling a 82 Camaro an antique, i have my 4th Runner right now and it a 1973. In 1973 I met what is now my wife and we never parted ways, I don't know if i without fabracating can put say a Saganaw 4- speed in it but would love the attempt. i do my own body/paint work and it would, to me, be kin-da neat to see it happen even if i had to fab or build a different console for the car. Its the clutch/brake petal getting in it that makes me on the nerves side of things i just cant get down and woller around underneath the dash to well anymore, to be honest at 6-5 it wasent what i could say ever easy to do. I never owned a 1st gen.Camaro i did buy a 79 and sold it to a guy that hung around the 5 years it took to build a 66 Chevelle ( believe me, whole other story!) and he seen everything i did and wanted to try a car himself sad to say it never did get done, he had the want to do it but unforseen things do come up. Id like to know whats trouble changing these petals around and where i should look to get them any information you can tell me will be a help. Thanks much. Ron.

 

P.S. IF that redneckjoe69 is reading some posts and sees this one HOWDY BUDDY! Hope all well in Florida!!!! Ron...

 

Ok, that was wordy!

- You can get a saginaw in there, since they did come factory in that year. You'd need the tranny (hard to find), shifter mechanism (or get aftermarket), center console (hard to find), pedals/linkages (fairly hard to find, but probably can get generic aftermarket to work). In the end the Saginaw is junk though.

- You can get a Tremec T-10 in there, that was also factory in that year (I have that combo). Better tranny, but same problem finding parts. You can buy just about everything aftermarket - for a price. Exceptions being the center console and pedals I imagine.

If you want to row gears, might as well have 5 - the feeling of driving a standard is still there, plus the benefit of overdrive..

- A T5 (factory or aftermarket) - Is easier to find, more aftermarket parts, etc. The only problem is finding pedals/console. But since these are much more common in junkyards, you have a better chance of finding a Camaro with this setup in a JY. Still rare, but much more common compared to a 4 speed.

- T56 - Best choice for performance. Can buy aftermarket or buy from JY more readily.

 

Saganaw being junk is a new one to me, ive heard people say there noisy, which is true with the winning but i wont say they are junk. ive put them into more old cars and trucks then i can count and never had one go out and some of the old cars what i did to them in the old days is beyond what trannys are made for. next to the Tremec i wouldnt dare say ive heard a lot of things about them and all good, i don't need o-drive no use for it at all and perfer the old type things, like i said in "wordy" in a nut shell i never thought id see the day that i would have an 82 and i can put antique plates on it. The petal asembly thats hard to believe that they are hard to find, the tranny is easy around here, any chevy part is or has been so far, i restored a 66 Chevelle about 10 years ago from a pile of nothing, i got the frame part of body and the glass. No wireing, interior front end just a pile of nothing that everyone said this time i bit off more then i can chew but i did it, the only parts i have problems with is mopar and then they want your first born for them. i wont do fords period... thanks for the information maybe ill just leave it alone, my main concern was how hard of a job is it to change it over and i guess still is, is it a rough job changeing petals around? any short cuts in doing it, sometimes when a man has done this type of thing they can tell you a easyer way to do it.. If you need any parts your having a hard time finding let me know and ill see what i can find for you. I will be around my health doesnt allow to much so when i feel up to it im on the computer so if i could help you locate a part let me know. I bought 3 saganaws a few years ago, sold all but one and i gave that away but aftermarket shifter isint a problem, i even had to make a Z-bar for one so ill get it. and you did teach me something here i really didnt know the 82 came with a saganaw, wish this one did, the 82 to me is better looking then the new ones i just do not care for ground affects. Thanks, Ron, sorry think im guilty of "wordy" again lol.

 

I think sonix is referring to the old z-bar style pedal mechanism that will work with the 4 speed you are considering. It was only offered a couple a years (82-83) before they went to a hydraulic style. I'm sure there are ways to convert it over to hydraulic with little problem, just look around on this site a little. Space is limited under the dash, but if you remove the seat and steering wheel you should have more mobility.

 

An aftermarket T5-based 5-speed (Tremec TKO600 or something) would be a far better bet and far easier to put in than a 4 speed in a combo they only made for one or two years. Finding parts for that would be a nightmare. T5 stuff is a dime a dozen and will work with the aftermarket offerings that are actually tough enough to handle a healthy v8.

Or you can do the T56 thing. Put some 4.10 gears in it and row around with the T56. The T56 is tough, it's only serious drawback is that it's as heavy as a 700r4. But it's centralized and very low in the car. Exactly where you'd want a heavy piece to be.

 

The T56 is quite a bit bigger and heavier than any T5...but on long trips, it has a much better OD gear and it's a stout tranny. OTOH, a T5 is lighter - and if you buy aftermarket, it's also a stout trans. I run a .59 ratio in 5th on mine and turn 2300 at 70 MPH - not too bad. Plus the benefit of no special trans crossmembers etc needed. I'm "Old School" myself so I feel your admiration of the ole 4 speeds, but 5 is an easy transformation...and if you decide on a 5 speed, get the hydralic assist clutch - parts for the Z-Bar are hard to find as Sonix already mentioned...although I don't quite agree the T56 is "the best" for performance, he's a good source of info when it comes to tranny's on these cars, since he's messed with them more than most around here.

 

Id like to thank all of ya, but Confused, ya made my day, BROTHER! was i happy to see someone say something like that "OLD SGHOOL" I thought i was the only one out there! lol. The 70's was a greattt time to live in, everyone cruseing every night, meeting at the local valley freeze, music, cars. girls without jewery sticking out like the whole jewery box, kids now a days, well i wont even get into the honda civic is "the car" thing. Im married to the same gal that rode the roads with me back then, almost 40 years now. to have the health and ALL them cars back. Had to thank ya. Ron...

 

Welcome aboard Ron. Nice to see the young kids get into these cars.

Don't bother with a 4-speed. Yeah, I had em too, that's all we had back then. But then too, we used to throw stuff at our food as it ran past to slow it down enough to take a bite; so I wouldn't necessarily want to totally go back to those days. Some things HAVE actually got better since then. This is one of them.

Get a T-56. It has VIRTUALLY EXACTLY the same ratios as a Muncie, but has 2 (2!!!!) overdrive gears on top of that. Talk about eating your cake and still having it!! put a set of 4.10 gears behind it, you get all the EXACT same effect around town as short-shifting a Muncie, but you still only do 2000 RPM at 75 mph! You can afford to drive it TO WORK!!! Every day if you want!!!! WHAT A DEAL!!!!!!

Personally I thought the 70s sucked. I still remember fondly my first Carter "tax cut"... it just so happened I got a raise (had to, inflation was about 12% a year at the time, one of the things that people conveniently forget about the 70s) and the "tax cut" on the same paycheck... and lo and behold, my paycheck was SMALLER than the one before! PLEASE, cut my pay and raise my taxes back! I liked it better that way. Although, earlier in the decade, for a while I had been making $2.47½/hr working construction jobs; that was BIG money back then. More than my stepfather was making working in an office downtown. But then they raised the minimum wage to $1.60.... I could go on.

Anyway, I digress. You don't want a 4-speed. ESPECIALLY not a steaming bucket of sh** (without the bucket) Saginaw. This is 2010. Don't grow up, just grow more practical instead. Get a T-56.

 

2 things are certain, ill find out myself just how difficult it is to change the petals and everyone loves the Tremec transmisson. 350 turbo does work well!