Tremec TKX install in my 65 LeMans
 

I had planned on installing a Auto gear M22 variant this winter to replace the M20 mainly to increase the strength and I wasn't interested in cutting up the floor for a 5 speed conversion but after hearing about the TKX I decided to order one. The total cost is right around $6000 Canadian or about $4800 USD , yes its expensive but I was able to offset 1/2 the cost by selling my old set up and a few other parts I had laying around. The Auto gear was going to run just around $4000 with taxes and shipping so a couple thousand more and I get a OD trans. I still need to get the driveshaft shortened and the weather is still crappy here so it wont be until about April before it hits the road . I went with the close ratio version 2.87 , 1,89, 1.28, 1.00, .68 OD the car has 3.23. rear gear and the tires are 25.68" tall. so at 70 mph it will be right around 2000 rpm.
First Picture is right out of the box with the shifter handle installed.
Second is the offset shifter

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I had bought one of the Browell Bell housing tools awhile ago so finally got the chance to use it and it worked well. In the end I needed some .007 offset dowels to get it dialed in.

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Once the bellhousing was dialed in I installed an 11" McLeod dual friction clutch kit and got right at installing the trans. No cutting to the tunnel is required it fits nice. But its not a direct bolt in Due to the shifter I used the shift porch needs to be cut as well as a small piece at the back left side of the tunnel this is only required to clear the shifter.

Shifter offset from above:

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Shifter position in the car:

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Shifter porch laying in place ( i cut to much out needs some welding)

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Carpet laid in place to see how it would all fit.

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The factory crossmember was used and only required a small amount of cutting to clear.

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Great write up. Thanks for the pics. I'd be curious how that McLeod clutch works out for you.

Charles

Did the shifter handle and offset piece come with the trans? I see you checked for concentricity but did you check for parallel first?

TKX
 

Tb1,. Nice job looks great, I’m planning on this same set up for my 64 gto,..

Who did you buy it from, and what other extra parts did you have to buy to complete the placement of the shifter.. and install..
What gear lube is recommended, what splines package is offered...

I plan on using a dual disc, Ram or Mcloed clutch setup...

Sorry for the Q&A...

Q&A is good: trans is a 26 spline input 28 output (ford style yoke)
I bought the trans, shifter, output shaft yoke, speedo adapter, reverse light pigtail as a package from a place in Canada called Gears to GO. reason being he's within a couple hours of my location so pick up was easy and if I have a problem I'm not sending it back to the States and waiting weeks on shipping each way plus the extra shipping costs.
I bought the clutch and Hurst shifter stick along with new flywheel bolts from Summit racing that completes the package other than getting the drive shaft shortened once measured.

The shifter came with the trans as part of the package. Its made by these guys
https://redrobertsinc.com/ The shifter stick was purchased from Summit and is the only round stick I could find with the Hurst logo to remain looking somewhat stock, original application is a 69 Camaro so it does have a bit of an different offset. As for checking for parallel no I did not, actually never thought of it but I'm in the mock up stage somewhat so could go back and check it.

TBI, thanks for the info...
I’ll be checking here in the states on pricing soon...

Very nice write up. Another option for those of us with the offset shifter is one from Silver State. They have a proprietary STX shifter which moves the shifter porch or turret to the side where the shift opening is. The prevents contact with the tunnel and requires no cutting. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...8b4b7f379e.jpg

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Had I ordered from the states this is the route I would have gone for sure As I wanted to use my stock shifter boot but now will need to get something bigger but my car is by no means stock so I'm ok with that.

On a side note I pulled the whole works out again this morning to check that the bellhousing is perpendicular to the rear of the engine block which I missed when reading the instructions from Tremec so once this is completed I'll check the bellhousing run out again and install the trans hopefully for the last time.

You're going to love it.
Both SST and American Powertrain make the small offset shifters that clear the tunnels nicely and have several clocking positions as well for specific placement.

What you did though isn't bad to do and works fine. No big deal.

Hope the weather in the great white north clears up enough to enjoy that overdrive. It'll completely change the driving experience.

I believe it's apples and oranges here. From looking up the white lightning on the interwebs, it appears that solution is simply a shift handle offset extension or link. The STX actually moves the shift tower off center and places it in the factory shifter hole opening, where it won't contact the tunnel.

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🔰 Does anyone know❓
 

Great thread! I’m planning on one for my ‘67. I have an indexing plate for a T-56, wonder if that will work to dial this one in?

I would like to know that also

awesome build . private message sent

I have the trans out again to make sure the bellhousing is perpendicular to the block (missed this part in the instructions from Tremec) and re dial the bellhousing if needed. Once its installed again I can get a measurement from the trans hump to the top of the shifter body.

Going from what I read these shifters say they will fit factory location with/without a console my car does not have a console. If you order from SST they have a side exit shifter that will for sure allow the console to fit see the photo someone else posted below.

