pces91vette

Hello, I'm looking to doing a swap from my automatic transmission to a 4 speed manual. When I bought the car it wasn't a numbers matching, tranny or engine. So since I'm restoring the whole car piece by piece it's the best time to make the necessary changes as i'm putting the car back together.

I already have the brake power booster, master cylinder, the whole dash and gauges, and brake assembly/pedal taken out. I also have the middle console out because I had to refinish the floors anyway. I already purchased a manual clutch and brake pedals/assembly. I'm fixing on purchasing a brand new Richmond T-10 4 speed. Eventually, I'm looking to put in a stroker 383 400hp engine.

I havnt found much on youtube showing this type of swap or what I need to know when performing this swap. ie; parts?, reverse and neutral safety switch/swap?, Any special brackets? etc

Any suggestions or pointers you may want to give me would greatly appreciated. Thanks

cooper9811

I recently did the change from an automatic to a silver sport TKO 600 kit - hands down the hardest part was the pedal swap, so you have a good start.

For the safety switch, I added a clutch safety switch mounted to the clutch pedal, and wired the wires where the auto shifter switch was. Both the safety wiring and backup lights should be on the old auto shifter switch rig, so it was easy to work with both in one place (check wiring diagrams for your year to confirm location, mine is a 79 so probably very similar).

You will probably have to cut a hole in the floor for the clutch linkage rod. check the AIM or shop manual to confirm location - I searched and found several threads on this forum that go into some good detail on this swap.

Avette4me

I gleemed this off of Corvette Central when I did mine. It was helpful.

TheSkunkWorks

A couple more tips...


You'll need to weld the cross shaft bracket (#532735) onto the frame, being careful not to hack up anything in the process.
Use the correct lower shifter boot as a template for cutting the trans tunnel., again, so as to avoid hacking up anything.
I highly recommend you opt for the Hurst over the OEM shifter.


Oh, and welcome to the auto-to-manual trans conversion club. Definitely one of the best mods I've ever made.

cagotzmann

Here is my T56 6 speed swap in a 78. But if you are doing this It is worth looking at a 5 or 6 speed swap. Also does you tunnel before cut picture look similar to mine ? If so you will need to cut a bigger hole to allow the transmission to be mounted high enough to get factory drive line angles.
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-corvette.html

pces91vette

Thanks for the input and nice upgrade for real but this is a bit more then what i'm looking to do, and maybe more then I can chew at the moment. I am able to do some light fab work but not to this extent. I would actually pay someone to do this swap for sure. I may do some highway cruising but not too much and not very far as well so the 4speed will be fine for me. But you get my high regards and that is really a far out job you did on that 6speed swap!!

pces91vette

Hello, yes I was thinking of getting that Hurst shifter too,,,, and glad it works good for this type of swap. I'll be looking into it seriously. Yes I looked up that bracket already and I may have a friend that will wield it on for me. Excellent advice and info,, thanks a million!! I'll let you know how i made out. TY

pces91vette

Guys,,,Thanks for all your replies and info, great stuff!! I can't wait to get my 76 out of the garage and out on the road and cruising!!

cagotzmann

Is you tunnel metal or fiberglass ?

What does your tunnel look like with the auto shifter. Similar to my 78 ? Big indent for the auto shifter ?

pces91vette

This is my car the way it's set up stock. Plz see photo's

cagotzmann

WOW with that much removed my install would have been a breeze.
Looks like your tunnel is all metal as well. Did you find the location where the clutch rod goes through the firewall ?

I spent the most time removing and re-installing the clutch pedals / installing the hydraulic clutch kit. With this kind of access this would be easy.

With this much stuff removed already, I would seriouly look at a TKO 5 speed. You will still need clutch connections, either mechanical or hydraulic either way. The hole in the tunnel will still be the same. Transmission cross member mods on both. The only thing I don't know is the cost of a 4 speed vs 5 speed would be.

Miccara

Sorry to revive this but I'm in the middle of this swap using parts from a 4 speed C3 into my auto C3. I was surprised to see the hole in the transmission tunnel was much larger in my automatic car as opposed to what came out of the 4 speed. The 4 speed lower boot will not fit in place of the automatic car's hole cover in the tunnel. Looks like I'd have to glass over the hole over and re-cut or fabricate a cover that will allow for the use of the original screw holes and provide new holes for the smaller boot. Is this a normal condition?