Manual swap charger

[Cameron Casswell]

Im thinking of looking at manual swapping my 68 charger, wondered what generally the best way to go about this is am seeing tremec 5 and 6 speeds being some of the best options although the 6 speed needs some tunnel adjustments etc. I’ve got a 727 with manual value body’s in the car would this be worth selling? And where’s best to get all in one kit to look at?
Thanks

[Pete]

I have a 727 with a Reverse Manual Valve body and its brilliant on the street.

I know you have not had the car long, maybe it is worth getting used to it and the current set up, you may be surprised.

I assume another consideration is reducing the engine rpm at speed; a rear end gear swap is significantly cheaper than a transmission, Clutch, Bellhousing, Pedal Box swap.

[Cameron Casswell]

Very true Pete is quiet enjoyable as is, just sometimes feel myself missing the clutch and working through the gears! But yh the rear gearing is definitely something I’m going to look into as I find the revs to be abit crazy either too low for 2 or too high in 3. Maybe I do need sometime to properly work it all out

[Pete]

I have swapped out several transmissions - Manual to Auto and the other way around.

It is heavy work and in the case of installing a manual Transmission you have to DTI the Bell housing to make sure the clutch engagement works correctly, it is not a 5 minute job.

None of this will be cheap either - even it you can do it yourself.

[MattH]

I would suggest living with the auto for a while.
I am now of an age where manual is just a pain, maybe I am too old or traffic these days means that auto is just simpler.
Also hill starts are a pain with a manual Mopar as you haven't got enough feet to hold the handbrake as well, minor point but once it has happened a few times you'll know what I mean.
I try to avoid manual cars completely now for daily drivers, and driving my Challenger would be more of a "challenge" with manual, as there is enough to do just keeping it in a straight line without considering changing gears too.

Some may just say I am talentless as a driver.

[Dave999]

I have a manual A body with an engine that is half the capacity of yours
manual 10 inch clutch. im using a v8 clutch where a one similar to a slant 6 used to sit

even when swapped to a diaphragm, the effort lifts my ass out of the seat and my toes are rammed into the end of my shoe...

fine most of the time but no fun stuck in traffic on the motorway 5 miles of stop go M1 M25 etc is painful.... hydraulic would be better
as you will be trying to contain way more torque than i am...the manual clutch linkage is gonna suffer.

don't do the swap until you have found out if you like drag racing....run what you brung a couple of times, if you do like it, gonna be a smoother path if you stick with the auto.... far too easy to turn a manual into a steaming pile of bits in that application. you can smash any manual gearbox with any engine if you try hard enough, every shock load reduces its life.

have you thought about gear splitting and overdrive on a manualised auto
looks at Gear Vendors overdrive for the 727, and as a number above have said a manualized auto can be good fun.. a transmission set up with
1st, 1st + , 2nd, 2nd+ 3rd and overdrive , and the right rear gearing might be excellent fun

there are a number of people who frequent here who are well versed in work on auto and manual gearboxes

on the other hand Matt Snowball is advertising his full tremec kit at the mo. he circuit races a Cuda

bash Mopar "SST Tremec TKO600" into facebook marketplace
presume its Matt it looks like Matts stuff, he had it in a E body.... see here https://www.moparuk.com/forums/viewtopi ... ko#p629497

the beauty of that kit is i think that the mid mount shifter box has been machined down flat with the shift rail and capped with a thinner cover ,
so that it doesn't hit the cross member hump in the tunnel. its a mod that keisler used to do to the TR3550 which used a similar case, looks like SST have adopted the same modus operandi for Mopar kits using transmissions of this "shape" or maybe they just fit B and E easier, TKO can trace lineage back to 3550 which was Fat and heavier, but only slightly stronger T5 for ford fans. TKO boxes are much much improved proper torque handling and high rpm shifts....

success is dependent on the correct depth of bellhousing or bellhousing and adapter, to get the low bit in the right place to coincide with the chassis cross member. This box has a 4.85 Input bearing register size and mopar uses 4.8, so some adapter fun or boring on a standard bell necessary. a conversion bell will already cater for this mismatch in depth and register, but will more or less dictate hydraulic clutch. i.e you would need to plate and then mount a clutch master on the bulkhead. can suggest two OEM from ford and chevy that work. aftermarket has you by the short and curlys in this area....aint cheap.. this would be the gold plated solution
https://www.malwoodusa.com/hydraulic-under-dash/


you would need big block bellhousing. standard with 1/4 inch adapter plate would do if the input shaft is long enough, but id be surprised if you can get the wide top of that box to fit into the tunnel without the use of a big hammer at least on one side

and you can more or less guarantee with any Tremec swap that the output for a mechanical speedo is gonna be directly next to a big chunk of chassis that you really don't want to cut in order to fit the speedo cable

electronic speedo and extra cost fixes that.. most modern boxes have an electronic pulse generator as well.

TKX install for much the same outcome might be easier, it may not. Tremec transmissions are really designed for ford and Chevy applications TKX is supposed to be universal but Mopars have unique space requirements that are only catered for by Mopar specific boxes of the correct era. i.e side loaded curved top manual 3/4 speed or fat bottom curved top auto. Not a wide top, top-loaded or end loaded manual.... if you expand or raise the tunnel you still need to fit peddles and seats and console, may not be a problem, does its raised centre +console fit under your dash heater/aircon box? all do able but extra work, and your carpet won't fit right, pulls out from under the sill trim every time you get into the car one thing always leads to another..


Dave