The TKO and TKX both have the regular Muncie style input shaft register so a stock bellhousing can be used, using a dial indicator to get the proper run out. also need to check that the bell housing is perpendicular to the block as well

Thanks for your feedback for my console question 👍

🔰 Hiya 70GS455...
 

I think it’s Silver Sport not Silver State...I really appreciate your pointing out the alternative offset shifter...👍

https://shiftsst.com/
https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...ictureid=14030

Oops! Well I get partial credit at least

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With the correct offset shifter it should work with a console. The TKO does.

I just got a quote on one of these for my '67. Any issues using the factory bellhousing and mechanical clutch linkage? The company I used suggested a modified tail housing with side shifter. Did you have to cut anything to accommodate the offset shifter?

I actually prefer to use the factory bell housing and mechanical clutch on the swaps I do here. I never was a fan of adding hydraulics to the clutch. I dealt with that enough on 4th gen Fbodies for years and got tired of the issues they sometimes present.

The mechanical stuff has never let me down, works smooth as long as all your linkage is in order, and it's way cheaper and much easier to repair or replace parts when needed. Plus if you are adding a 5 speed to a car that's already a 4 speed, the parts are already there, and it helps to keep the swap cost a little more reasonable.

In the end it's up to you and what you want to deal with.

With using the shifter I have required a very small amount of cutting near the back edge of where the shifter bolts to the trans and the trans hump that is screwed to the floor requires a bit of cutting, I post a pic later but nothing major a small little patch panel was required. I was unable to use the factory non console shifter boot but if the car was console equipped this would not be an issue. The modified tail housing with the side shifter would fit no issues I'm sure. I used the factory bellhousing and manual linkage no issues and saved a bunch of money on a hydraulic release bearing.

TB1, thanks for posting your experiences! All your viewers appreciate it: I certainly do! :)

I've been considering the TKX since last fall for my '64 GTO. I'm in the US between DC and Baltimore and have been in touch with Silver Sport, who advertises, I think, over 25 custom shifter adapters. So far, they are my supplier of choice.

I understand that we need to move the transmission crossmember back, but is it still the correct height? I don't want to mess up my pinion angle. Please let us know.

Again, thank you for sharing your upgrade! :humble:

Due to me living in Canada I figured better to buy locally if I needed the warranty etc, But the Silversport set up with the side exit shifter would have made this all a direct bolt in I'd consider what I ended up doing is 98% bolt in It didn't require a welder just some time to make the one patch panel.

The trans cross member is moved back I had to drill one new hole on each side, basically the rear hole from the original mounting location becomes the front hole with the TKX or TKO, Pinion angle should not change at all I have been using the lower profile Energy suspension mount part number 3-1158G as I found the stock replacements available were too tall and the yoke would smack the floor with a passenger in the car. I also had to install adjustable upper rear control arms to dial in the pinion angle after lowering my car as wheel hop was pretty bad with the 4 speed I had previously. but I 'd think a stock ride height car would be fine.

Great news, thanks again!

Little bit of an update, I have the car on the road and driven it about 50 miles so far and I'm impressed with the way it shifts the gear spread seems to be great with my 3.23 rear gears. Only down side so far is I have a pretty good vibration at 70MPH and above, jacked the car up on some chalks to load the suspension today and had a better look at the pinion angle which didn't seem to be an issue with the Muncie but I was pretty hard pressed to go over 60 mph for the most part due to traffic etc. I found the trans output is -4° and the pinion yoke was basically 0° so I have adjusted the rear upper control arms to get the pinion angle at +3 and will test drive it tomorrow and see how it is. I'm thinking my lower profile energy suspension trans mount may be part of the reason for the -4° but I was unable to shim the trans any higher as it was close to hitting the shifter porch.

I mentioned below also about the cross member. I mistakenly said that the rear bolt hole for the rubber insulator will become the front hole for the new trans this is not correct. I had a factory hole just aft of the original front mount location this was used as the new front mount hole and the rear hole needed to be drilled on each side.

:thumbup:

You're going to have a lot of happy cruising this summer.

Are you saying you lowered the front of the pinion down to get the +3*?

I think if you are down -4* at the trans you will want the front of the pinion UP the same amount (-4*) minus a couple degrees to compensate for the pinion rotating up during acceleration.
So if you are down -4* at the trans you want the front of the pinion UP roughly -2*

Hope this makes sense, this topic can get pretty confusing lol

The trans is down 4° and I moved the pinion up 3° degrees towards the floor it was at zero when I started. I figured moving it up would be positive and down from zero would be negative? . I'll take it for a drive today and see how it is now, but murphy's law will show at 3° it will be to much and I'll have to drop it back to 2°!

So if I’m reading this right, I may need to install adjustable rear upper control arms to dial it in?

