matthaney06

Hey guys,

I am LOVING my 383 Blue Print in my 65 roadster. It WAS a numbers matching car, I realized the 327 needed to be rebuilt, I pulled it and replaced with the 383, which is great for me.

See ATTACHED estimate from Silver Sport Transmissions, which I know bought another "kit" retailer years ago.

Here is what I would love help with:

1. What do you think of this setup? YUP, I am ready to hear your opinions
2. I cannot nor do I have the interest in doing the R&R for this, I am just not that guy.
3. HOW many hours should I expect for this to take from a "seasoned" C2 specialist. **He installed the 383 and I have been pleased for the most part
4. What am I missing?

See attached file for the cost estimate for materials...because I know you guys will want to see what it actually cost to do buy a kit(if you dont already know.



That is all.



Let the comments FLY!

Lotsacubes

Love my SST 600 with .64 OD. Price is fair. I’d use SST again but would probably get the shifter upgrade. Mine’s fine but when doing a major upgrade like this I’d want all the bells and whistles. Good design and people.

Crunch527

For starters, what rear gear do you have?

For example, if you have a 3:73, or 4:11 rear gear you want to go with the TKO600. If you have a 3:36 gear, you probably want the TKO500. It comes down to the first gear ratio in the TKO500s and TKO600s. Me, if I had the 3:36 rear gear I'd swap to a 3:73 or 4:11 with a TKO600. Its all about the setup...you have the right motor...now you need the right trans and rear gear combo.

Parts for the trans swap are about $5K...that's throwout bearing to driveshaft...

Labor?...thats a BIG it depends...

I do all my own work...the swap is the fun part for me.

matthaney06

Ahhh, the good questions
I have to get under and look to find the code, but I think 3:70..not sure.
I KNOW this is vital and I will obviously get it before I move forward>

warrenmj

What do you mean by R&R? Do you mean the installation of the new transmission?

I bought my TKO500 in Feb 2008 for $3300 from Keisler. I paid a shop approx. $600 to do the install, which took them 1 day.

Lotsacubes

Crunch makes a good point. Our BB car is 3:73 and I often putter around at 1400-1500 revs at 40-45. Cruise is great 2100-2200. I think 3:70s are about ideal with the .64 OD. You’ll love it.

woodsdesign

That is almost exactly the set up I have. Bought from American Power Train.
If you have a stock frame the install is challenging. I installed it attached to the motor.
Also, if your floors sagged you will need spacers as the trans is a very tight fit.
I had a slight problem getting the drive angle just right.
I have 3:73s and I love the trans. At 73 I'm running about 2000 RPM. Nice highway cruising.

Frankie the Fink

Its a great upgrade in a C2, or a C1...
Sent you a PM on R&R prices...

DucatiDon

My install cost be about $1000. But that included a bunch of "while your in there" stuff, and a custom fabricated transmission mount.

The engine must come out (or at least it should) to check bellhousing alignment. It took some minor tweaking to get the driveline angle correct, and eliminate rubbing on the trans tunnel.

Fantastic upgrade

Frankie the Fink

That was inline with what I paid in 2008 -- but I needed a new ring gear on the flywheel and the flywheel resurfaced too...

Drothgeb

I just bought from SST a couple of months ago. Your proposal looks like mine, but I saved a few hundred by buying before the price increase. I have 3.70s and went with the .82 OD. But alot of my driving is 55-65 mph.

daz_au

There are a few variables and these can affect the cost of the conversion. Here are the ones that come to mind :

1) Are you going to convert to removable crossmember ? - You dont have to, but your mechanic will have "fun" doing the swap with the engine in the car. Its possible but a PITA. Converting to removable crossmember will cost more.

2) Bell housing alignment - It will cost more in shop time to do it properly (I would say more than one TKO has been slapped in ignoring this). If you get lucky and runout is in spec, then not much extra time really, but if you need correction you have to deal with offset dowels etc... more time and parts.

3) Driveshaft angles - Again, if you bolt everything in and you get the u-joint operating angle difference in spec, then you can dodge a bullet. If not (as in my case), I ended up doing all my body mounts to get the body high enough to lift the rear of the TKO and get rid of the vibration !

So I guess in summary it *can* go better for some people than others depending on a few factors and that can significantly change the amount of labor required.

woodsdesign

I wound up replacing all my body mounts as well. I went with the 74 and newer mounts as they are a better mount and a little taller than the originals. That gave me the clearance I needed for the proper drive angle.

Frankie the Fink

If any shop tells doesn't check the runout and driveshaft angles they are incompetent. You should tell them you want those numbers as part of the install

wmf62

how true was your bellhousing?
Bill

MarkC

DO NOT USE A PILOT BERING. Use the bronze bushing and you will not have to remove the trans and clutch a year latter. The 5 speed is a great upgrade.

wmf62

my SS700 was supposed to use a roller bearing, but upon the advice of the engineer involved in the design I used the bronze bushing

Bill

Frankie the Fink

wmf62

thanks

we had to use the offset dowel pins to get within .005

Bill