What are all the manual transmission options for our cars? a list with applicable aftermarket gear would be nice.

but specifically speaking. I have a '72 350 in my 84 camaro with a "stock" 700r4. I WANT a manual transmission with a manual clutch also. Now I know the T56 is ''THE'' option and would basically bolt right up but it,s hella expensive and I don't know if a manual clutch will work considering its a pull style clutch.

 

The T5 is a reasonably priced option, but isn't a good one for a high-performance engine. They aren't very strong.

The older 4-spd manuals are an option, but require an aftermarket crossmember and torque arm to make work - unless you can find one of the '82-only Super T10 setups that have provisions for the torque arm. They also need an aftermarket bellhousing to use the required 3rdgen clutch linkage setup. The old 4-spd bellhousings put the clutch fork in an unworkable position for a 3rdgen. You need the aftermarket housing for it to work.

I have one of the '82-only T10s in my '83, and its held up very well to my 350 - and I don't treat it nicely

 

Adam, you used an aftermarket bellhousing? Mech clutch or hydraulic?

CM - you also have the aftermarket. You can buy a TKO 5 speed, or a T10 that bolts right up (well TKO, not sure about the T10).
The WC T5 is an option. You actually *want* a manual, (mechanical) clutch? Why is that? I'm thinking about how i'm going to swap to a hydraulic setup in mine...

 

that sounds like my best bet. Now where to get a T10 is the question is there a place where I can find the bellhousing and torque arm. Any more data on this would be most helpful

Sonix- I like to feel the clutch engage and disengage, the TKo is hella expenmsive too and also wont except a manual clutch

 

You can get a new T10 from summit. I think it's direct from Tremec, that's who's making them now.
The super T10 was available on '82 only cars, but they were the 4 speed on 2nd gens for many years as well - sans torque arm mount. Not sure if it's easy to get the right tailshaft for it, or if you'd want to upgrade the torque arm to take it off the tranny.

The torque arm is any of the short torque arms. Pre 1984 or so. The ones that went with T10, saginaw, Th200R tranny's etc. You can probably find a V6 car in the JY from the early years and steal this part. Or go aftermarket of course.

Hmm, yea, I like the feeling of the clutch, but in small doses. It sucks in rush hour traffic

 

Id love to go aftermaket for the torque arm, and kill two birds with one stone and get the crossmember too. so a saginaw 4 spd is the same as the ones in the 82? they DO look very similar

what othe 5 spd options do I have? Is the T5 it?

 

Yea, a saginaw is the very common 4 speed offered in 82/83. The T-10 is the ultra rare choice.
T10 has an aluminum case (use a magnet to check), and reverse is left and FORWARD, with the saginaw it's left and BACK.

T5, that's your choice. T5 non WC (early years) or T5 WC (later years). But yep, that's it.

 

can you build a T5 to hold more HP? probably not and if so probably not worth it or hope a T-56 falls in my lap

 

yes you can rebuild a t-5 to take more power.. http://www.gforcetransmissions.com/ here is where i got mine rebuilt.. if i knew from the start that i was gonna want 10 sec power, i woulda went t-56.. still in the 12's though but i just dont want the feeling of be worried when i actually do make it down to the 10's.. a lenco would be cool though.. but its not in my price range as of now..

 

No, I used the GM housing - what I meant was any of the OTHER bellhousings, like from a 1st or 2nd gen F-body for example, will not work. The clutch fork is in the wrong location and interferes with the floor. This is why you need either the GM '82 F-body bellhousing or the aftermarket one (made by Lakewood BTW).

I'd like to get the Lakewood housing though - that car has to rev enough out at the track that it makes me paranoid about the clutch or flywheel coming apart. I like my feet where they are so the extra safety of the steel bellhousing is just one less thing to think about at the track.

Plus - the hydraulic linkage in my LT1 car feels just so much better than the mechanical linkage in the '83, once you get over that 'disconnected' feel of the LT1's pedal lol. The Lakewood housing is the only way to use a hydraulic linkage with the T10 that I know of.

 

hydraulic throwout bearing, my friend.. use any bellhousing you want.. but i like my lakewood.. just looks badass from under the car.. lol and safety from exploding clutches/flywheels..