Not necessarily, I lowered the car what was supposed to be 1" but is more like 2" I also had to add spacers under my engine to frame mounts due to the oil pan hitting the center link. I found this after swapping the 6 cylinder for the 455, I then installed a lower profile trans mount due to the yoke smacking the floor with a passenger in the car. The car had terrible wheel hop with the Muncie so that's when the adjustable upper arms went in I adjusted them enough to cure the wheel hop issue. So in my case it was a series of events that lead to the adjustment yesterday. The trans mount pad height on the TKX vs the Muncie should be the same or very close.

Another thought about the vibration, if you haven’t already, maybe consider having the driveshaft balanced? I had a similar vibration in my’67 wagon and that cleared it up.


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The driveshaft was shortened and balanced with the new yoke after I measured once the trans was installed. weights are all still intact. Going to test drive later today and see how it goes.

You moved the pinion up in the front towards the floor which is correct but that is actually -3° looking at your angle gauge, which is why I asked.. 😎

This is all good information for me: I hope to hear an update after your test drive today! :canada2:

well took it out and hammered on it today up to about 90 mph on what I will call a closed course..... Vibration was much better. Tomorrow I'm going to fine tune it some. I came up with -4 at the trans and finished with -3 at the pinion, Today I remeasured with a better digital protractor and it's more like -4.3 and the pinion -2.4 so still room for improvement.

Bit of an update after checking and adjusting the pinion angle and using the Tremec app I had the the driveline angles dialed in, took the car for another drive on the hwy at 70+ mph same issue bad vibration so then I started looking into critical speed of shafts (my Engineering back ground got the better of me) and I totally over looked this possibility when getting the car back on the road, I had the drive shaft shortened a couple summers ago when I installed an 8.5" rear and the factory tube had to much runout to be used so they used 2.75" dia DOM tubing with the factory weld in yokes to save me the cost of a totally new shaft. This was perfect with the 4 speed as I never really went much above 60-65mph as the engine was around 3000 rpm and you couldn't carry on a conversation in the car. After some searching I found that the true 1/2 critical speed of a 2.75" .dia shaft at the length in my car was right about 2800 driveshaft rpm and with my car at 70 mph the engine was turning 2000 rpm but the DS was actually spinning at 2000x1.32= 2640 rpm too close felt like it was trying to form a pretzel. I went back to the local driveshaft shop and talked to the owner and he build me a shaft/ 3.5" dia .065"wall thickness with 1330 yokes at the rear I used a 1330 to 3R conversion joint as I didn't change the pinion yoke. I was able to test drive the car today up to about 80 MPH and its as smooth as a 56 year old car gets. over all very happy with the outcome.

I'm a bit confused on the limited speeds/vibrations. I've been driving 4 speed first gen GTO's since the '70's, and have experienced vibrations on some cars that usually had bent or out of phase driveshafts. All of these cars were stock GM, not modified. I could run these cars up to 120+ mph without vibration with the stock stuff....smooth as glass. When I had the 3.55's in my '65, the 'sweet spot' was 90mph at over 4,000 rpm. Not sure of the need to do extensive re-engineering unless the aftermarket stuff is way out of the ballpark.

I didn't really have to do extensive re engineering, the 2.75" driveshaft tube dia was undersized for what was required of it, this was my fault as I forgot to take into account the increased driveshaft speed with the overdrive trans in the rush to get the car back on the road. I went with 3.5" dia tube for 2 reasons, (1) the factory sized 3.25 " dia tube was not readily available and the cost of the yokes were more. the 3.5 dia tube seems to be the go to size. (2) 3" dia was border line in that at a cruising speed of between 70-80+ it was near the true half critical speed of that dia and length of tubing required to fit in my car. Above or below the critical speed is fine to a point but to operate at this speed continually will result in failure this is true for any reciprocating engine or shaft.
The only way to increase the critical speed of a shaft is to make it shorter or increase the dia of the shaft/tube and in the case of our cars we need to increase dia as the length is fixed. as I said above the shaft was spinning right near the true half critical speed for the dia and size I had installed

Just a bit of an update on the car and some winter projects I have been working on. I bought an Apex drivetrain crossmember which is basically the same as American powertrain but in steel(not sure who was first to market). They make a bunch of parts. https://apexdrivetrain.com/ This mounts to the stock holes and is modular to fit multiple transmissions. Secondly I finished up my console and installed it. The shifter works great doesn’t look totally stock but at a quick glance…. Had I not been in such a hurry initially the patch panel would not of been required most likelyhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...91add4ec54.jpg
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If you had purchased from SST you wouldn’t have had to cut the floor at all probably. I just had to make a little clearance in one corner with hammer in my 69. You’ll love that tkx

Or MDLhttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ce52cfe817.jpg

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Living in Canada I purchased from a local supplier, This was to cut out the excessive shipping and if I had any problems down the road easy to deal with warranty etc. The shifter installed is the same one Modern drivetrain sells with there kits its made by https://redrobertsinc.com/ I would consider what I had to do a bolt in, But If I had to do it over again I would get the shifter mentioned below just to save a step or two. The trans was installed January 2021 and has about 2000 trouble free miles so far and I love it.