454Can-Am

TKO is the way to go..............
You can also check out http://www.darkhorseperformance.com and talk to Fred
He's got the Tremec's also !!! Rick :chevy

Merlin522

If you guys need some shots of the ROD conversion & some cool ideas, there are tons of shots on my site.

MassVette

The '79 is a 2001 Lincoln optional color- Autumn Red pearlescent. Thanks for the nice comments. It's appreciated- especially from a guy with your eye and hand.


:yesnod: :chevy :chevy :yesnod:

MassVette

The mount is basically an angle bar with two drilled holes welded to the front of the crossmember. My '67 (which BTW has the same basic frame as the C-3) because it is a factory 4-speed car, has the welded-in crossmember. If you want to install the trans. without pulling the motor, then a removeable crossmember would be advisable. Sawzalls work wonders in that department.
Bob Turner and Noel Carboni on this forum both have a series of photos available showing the step-by-step installation of the R.O.D. in the C-3.
Merlin's website has tons of pictures of the drivetrain, too.
:yesnod: :chevy :yesnod:

GDaina

Seems like a lot of work involved installing the 5 speed.....none of which I did....I made the rear trans bracket, changed out to the TH400 yoke, got a combo U-joint, removed the tranny's tail shaft housing so that I wouldn't have to cut the crossmember, installed the tranny, put the tail housing back on...shortened the Hurst shift rods and tranny arms, shifts, smooth.

Think you guys are reading too much stuff, getting bogged down in too much information and detail.....ask the guys who actually installed the transmissions what entails, don't rely on publications.

Chuck Harmon

Shame on you George Daina!!! Withholding such a straight forward remedy for the cross member dilema. Yet, I'm still not sure if I have even enough room to remove the tail shaft with the longer 6 speed. 'Twould be great if there is! :cheers:

Thanks,

Chuck

69L71

George is right. You guys are going overboard on the install of the Richmond, especially the 5-speed. Sure, cutting the crossmember makes the job a bit easier but its by no means a requirement. The issue is the clearance of the tail section of the trans and the crossmember. Its pretty tough to raise the trans into position, slip it over the crossmember far enough to get in input shaft into the bell housing, and slide it forward. Hell, I had to replace the rear freeze plug in my 71 454 and getting the muncie back in was tough! The old Richmond Installation Manual for the 5-speed in 63-82 Corvettes suggested removing the tail section, installing the trans, and reinstalling the tail section. I bet they had too many warrantee recalls to maintain that instruction but it is still viable.

You can forgo all this if you install the engine and trans at once. Both the 5-speed and 6-speed Richmonds will fit in a fixed crossmember car if the whole drivetrain is installed and slid back as a unit. The other suggestion is to 'half-remove' the engine by pulling the exhaust, fan, radiator, etc. and lift the engine and slide it forward. Then the trans can be lifted into place and the whole shebang slid back onto the mounts.

The 6-speed is pretty tight. I measured everything when I had the trans out of the 71 and the ROD 6 mount is barely in front of the crossmember. The 5-speed has more clearance. As mentioned, the removable stamped trans mount either must be replaced or modified. Seeing its a $30 repro part I do see that as daunting.

Here's a diagram of how an ROD would fit with a fixed crossmember:





Here's 2 pics of groovyjay's slick Richmond 5 installation with a custom mount (thanks jay). Look, NO CUTTING of the crossmember!






You can see that the ROD 6 will also fit but the trans mount is about 1 1/2" further aft. That makes it tight but workable.

I'm gonna do a Richmond 5 or 6 on my convertible and intend to install it when the body is off. It doesn't get any easier than that, especially when groovyjay has his fabrication buddy make me up one of those mounts!


[Modified by 69L71, 12:18 PM 9/4/2002]

Captain Morgan

I think groovyjay needs to market those. :yesnod:

fireball

It may depend on the application. I'll tell you from my install, with the car on jackstands, even with the tailshaft removed, the input shaft on the tranny would not clear the lip of the Lakewood Bellhousing. Notice I said "Lakewood Bellhousing". I'm still not sure if my problem was the blowshield or just not having the car high enough off the ground to get a better angle, but it would not go.

Regardless, I cut the crossmember (easy job with a sawzall) and just bolted it back together using some fabricated steel braces. I also hacked an inch out of the existing tranny mount and welded it back together for the proper spacing. Incidentally, the U-shaped piece I cut out turned into a very nice attachment for a tranny jack. Boy I wish that aluminum mount from groovyjay had been available, would have saved some time.

Chuck Harmon

Groovyjay is using the same poly mount I attempted to use. It sits about 1.5" too high. I had to fabricate my own. Putting the trans in with the engine worked fine for me too, but, it is a bit more of a hassle with the BB than with my SB. Seeing Groovy's pictures pretty much convinces me that my uncertainty of removing the 6 speed's rear housing will not allow enough room. There is no where to go with the housing once you unbolt it! Thanks anyway for the suggestion George.

So, the engine tranny will come out once again to change to the McLeod dual disc clutch/flywheel assembling sitting in the corner of the garage awaiting installation. I will just try to make good use of the empty engine bay and detail "stuff" while the motor is out. It will be easier to install the new cam while the engine is on a stand too. I also need to change out my side yokes for new ones and change the lower leaf spring for a shortened one. I will probably put in an electric fuel pump replacing the high rpm oil spewing new mechanical one from Edelbrock.

It's funny. A lot of guys would think all this to be a major operation. But considering how far I had this car completely disassembled, this seems like a piece of cake by comparison. :yesnod: New, clean parts and bolts make working on a car a much more pleasant experience. However, this is never true for dash work which is always a !@#$ whatever the age of the bolts or parts! :lol:

Chuck


[Modified by Chuck Harmon, 1:55 PM 9/4/2002]

69L71

BTW, here's the original Richmond installation instructions for the 5-speed. It details the process and shows how the stamped mount needs to be modified. Amazingly it looks a lot like groovyjay's mount!

http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/Richmond_install.pdf

Bob Turner

Ditto!!!!! :cheers:

Bob

MassVette

This is a great thread, but the guy who started it now says that the ROD is too difficult and expensive---------------

:yesnod: :yesnod: :yesnod:

BeaterShark

Most of the installation discussion, cutting the crossmember or installing engine/tranny as a combo, is valid for both the ROD and the Tremec. When I was thinking about getting a Tremec (when the economy was good), I was debating which to do. I'm no purist by any means, but I was having a hard time convincing myself to make my crossmember removable. On the other hand, I really didn't want to have to pull the engine to change the clutch.

Parrydise7

I think the Richmond has external shift rails. Have you considered a t56? There are plenty of used ones

gdh

The thread is 13 yrs old, hopefully everything was worked out long ago.

Dale760

I have a brand new ROD 6 speed with .80 6th that was never installed. I'm about to do the install in my 1980 original 4 speed car Ive been building a couple years.

If anyone reads this with the 80-82 can you tell me if you really need to shorten the yoke to 3.5" to clear the internal speedo drive, and how much longer speedo extension cable do you need.

My car has the nice bolt in cross member so I will cut the center out and fab up a super clean center section.

Thanks Dale

Alwyn678

Wow, pristine

Dale760

Thanks , well one good thing I found out today at Summit is you can still buy the Richmond 6 speed pattern name plate for the center console, and If I cant find the extended speedo cable at Napa you can still get one from Richmond.


Name plate about $11.00

Short speedo cable extension $65.00

Cheers Dale

Garys 68

When I put mine in, I simply checked to see the yoke didn't bottom out on the speedo gear or output shaft. The vet IRS doesn't have much movement for and aft like a live rear axle.