i have a 92 camaro that was originally a v6 5 speed, i have since removed all the drivetrain and purchased a 383 stroker with 518 hp and was planning on purchasing a tremec tko600. that tranny costs around 3700.00 with bellhousing, clutch, etc.. i have 3000.00 and i am trying to be patient but now i am looking into the price of automatics and they look to be cheaper. my question is, which auto tranny would be appropriate for drag racing with some street driving, and am i correct about the price being less or are there alot of hidden cost when switching from manual to automatic.

 

you cant beat a good th350 with a stick.. I would go th350 with a good build and a 3500 stall and you can beat on it all day and it wont give a f*******

 

i looked at a TCI Superstreetfighter th350 and the price is much better than my original goal. i know i will need a torque converter with a stall, but are there any other things that i might need such as a separate vacuum canister or can i bolt it on get a shifter and go to town.

 

You'll need a transmission cooler, or a radiator out of an automatic car. The cooler lines to transfer fluid from the transmission to the radiator/cooler. I'm sure somebody will correct me but I believe you need an adapter to mount the torque arm to the tailshaft of the TH350.

 

i know about the radiator and the torque arm mount will go to a spohn crossmember with a driveshaft loop. i guess what i really need to do is figure out is it worth it trying to figure out all these different parts for a manual to auto conversion or should i just wait a little longer and throw an expensive tremec tko in there seeing i know what im getting myself into.

 

I guess thats up to you, I'd stick to a manual. They're more fun in my opinion.
Have you looked at a T56 at all? May be a little less expensive, but I'm not sure.

 

Not sure which places you've gone to in search of a TKO, but the price you quoted for one seems WAY too high! Go to Forte's Parts Connection or JAM Performance on the internet. Either of those places can hook you up with a complete 3rd gen TKO conversion for well under 3K. Total cost should be between 2-2.5K. If you checked with Keisler, that would explain the high price. Those guys need to put the crack pipe down! Forte's are the guys who originally developed the TKO swap for the 3rd gen f-body, so they can give you everything you need, and their prices are a lot more reasonable. Another advantage to the TKO swap compared to the T56 is you can use the stock T5 clutch/flywheel/bellhousing. A good high performance clutch also costs a lot more for the T56 when compared to the T5 style. Just my .