I gotta 84 z28 with a 700R4 and a 383 stroker. I just found another 84 Z28 with a 5 spd and a bad motor for $250. I'd like to by it and swap my stroker and other go fast goodies over to it. With a good performance clutch would the stock tranny hold up to it? If not can it be built stronger, like they did to my 700R4? If so who sells the parts for that?

 

for the small price of 250.00 you should get the other car do the swap etc. then save money for a 6spd......the t-5 will NOT enjoy the TQ generared by the 383 for very long,do not speed shift/powershift or do hard burnouts i would actually do 2nd gear burnouts to attempt to take a small load off of the poor t-5..lastly don't spend a bunch on a "performance clutch" it will kill the tranny quicker....

 

If you want a manual trans, then I agree with the above, except one thing. 1st gear is not the week link in a T5, 3rd is. Doing a 2nd gear burn-out will cause a higher wheel speed for a given rpm, thus will not lessen the stress caused when dumping the clutch. My car went 1.66 60'fts doing 5k+ clutch dumps. I never once hurt 1st gear. As for burn-outs, I dump it in 1st, then click 2-3-4, and come out of the water-box. I don't believe in using the clutch except to stage and shut-down. If you must clutch to change gears, a good auto will be faster.

 

How much are you guys paying for 3rd gens. You said "for the low price". Around here a 3rd gen with busted engines are a dime a dozen. Allthough not many 5 speeds. There aren't many with a stick. I paid a 175 for the one I got now. What about the T tops? My roof has a small crack in it from the engine making the car flex. Would a T top hold together?
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What kinda fabrication is needed to swap tranny's out? Are they a direct swap?

 

All questions that can be answered with the search button for the most part but ill answer one. T-top cars are not as strong as a hard top cars. If your having frame flexing problems consider either getting subframe connectors welded in or get a hardtop body and do the same. That way you have extra re-enforced F-body.