i have a 1987 camaro i just put a 1975 350 backed by a th350 trans. i
was wondering how hard it would be to put a 5 speed in my automatic car?
i know of a parts car with everything in it, but can i, and how much
would it take to do this swap. SELLING MY CAR IS NO OPTION! this car my
mom bought new, passed it to my older brother, and he passed it to me
after blowing the 2.8. my mom about had a heart attack when she seen it
with no hood and a 350 sticking out, lol so selling it would kill her.
thanks alot
Jack Conley - 05 Jun 2004 21:53 GMT
i've been told that its a rough road but it can be done.... you would need a
new center console but thats not the biggest problem. this hardest thing to
do is setting up a clutch and slave cylinder for your 5 speed. i've never
really looked into doing something like this but it seems like a lot of hard
work for just a 5 speed. if it were me, i would build up the th350 with a
mild stall converter and a b&m shift kit and get like a hurst or b&m console
shifter with ratchet action. i love my automatic th400 with just a b&m shift
kit and hurst console shifter in my 77 trans am. no 5-speed can outshift an
automatic with a kit.
jack
> i have a 1987 camaro i just put a 1975 350 backed by a th350 trans. i
> was wondering how hard it would be to put a 5 speed in my automatic car?
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> with no hood and a 350 sticking out, lol so selling it would kill her.
> thanks alot
Charles Bendig - 06 Jun 2004 02:53 GMT
> i have a 1987 camaro i just put a 1975 350 backed by a th350 trans. i
> was wondering how hard it would be to put a 5 speed in my automatic car?
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> with no hood and a 350 sticking out, lol so selling it would kill her.
> thanks alot
It will be some work. Buying a whole parts car with the set up is the
route to go. That will answer alot of questions as to locations of items.
You will need to cut a opening in the floor pan, for the shifter. Make
a template from the parts car, and cut from the outside. Either using a die
grinder or a swaz-all.
One of the more pain in the butt aspects is going to be the change of
peddles. You should remove the steering column first.
When you get hung up ask a question.
Charles
Dennis Smith - 06 Jun 2004 15:56 GMT
>i have a 1987 camaro i just put a 1975 350 backed by a th350 trans. i
>was wondering how hard it would be to put a 5 speed in my automatic car?
The T5 5-speed trans used in 3rd-gen F-bodies is weak and won't handle the
torque of a 350. This is why you could only get the 5-speed with a V6 or
305 V8 from the factory.

Signature
_________________________________________________________________
Dennis Smith
-1971 Trans Am - 455 H.O. - M21 4speed - Cameo white/blue stripe-
< http://ps2page.tripod.com/my71ta/tapage.html >
-1973 Trans Am - 455 - TH400 auto - Buccaneer red-
-1984 Trans Am - 5.0 L - TH700R4 auto - Royal blue/silver aero-
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Duke396 - 24 Jun 2004 07:44 GMT
but it doesn't have to be an original 3rd gen transmission, does it? i
found this page because i'm interested in converting my camaro as well...
and i wouldn't really care what the tranny came out of, as long as it
worked.
but surely some z-cars with 350 H.O.s came with a 5 speed of some sort,
and you could use that one if you wanted to make sure it was a (somewhat)
original car.
Dennis Smith - 24 Jun 2004 09:14 GMT
>but surely some z-cars with 350 H.O.s came with a 5 speed of some sort,
>and you could use that one if you wanted to make sure it was a (somewhat)
>original car.
No 3rd gen F-bodies with a 350 ever came with a 5-speed manual tranny. The
Borg Warner T5 tranny that GM was using just couldn't handle the torque
even by the low-po 350's GM was using at the time (210-240HP?)
The 305 HO engines were only rated at 240 ft lbs torque that the T5 trans
was available on. I've never heard of a 350 HO engine in a 3rd gen. The
only 350's I know of are the TPI engines and all had auto trans.

Signature
_________________________________________________________________
Dennis Smith
-1971 Trans Am - 455 H.O. - M21 4speed - Cameo white/blue stripe-
-1973 Trans Am - 455 - TH400 auto - Buccaneer red-
-1984 Trans Am - 5.0 L - TH700R4 auto - Royal blue/silver aero-
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