 

True, but will that work with a factory 3rdgen clutch pedal? I honestly don't know.

 

yet another good question.. i've heard many things.. some need a 3/4" bore master, some need a 1" master, some can use stock master, etc..

 

Yea, I heard that I could use any 3rd gen standard tranny BH, ie, a post '83 hydraulic housing.
But now that I think about it, my T10 is straight mounted, and any T5 BH would be mounted with an 18* rotation right? Which would cause my shifter to be all out of whack, etc.

I'd better think about this a lot before I go buying anything then...

 

5678TA:
this what you have?
http://lakewoodindustries.com/Produc...&minselection=

Lakewood 15020 ?

 

yes sir, that would be the one.. its great too because if i want to swap in a muncie (no idea why i would wanna do that) i could with no problem.. and still use the hydraulic system..

 

Huh, I guess I could go this route if I wanted to use a hydraulic clutch... Oh wait, it's freakin' $400... Yea, screw that, i'll use a box stock hydraulic BH from a 84+ 3rd gen stickshift.

 

hahaha.. ya i had to get it cause the 168 tooth flywheel.. big and heavy ***** flywheel.. i actually dropped that thing on my foot once.. thought i lost a toe.. damn thing is like 45lbs.. maybe more.. but it does help to spin the drag radials off the line.. i even spun 26x8.5 mt slicks before..

 

That rotation is exactly the reason one can't use a T5 bellhousing with the 4-spd trans's. Thats why you need a 3rdgen 4-spd bellhousing or an aftermarket one.

 

Hmm, are you 100% sure on that?

Sounds right though, I was sure thought my tranny wasn't rotated...

Well a 3rd gen 4speed BH never had the option for hydraulic clutch. I'm not sure if it's something that you can modify your bellhousing for... Also, that lakewood housing says it's ok for T5 and T10. But I have no idea how you'd put in the 1/2" bolts to hold the tranny to the BH, through those tiny holes that look to me like 1/4" holes, tops. What's the missing link here?

 

If you're talking about the Factory T-10's and Saginaws, they all mounted at an angle in the 82/83 cars. The shifter was curved to accomidate and sit in the console the way it was supposed to.

I also have a Mechanical Linkage BH which was removed from an 82 T/A with a 4 speed. I can guarantee you that the transmission is fastened to the bellhousing with the same 15mm bolts the hydraulic ones are.

I hear that the ears on the Third Gen Z bar like to crack or break or the fork pushrod bends if you use anything stronger than like a Centerforce II, or Spec Stage 2, TOB and Pressure plate.

 

Yea, fastened to the bellhousing with the same 15mm HEADED bolts. The threads are 1/2NC. I measured them with a thread gauge and caliper, and bought 1/2"NC bolts to replace them with. Well, at least that's what i'm using on my '82 T-10 to bolt up to the stock BH.

So if that's the case, then it'd be safe to say I can get a stock hydraulic BH from a post 1984 V8 manual tranny car and use that in my car? Reason i'm hesitant is that i've removed my tranny a handful of times, and had it on the ground, and looking at it - I can't see the 18* tilt.

I've got a few pics of my tranny here;
https://webdisk.ucalgary.ca/~jmknopp...de%20trans.jpg
https://webdisk.ucalgary.ca/~jmknopp...de%20trans.jpg
None really show it well, but the shifter is a hurst piece, and the bracket is curved so that it bolts onto the side, but the bolt area, and the area where the shifter goes upwards, are both parallel to each other. Know what I mean?

Does anyone have a picture of a post 1984 T5, to show the 18* tilt?

 

The T10 is NOT rotated... I just put one in mine last summer. The Hurst shifter was also straight up.

You're right about the Z-bar levers though... I've broken mine a couple of times. They break (actually they tear) right above the weld on the tube.

 

Well this is not a reply, but I really dont know how to use this service.

I removed from my '77 Vette the complete Transmission (Bellhousing, clutch, etc.) It is a M22. I wish to install it in my 85 IROC-Z (replace the original manual transmission with this one).

What problems I may resolve first? What I need to know, i.e will these swap alter in anyway the differential relations (Ithe car came with a 3.73).

