Borg-Warner Super T-10
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From: Medford OK
Borg-Warner Super T-10
I've got an 81 and am putting a 460 horsepower crate motor in it. Will the Super T-10 be able to handle it? It has a 2.72 rear and the rear tires are 275-60-15 Goodyear Eagle GT-II.
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Joined: May 2005
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From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
If it is the original trans the first gear is a 3.42. The higher numerically the first gear the more stress on it and that would be the weakest T-10. The spread is real wide also so an engine with a wide powerband would be good and a cam with 112-114 LSA would be best match.The final drive ratio should be pretty good and your cruise RPM in 4th will be fine. Guess if it breaks you fix it or drop a richmond 5 speed with 1 to 1 5th gear in it.
Racer
Joined: Sep 2004
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Super T-10's are Very Tough trannys.
The 3.42 first gear tranny's from the 80-81 Z28's are probably not going to be the ones you want... It can't handle the torque load because of the highier first gear ratio and will strip the teeth.
The Cast Iron Case of the 80-81 ST-10's are very tough just the guts need to be inptutted with like a 2.52 first gear and so on.. Then you'll have the ultimate tranny. The Cast Iron case ST-10's have an Iron mid plate for reduced flex aswell that can add strength.
The aluminum 903 casting would be the best.. usually they came with 2.88 first gear and lower.. These tranny's I would grab in a heartbeat.
I have had it behind my Pontiac and previous Z28's and previous 73 Vette and these trannys can take a beating...
I also Love the gear ratios of the ST-10's better than my Muncie's
Right now I have an M22 behind me TA because I go crazy for the Gear Whine.. Love the noise.
The 3.42 first gear tranny's from the 80-81 Z28's are probably not going to be the ones you want... It can't handle the torque load because of the highier first gear ratio and will strip the teeth.
The Cast Iron Case of the 80-81 ST-10's are very tough just the guts need to be inptutted with like a 2.52 first gear and so on.. Then you'll have the ultimate tranny. The Cast Iron case ST-10's have an Iron mid plate for reduced flex aswell that can add strength.
The aluminum 903 casting would be the best.. usually they came with 2.88 first gear and lower.. These tranny's I would grab in a heartbeat.
I have had it behind my Pontiac and previous Z28's and previous 73 Vette and these trannys can take a beating...
I also Love the gear ratios of the ST-10's better than my Muncie's
Right now I have an M22 behind me TA because I go crazy for the Gear Whine.. Love the noise.
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 64
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From: Medford OK
Super T-10's are Very Tough trannys.
The 3.42 first gear tranny's from the 80-81 Z28's are probably not going to be the ones you want... It can't handle the torque load because of the highier first gear ratio and will strip the teeth.
The Cast Iron Case of the 80-81 ST-10's are very tough just the guts need to be inptutted with like a 2.52 first gear and so on.. Then you'll have the ultimate tranny. The Cast Iron case ST-10's have an Iron mid plate for reduced flex aswell that can add strength.
The aluminum 903 casting would be the best.. usually they came with 2.88 first gear and lower.. These tranny's I would grab in a heartbeat.
I have had it behind my Pontiac and previous Z28's and previous 73 Vette and these trannys can take a beating...
I also Love the gear ratios of the ST-10's better than my Muncie's
Right now I have an M22 behind me TA because I go crazy for the Gear Whine.. Love the noise.
The 3.42 first gear tranny's from the 80-81 Z28's are probably not going to be the ones you want... It can't handle the torque load because of the highier first gear ratio and will strip the teeth.
The Cast Iron Case of the 80-81 ST-10's are very tough just the guts need to be inptutted with like a 2.52 first gear and so on.. Then you'll have the ultimate tranny. The Cast Iron case ST-10's have an Iron mid plate for reduced flex aswell that can add strength.
The aluminum 903 casting would be the best.. usually they came with 2.88 first gear and lower.. These tranny's I would grab in a heartbeat.
I have had it behind my Pontiac and previous Z28's and previous 73 Vette and these trannys can take a beating...
I also Love the gear ratios of the ST-10's better than my Muncie's
Right now I have an M22 behind me TA because I go crazy for the Gear Whine.. Love the noise.
Race Director
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 10,674
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From: Millington Illinois
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
Right, 2.88 and 3.42 overlapped in 81. That gives you a 7.82 to 1 final drive ratio in first gear. It will feel ike a slug off the line. Best performance option is to upgrade to a richmond 5 speed or change rear gearing to a 3.55-3.73
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Racer
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The 903 with 2.88 first gear is a good tranny, and i would worry about use it behind you motor.. One question I have is.. What kind of motor. Your pushing alot of power.. Is it a Big Block? With tonnes of Torque? If so good!!. You can compensate the lower rear end gear with the Big Torque of the motor.
