While I have been a fan of the 4+3, I am thinking of going to a 6-speed.

Running 550 ft.lbs. from the torquey 409, through the 3.56, I would like sub-2000 rpm at 70-75. The rears are 315x35x17s for my street driving, with occasional play.

I heard the Ritchie is noisy, but so is my exhaust. I am more concerned with reliability and function, plus vendor support and excellent fitment.

What have you guys learned?

 

^ I mentioned a Tremec to my D36 rebuilder (GM Platinum level Technician) his eyes bulged and He sternly told me no Tremec........

 

What was done to your 4+3 trans to strengthen it?How much horse power are you making with your 409

 

there was little that could be done to it, but it was totally rebuilt with new gears and slightly closer ratios; the strongest my expert (20 years building trannies) knew. the dyno runs I had done were way off, probably due to the lack of calibration. The longtime Corvette owner/builder/trusted mechanic states well over 500; faster than a stock ZR by quite a lot. My 'problem' is total wheelspin when floored, in 1 and 2.

I was reading some nasty comments about them, but they were a few years old. Are they still a problem?

How easy to the Ritchies install? There was pan cutting and replacement panel fabrication involved some years ago.

I am open to experience based-suggestions of any good tranny.

 

^^Experience it not me....I'm just relaying what I heard from a guy I trust pretty much.

 

Thanks, neighbor. I do a fair amount of the same. Who does your work, neighbor? While I did much of my redo of this '84, there is some I just don't feel like doing.. again, at times. I know two shops in HB, but they are far and booked quite far in advance.

Thanks for the honesty, in addition to the comments.

 

You are local aren't you??

J&S gear
18222 Gothard
HB, Ca.

John in there is the Platinum GM Tech, He spent 25 years at Connel Chevy and actually taught the course on LSDs for GMs new techs. I can walk around with a D36 and no one knew what it was...He identified the year of my car before touching the D36.....(the stub shafts have two different bearing sizes and mine were the "old" (aka early) smaller bearings....not many know that about D36s.....)

Not only that, the guy STOCKS the parts to repair that rear end.....

I'm having issues with my 4x3 and the mere mention of Tremec made him react sternly....told me about the massive noise....not only that they are ~$3000.

He pointed me to:
Orange County Transmissions
1375 Logan ave Unit F
Costa Mesa, Ca

This guy know the 4x3 very very well.

John at J&S took apart and inspected my D36 for a very reasonable price...new bearings and Sealed it up for $170

But the guy at OC Tranny....He is telling me, it's going to be $300-400 just to reseal that 4x3...ouch...Then my T10 is rattling around so a rebuild on that and new seals on a working OD unit will be $700 bux...again OUCH...

BUT! OC tranny will have that unit ready for me the early part of the week after dropping it off on Friday afternoon. So the service is very fast and the guy come highly recommended. The way He tore into the 4x3 told me that mine was in no way his first Rodeo. I'm confident that He can do the work....just hate the Money issue. No one will touch that 4x3 and he knows it.

Understand, I pulled out all of the stuff here in my garage....that may make a difference for these guys but hell....J&S had to order a small part or else he would have rebuilt that thing for me while i waited....and OCT was ready to tear into that Tranny while I waited as well.

So that is my latest.

 

Jerry, at Unitrax in Anaheim did the rear end when my torque cracked the case of the early D36. He spent a lot of hours researching, then proposed a gear set with double the teeth contact area of the broken 3.73, as I had decided to change to a lower ratio. He also had the case and the internals cryo treated for hardness; suggesting non-synthetic lube for its better lubrication characteristics. I opted for a synthetic, b/c the 3" exhaust pipes are right under it and transfer a LOT of heat.

My +3 was rebuilt by Paul, of 5-speeds in Boca Raton, FL before he sold al that stuff to the shop in Long Island, NY. The T-10 part was redone by a local guy in Anaheim Hills, who had a career at Disneyland, working on their gearboxes. He showed me the case hardening wear-thru and the micro cracks in the tranny teeth, especially 2nd. That was from the stock 350!