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. And sorry for bother you but I'm in Panamá and there is no chance to get some parts or device to adapt things like this is so is the case.

 

The 4-spd will not cause any new issues with the rear end. The only drawback is that the 4-spd does not have an OD gear like your IROC originally had, so it will rev higher on the highway - especially with those 3.73 gears. Somewhere between 3000-3500 I bet.

To install that 4-spd you will need an aftermarket torque arm system that mounts the torque arm on the crossmember instead of the transmission. Easy enough to do, it just costs money. If you visit the Spohn website (they are advertised at the top of the page) then you will find the kit you need there to install the 4-spd.

The Corvette clutch linkage will not work in that car. Totally different. You will need either a factory '82 Camaro/Firebird 4-spd bellhousing, or the lakewood bellhousing, and the proper clutch linkage from a 3rdgen car. The Lakewood bellhousing and '84-92 hydraulic clutch linkage is the best way to do it, but also the most expensive. A factory 3rdgen 4-spd bellhousing and Z-bar linkage works just fine too.

As for the shifter, since it mounts to the drivers side of the transmission on the transmission you have, you will need the Hurst shifter for a '63-67 Corvette. Its short and goes straight up. Its the same as the one I have on my T10 and Sonix has on his T10, just mounts differently.

 

Many thanks for your advice.

 

what about a ZF 6 speed out of a ZR-1 Corvette?

 

Price out a ZF, then check how much weaker it is than a T56 and you'll have your answer.

The TKO/T56/T5/etc can all work with a mechanical clutch. The problem is that factory 82 is the only year for a factory mechanical clutch, thus 1982 parts are all that is available "bolt in". I run a mechanical clutch myself for 3 reasons; it works well, I can feel the clutch, and a hyd system to operate my 3200# roller assist borg&beck is ridiculous $. My entire system is homemade and works flawlessly. By being homemade, you can locate the linkage point where you like, thus changing the leverage against it and the reaction speed. The type of clutch system available/useable all comes down to the bellhousing. I run a Mcleod sfi scatter shield, a Hays borg&beck pressure plate and a hays street/strip disk.

Anything is possible, the question would be what transmissions are "bolt-in"...

 

I'm reviving this thread because I now have a DD car so I can start working on my car.

I'm wanting to upgrade to a hydraulic BH, but it seems that post 1983 F-body BH's are tilted 18* and won't work for me.
The aftermarket one is a cool $400 USD, so i'm leery about that.

That begs the question - What about other hydraulic BH's from non camaros? Main one coming to mind is a mid-late '80s S-10. I'd assume a 2.8L engine.
Is the block mounting the same for the 60* V6 as the V8? I'm pretty sure it's NOT tilted 18*.
Can I steal the BH from that? Perhaps the clutch pedal as well so I have some of the hydraulic bits that i'll need?

Any thoughts on if this'd work would be appreciated.

 

Just clarifying that the Mechanical Clutch was used with the T5 for both '82 & '83 Model years (I have one in my '83 Z). Also the T5 for those years was definitely tilted (didn't realize it 'til I put in an after-market Short-shifter).

 

I sure wish I would have caught on to this 5678TA, back in may when you posted this... I completely ignored that suggestion because I had no idea what you meant...
I just stumbled upon a kit to use this "hydraulic throwout bearing" for my ST-10 setup, and nearly peed my pants at how easy and cheap this is going to be. I'm buying this used from a guy who put an ST-10 into his datsun Z-car, and is now going back to automatic.
I'll post up how it works, in case Adam decides to go for the hydraulic setup down the line.

 

sonix - well, you already solved your own delima, but just for reference, no the S10 bellhousing won't work. The f-body bellhousing has the fork hole rotated lower in the bell so that the fork and slave cylinder can clear the floor board. Old school mechanical set-ups didn't require this because the fork is shorter.

As you have found, the easiest way to update to a hyd clutch is via a hyd throwout bearing.

 

Good to know, thanks shagwell.
I guess the downside is that if I ever need to replace my TO bearing it's no longer a simple $30 part, it's a $150 part that I have to order online

 

I plan on running a clutch pedal, bell housing and such from a 82-83 camaro and running a T56 behind it
how you say? with this:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/T56-T...spagenameZWDVW