Now if it's a High winding small block you might have a bit of issues off the line. and I agree you would want to have a higher rear gear to get that car moving.
Have a really good shifter with linkage & that Centerforce clutch will work just fine!
Now if it's a High winding small block you might have a bit of issues off the line. and I agree you would want to have a higher rear gear to get that car moving.
Have a really good shifter with linkage & that Centerforce clutch will work just fine!
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 64
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From: Medford OK
The 903 with 2.88 first gear is a good tranny, and i would worry about use it behind you motor.. One question I have is.. What kind of motor. Your pushing alot of power.. Is it a Big Block? With tonnes of Torque? If so good!!. You can compensate the lower rear end gear with the Big Torque of the motor.
Now if it's a High winding small block you might have a bit of issues off the line. and I agree you would want to have a higher rear gear to get that car moving.
Have a really good shifter with linkage & that Centerforce clutch will work just fine!
Now if it's a High winding small block you might have a bit of issues off the line. and I agree you would want to have a higher rear gear to get that car moving.
Have a really good shifter with linkage & that Centerforce clutch will work just fine!
Le Mans Master
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 7,666
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From: Where it's always hot as Hell-South Louisiana.
St. Jude Donor '07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13
The engine going in will be a 383 stroker with around 440 ft. pounds but im not sure what r.p.m. peak torque and horsepower are reached at yet as I havent received the actual dyno specs from the manufacturer yet as I just placed my order yesterday. The engine is supposed to ship within in a month so I've begin the process of labeling lines and wires. Tedious but well worth it in the end!!!
I've done a few motor removal & installs in the 80 and 81 models. Last one was on my 80 with a new ZZ 4 crate install....
Best friend is :
masking tape
majic marker
tie wraps
zip lock bags: quart,gallon.
Take your time and label everything with masking tape.majic marker.
Use tie wraps to temporarily hold things back,etc.
Small parts in the zip locks- label the bags with the majic marker.
Its a piece of cake,just take your time.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 2,655
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Direct from the source. They havn't changed the design much. Iron cases may be higher rated.
http://www.richmondgear.com/07pdfs/RG26.pdf
http://www.richmondgear.com/07pdfs/RG26.pdf
Race Director
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From: Who says "Nothing is impossible" ? I've been doing nothing for years.
Couple of things, the lower the first gear the less torque it will be rated at. An aluminum Super T10 with 2.88 first gear with no mid plate will handle 300RWHP and 330RWTQ, I have the dyno printouts for my original 355ci. 300RWHP is near 400HP Gross and 330RWTQ is also near or over 400TQ at the flywheel so it will handle a little more that the specs. say but engineers always put in a safety factor. When I was designing electronics I would put in at least 25%
As soon as I put the 550HP / 510 Tq 406ci motor in the tranny blew. I bought another one and it lasted a couple of days and it was toast. What happens is if you have enough torque and put your foot into it from say 2500RPM to 5500RPM the entire case starts to twist or distort.
Once this happens the gears inside get moved slightly out of line and enough to cause you to drive home in first gear. This is from my own personal experience and the reason I went to the Tremec TKO 600, so you are going to be at the limits of an aluminum T10
As soon as I put the 550HP / 510 Tq 406ci motor in the tranny blew. I bought another one and it lasted a couple of days and it was toast. What happens is if you have enough torque and put your foot into it from say 2500RPM to 5500RPM the entire case starts to twist or distort.
Once this happens the gears inside get moved slightly out of line and enough to cause you to drive home in first gear. This is from my own personal experience and the reason I went to the Tremec TKO 600, so you are going to be at the limits of an aluminum T10
Last edited by MotorHead; Jan 14, 2012 at 10:24 AM.
Instructor
Joined: Dec 2010
Posts: 169
Likes: 1
From: Merritt Island Florida
I installed an aluminum case Super T-10 with 2.88 first in my 82, I love it but first is very sluggish. I also installed the dual friction Centerforce clutch - a couple of issues there. First is it vibrates at low RPM now, not very well balanced. Second, its a bit stiffer of a clutch pedal and I had problems with the stock linkage. Solution to the second issue in this thread:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...e-problem.html
Carl
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...e-problem.html
Carl
