ok, all i want to know is which one of these ones would be best to go in my camaro. I am very unsure of what i am going to do. Originally came with v6, automatic. Had a 350 in for a couple of years and removed. Now has no tranny or engine. I am definatly putting a 350 inside tha hood, probabbly carbed and i will be a lil abusive on it, not roast the tires at every stop abusive but i still want a trans that will hold up. I have read the 5 speeds cant handle much torque, and if so what does it need to take the torque a 350 will put out. I don't plan on pushing more than 250 to 270hp. I want to do this cheap, what would be the best combination. Note that i don't have the cars pc and the rear differential will need to be changed for v8 car. Any information will be helpfull thanx!!

 

any opinions?

 

well, it would be easier to use the 700-r4. as you probably already have that trans. to go with the stick you'll have to do a good bit of extra work. things like hang a clutch pedal and tracking down all the linkage to work the clutch. as for the rear end. you've probably got lower gears if it's originally a v6 car. a fairly stock 350 in it's weakest form will blow a t-5 to pieces, not to mention the clutches you'll go through. plus with a 700-r. you have something you can build on should you catch the "speed bug".

 

I would agree the T-5 would NOT hold up to a even mild 350 swap if you want a trans set up that's both reliable and tough get a TH-350 with a shift kit and the parts to install it it's a fairly easy swap and the best bang for the buck even a 700r4 is a weak trans to begin with and rebuilds are alot more expensive than a Th-350.. there really isin't a stick trans that can be swapped in for much less than $15-2000 ...that will hold up..unfortunatly there's no difference in the V-6 to V-8 rearends they are the same weak rear..

 

So my v6 rear end would still be usable with a 350 under tha hood? what gearing did the v6's come with? if someone knows. And the thing about a th350 is id really like the overdrive gear for highway use. But just for the heck of it, if i was to put a th350 just for driving around town would their be a big difference in gas mileage compared to a 700r4? Are their much mods that need to be done for a th350 to go under their? any opinions or messages would be very helpful thanks!

 

overdrive. well, i may get flamed here, but i think an overdrive is almost worthless. it's all a gimmick to reduce emissions. sure, everything has a time and place. if you want to build an engine with some compression, you honestly won't need an overdrive. in your case a stock 350 with what a 8.5:1 SCR? that might suit your needs better than the non-overdriven th-350. simply because of vacuum and the engine's powerband. if you were to build a 10:1 SCR sbc, and actually cam it into into a respectable DCR. you will more than likely find better mpg's with a 1:1 final drive of a non-OD trans. simply because of the engines powerband. you see that you have to be in the powerband and pulling vacuum to get mpg's. that overdrive gear will drop your rpm's down and thus bring you into the 350 you are talking about's powerband. you need compression to run at higher rpms and be able to make power, and create vacuum. you have to match your parts to get a good result. hope this helps.

 

Pretty much all the V6 cars came with either 3.23 or 3.42 rearend gears. 3.23's in the auto V6's, and 3.42's in most manual V6's. Unfortunately, they're almost never a posi, but at least they have good ratios. I'm going to try a WC T5 behind my 350. Besides, if it grenades I've also got a Tremec TKO 5 speed sitting on the garage floor too!

 

Just for general info. I been running a non-WC behind a 350/330 for sometime without any ill effects; however, I drive like the grandpa I am. Punishment would no doubt bomb it. Like Pat, I figure if the tranny goes, I'll swap in a Tremec or some such beast.

JamesC

 

Lol. Yeah, I got so worried after reading all the grenaded T5 posts on here, I pre-empted the fact and already bought a TKO that I can throw in if or more than likely when the T5 bails.

 

i have had no problem with my t5. and its behind a pretty stout motor. but then again my car never gets any traction and thats why it is actually holding up. i want something better, so im also trying to figure out wether i should go with the th350 or the 700r4 with the overdrive.

 

The difference between a TH-350 and a 700R4 would only be like putting a 3.42 rear gear instead of a 3.73 and with a performance engine you wont notice any difference mabye 1-3 MPG and have less issues with the trans 700s aren't known to be the best trans either...

 

yeah see the thing is that i have 411 gears and i plan on driving the car to a huge 4 day long show/cruise thats 3 hours away. so the overdrive would be a huge help. im not really concerned about street driving. its just the few times that i do go on the highway i would like to have the overdrive.

 

Ok so if i were to go with a th350, id definetly need a modified crossmember, and as for drive shaft? will it be long enough, or will it need modification or can i buy a kit that will make all of this work

 

For what it's worth I just made a 600 mile road trip and got 21 mpg on the interstate running 70 -75 mph. This is with 4.10 gears, Demon double pumper, and a NWC T5 that has the .63 overdrive. I don't think the milage would have been as good running in 4th the whole way.

As for the T5, cheap as they are and easy to change, I drive it hard alot with no problems. Even had slicks on it at the track for a few passes. This is a NWC out of an 86 LG4 that prolly had 150,000 miles on it. If it is mostly a street car then the T5 can be fairly reliable. If you hit the track quite a bit then it prolly isn't the best choice.

 

Well neither one is a real strong tranny but if i had to pick i would put in the t-5. As cheap as they are and easy to replace i would go that route and have some fun! You shouldnt have any problems with a mild 350.

 

If you get one of the TH350's with the longer tailshaft, it's a direct bolt-in. The only other thing you'd need to buy is the torque arm adapter that B&M sells for this swap. Or if you wanted to spend a little more, you could buy the TH350 torque arm/crossmember setup that Spohn Performance sells. It relocates the torque arm to the crossmember, eliminating the need for attaching it to the tailshaft of the trans. If you end up with a short tail TH350, there's a kit available for those too, but it's more expensive and more involved to do. It comes with a longer output shaft for the trans, a torque arm adapter, and a spacer block that goes between the main case and tailshaft housing. You shouldn't have to do anything to the driveshaft with either of the above options.