Manual Trans Help

[6point6]

Mr.Yacavone,
I remember very well, and still have the articles from High Performance Magazine of your Project Eliminator 77 Firebird. I have a 78 T/A that I always thought could be a stocker someday and i have to credit those series of articles from the 90's as motavation. Could you please expand on why you feel a manual trans in a low compression 400 second generation firebird is not a good mix. It sounds like its not really a parts breaking or clutch issue to you but something else. Those cars are heavy and the motor limited in RPM so is it you cant put enough gear
reduction into it to avoid the old spin or bog situation? Lets assume were using a bullet proof driveline and a good clutch.

[Tom keedle]

Originally Posted by Mike Taylor 3601

Tom slik,
That trans is weakest T-10 made&ratios are terrible. 3.42/2.28/1.46/1-1.
1-2 is not bad 2-3 can you say bogggg?3-4 is not bad but still drops rpm pretty bad. Back when I first started racing still drove car on street broke my trans buddy had one of those 3.42 first T-10s traded him out of it I knew it was super t-10 but had no ideal what the ratios were,pulled out of garage knew 1st was lower.eased through gears made sure it worked
turn around launched it on way back 1st was quick went 2nd I thought hey this feels good went to third I thought it was going to kill engine. 2-3 has gear spread about like GM bulldog 4 spd has on 2-3 shift. Made about 6 passes in 12.70 street tire car not sticky street tires plain ol back in the day N-50s.
Soft clutches absolutely help but I would'nt run a stock style trans unless I have to which I do in my Pure Stocker.
I see ol Nash's sometimes 800.00 and up Liberty is selling there version of nash 5 spd. and all the parts are supposed to interchange with original nashes there have faceplate style sliders.
If you buy a 2 or 3 T-10s you have come close to a new Jerico.600.00 up is about going price for good used T-10,then if you pro shift it you spent about another 300.00 if you can tear apart & put back together yourself. I have'nt checked in last year or so but new Jerico
was about 2500.00 plus ship & shifter.
Mike Taylor 3601

no arguement here, it's just all i have at the moment.
the biggest question is can i still shift?
not the trans, ...me.
i AM getting older...but i have NO desire to run an auto....i'm doing this for fun and, honestly, if it ends up being another "job",i'll run brackets (we've got a stick series out here...

[tj310]

How come manual trans threads draw so many opinions ? With all this ratio talk how would a 2 spd ever get downtrack? ...Thanx Trevor

[Tom keedle]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

"Prolly" not. If you're setting your car to run up on the hill, I'm not qualified to comment.
In a non -altitude situation , I'd say that's way too much first gear for a light , V8 car.
It'll hurt more than it help ...Launch , clutch setup , and even mph , if you can believe that.
I ran a 3.97 first in my 2300 turbo Mustang ,but for an entirely different reason.

oh, i'm not saying that it's the desirable trans BUT i have it and it won't be going on the "good" engine...
i think i figured out once upon a time if this car ran a 14 flat up here, it's be a record run...

btw, the rear is an 8 3/4 mopar w/4.57 gears (8.5x26" tall tires, ain't room for anything taller or wider)