The problems I had with the Nash were not due to it, but external issues. I once fixed an On/Off cycling problem with new spark plug wires!

Thanks for the referrals. I could use a guy who is superb with a TPI; a custom chipped Camaro ECM drives my injectors. It was very well dialed in by Gary Leonhardt, but needs tweaking anew since the rebuild.

 

It seems to me the ZF is the way to go....I just didn't have the ~$1500 needed to anti into that game.

And yeah Paul was the guy I was trying to remember to ask about my DNE O/D. He post every now and again here but I've not seen him in a while and never when I need him. SW is the guys in NY...they are nice as well....but NY??? we have a guy in Costa Mesa that knows about them.....I'm pleased at what I found

You are serious about that car!! you have a lot of nice mods.....Keep it up!! We'll have to meet at Fuddruckers one Tuesday....but lemme get rolling first !!

 

I had done the Richmond 6 swap on my 421 cubed 87 back in 1997. They have refined the the shifter some since. The trans itself is not that noisy. The shifter with all those heim joints rattles a bit , but like you, my exhaust is noisy. If you can do a clutch change, you can install a Richmond. It doesn't get any more straight forward. I 've had no issues with it other than the aforementioned shifter noise. They now offer more options for gear ratios so your target of sub 2k rpms should be doable.

 

I installed the engine, clutch and all the drivetrain the first time, plus many other mods, so I know I can put the tranny in.

Other than a 'simple' R/R, does the console or floorpan need modification?

Any recommends on the best source for a Ritchie?

 

I don't have one, I just have links to these guys. I've only used ecklers before, don't know about the other two.

What about the fact that this is an external linkage transmission rather than a rail shifter?



Ecklers: 3799.99
http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...1&dept_id=1876

Peyton: 3261.60
http://www.peytonperformance.com/ite...--7071626.html

Gilbert appears to sell one, though you need to call as their website is messed up.
http://www.gilbertautoparts.com/Richmond/

 

Thanks for the links.

The stocker is external linkage. Why would that be an issue, now?

 

I'm curious, what did he recommend, that only leaves the ZF or automatic?

You will love a Tremec, Kessler specifically.

If you think that your engine will drown out the ZF gear noise, then go ZF but be aware that your choice of clutch packages is minimal and expensive.

 

You will have to cut out the floorpan where your original shifter resides. Then make a plate/cover to seal the side of the tunnel and provide a place for the inside shifter boot. All this is outlined in the install manual provided with the Richmond. I made a cardboard template for the tunnel, then brought the template to a local race car fab shop. They cut the tin and stepped the edges for a clean and nice install. PM me if you have any other questions!

 

I am running a Richmond six speed it s a little noisy I got magnaflow mufflers and I can only hear it when I'm in the garage with the driver door open, otherwise it's a good tran and it will support your torque, besides there are not issues with the clutch use the same one as the 4+3, not floor cuting either it fits pretty much like factory, however it is a little pricy at 3500 bucks,that is my only complain

 

Not totally surprising; the varied opinions.
Puzzling though, it the cut/no cut of the floor. Was the design changed? When looking into it years ago, there was cutting involved.

Not sure the ZF is stout enough for my engine. I already broke a rear end and have the pics to show.

 

I would do the richmond for the right price for sure.

 

I shouldn't answer at all......"I" really don't know for sure...I stated that is what I was told.

I know I shouldn't state anything without knowing for sure for myself....I was just letting the OP know what I had recently heard.

 

No problem, I was just curious if he was aware of more options out there than the ROD, ZF, 4+3, Tremec and automatic.

The C4 has limited options, I have driven all of the above mentioned trannys and owned all but the ROD. I did not like the ROD because of the external shift rods, but it was an OK tranny, more comparable to the

Also, send me a PM if you are considering a used ROD, my buddy, ol'Rj on the forum has his for sale. Or PM or email RJ.