Tremec TKO 600

Meat Drapes

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Mar 26, 2005
1,193
9
38
Stoutland, MO
The linkage is mechanical. I adjusted it untill it stopped where it rests now.
I can make it adjust untill its even with the brake pedal. I am not sure how you put the clutch fork on wrong. The clips go inside the bearing. I have seen enough pictures on the internet to hopefully understand that. Maybe I am looking at all of this backwards. I was wrong about the neutral safety. Your replys are far from insulting. I need to learn. All of my other hotrods have been auto-trannys. This is my first manual and I dove in and tried a transmission swap. So I am a little lost.
Especially now that I have a car that can move... I am afraid to move it.
I have finished the interior and got the driveshaft attached. I messed around with it while it was up on jack stands. It seems ok. The tires move. I even have reverse :)
I still have to tweak a few things. What else could I be missing?
 

Meat Drapes

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Mar 26, 2005
1,193
9
38
Stoutland, MO
I took it off the jack stands and drove it around the neighborhood today for about 10 minutes. All shifts were smooth and it felt ok. I just need to do little things now... like get he exhaust hooked up. hehe
I could not help myself and did some little clutch dumps. Everything seems nice. We shall see. I am almost done.
 

malihoochie

Dragway Regular
May 28, 2004
875
0
0
michigan(detroit area)
Alright, it's been 7 days ... whats new with the project? Meatdrapes?
I actually bolted my trans up last night to check where I need to place the hole & it looks like I'll only have some minor clearancing to do (like you said Elcoolmino!), and the stick is going to be coming through the floor in the same spot as my prostick was bolted to.
 

Meat Drapes

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Mar 26, 2005
1,193
9
38
Stoutland, MO
Today i took it out for a road test up to about 45 mph. I hit all 5 gears.
I shifted a few hard. The clutch feels pretty good. Nice and smooth. I felt nothiing unusual, no vibrations. Its too loud to hear anything though. Open headers are a pain.
My custom crossmember... the pad is too low and I have minimal clearance from the driveshaft to the driveshaft tunnel strap. I think I am ok for now. Its not hitting or rubbing.
Tomorrow morning I will get the exhaust hooked back up and finally get a crossover installed. The car is running like crap. In 5th gear at 45 the engine feels like its going to die and that is about 1500 rpm. I guess the cam does not come in untill about 2200... I am not even sure. Could be the open exhaust too.
All in all I must have done something right. The car moves. It moved and didnt blow up or make any hidious noises. I guess my main problem is that I am lacking confidence since I had never done it before.

Sorry I have not updated. I am horribly busy at work. We are fielding new gear and I have Marines returning from Iraq and its never ending.
 

Meat Drapes

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Mar 26, 2005
1,193
9
38
Stoutland, MO
Exhaust is done. I took a more extensive ride today. Progressivly faster and with harder exceleration. I did a few more harder shifts. Something is not right. If I shift really hard something is hitting. Might be transmission hitting tunnel. I also spun the tires much more aggressively and pick up alot of wheel hop that caused a really sickening noise. Could be the driveshaft rubbing the tunnel strap while everything is flying around. I think that my crossmember is too weak and its flexing. The new pad I had welded on is just enough to drive but not tough enough to really beat on it. I dont know for sure if this is the case.
One thing is for sure. After I took out the rear sway bar, the inserts that keep the lower control arms from getting crushed also added a little more rigidity and now without them the rear hops like crazy if I get after it. I have a set of UMI uppers and lowers... that is next.

The shifting is wonderful. The clutch is fantastic. 5th gear is GREAT!!
I would not do a kit ever again. This could have been done from scratch.
A few more weeks of tweaking here and there. Ill get a pic of the interior soon.
 

El Coolmino

Top Fueler
May 11, 2005
2,505
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0
DSM IA under a green truck
The following is only my opinion, and I am not an expert, so consider the source.

When I first saw how the crossmember tab was done, I immediately thought you were going to have problems. The way it's cantilevered off the front is gonna make your extension flex like hewl.

I say this because I had to put a tab of similar length on the front of my G-force crossmember. When I first put it in the car, you could see the shifter moving over bumps in the road, indicating severe flex in the trans mount. My advice would be to add a couple side pieces to your tab to provide more up-down support. You can see what I'm talking about here

crossmember.jpg


Before I replaced my floor brace with a driveshaft loop, I modifed my OEM brace by cutting, bending, and making a new center out of steel strap. It's ugly, but it was a temporary thing. It's sitting right in front of the gold anodized shifter body

floorbrace.jpg


Good Luck!
 

Meat Drapes

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Mar 26, 2005
1,193
9
38
Stoutland, MO
I too thought about how I might get flex without a little brace welded up to the sides. When I shift hard I get the "THUMP" or if I get wheel hop.
I drove all day and only had one incident and that was hard acceleration past 5000 rpm and poor pavement.
I have put it up on ramps to peek and cant see any place it might be hitting.
Another note. The centerforce dual friction setup, on a new clutch, is it normal to smell a little burn from it? I was trying to ride up my ramps and rode the clutch a little... it was stinky. My other made in China clutch did not ever smell.
 

Meat Drapes

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Mar 26, 2005
1,193
9
38
Stoutland, MO
Drove to work and back. I have been driving alot lately.
I have decided that while the crossmember does in fact flex a little, if it were to flex really hard, it would stay in the position it flexed too.
I think I am having a problem with the rear end. Can anyone tell me how much stability the braces inside the lower control arms provide... the braces that keep the arms from getting crushed when you have a rear sway bar?
I have them and sway removed right now and the rear end makes one hell of a noise when I really 'hit it' .

Bottom line when all is said and done... the Tremec TKO-600 is a very nice transmission. It is night and day compared to my saginaw. I do not recommend any company though. Do it yourself. It is not hard. Soon I will follow up the thread with a few final thoughts.

Also... Keisler Engineering STILL does not have a FU@$ING clue as to when my crossmember will be made. What a crock.
 

malihoochie

Dragway Regular
May 28, 2004
875
0
0
michigan(detroit area)
I am going to make use of my stock x-member with the aformentioned side bracing. Plan on working on it this weekend. I am having some doubts about being able to use my old drivshaft safety loop though. I'm thinking I'll have to switch to the kind that offsets the loop to the rear of the car - or I've seen some that mount to the trans mount too. Maybe one of those may have to be used.
 

Meat Drapes

Dragway Regular
Thread starter
Mar 26, 2005
1,193
9
38
Stoutland, MO
The transmission is functioning great. The clutch is still fantastic.

I put the UMI upper and lowers on and this isolated the problem to the crossmember. It just does not have the strength in the pad that I had welded on. The pad is thick enough but I never had it reinforced. If I really get on it the transmission will cause the pad to flex/vibrate and it drives the transmission tailshaft into the crossmember. I am learning a great deal about all the torsional stresses that the engine / transmission / driveshaft and rearend go through. The only weak link left would be the crossmember.
I will have it reinforced next weak.
What a novel concept 5th gear can be when you are running 4.10s... I love it.
 

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