tko 5 speed

[mikes55]

has anyone installed the American powertrain tko600 5 speed in their 55 chevy. I would appreciate the feed back and have a few questions. thanks

[markm]

I have one I bought from Hanlon Motersports, fun to drive, but does not speed shift quite like an old Muncie.

[mikes55]

did it fit your tunnel with cleareance or did you have to lower transmission crossmember to make it fit. if I have to lower it any my headers would hit my motor mount

[markm]

I have a BBC with Ecklers 2.25 forward mounts and I did not move my 1970 Camaro crossmember. I did modify and move rearward the bracket the trans mount bolts to. The only tunnel change was moving the shifter hole toward the pass side slightly. My clutch was the same 26 spline as BW Super T-10.

[chevynut]

I don't know why it makes any difference where it came from or whether it's in a 55, 56 or 57. All TKO600's are the same, and I believe they're the same case as the TKO500 too. The floors and frames of all tri5s are essentially the same, including the tranny tunnel.

[mikes55]

was just wondering if anyone had small block with tri y headers cause if you have to tilt engine down any for trans to clear the header is about 1/8 from motor mount

[chevynut]

was just wondering if anyone had small block with tri y headers cause if you have to tilt engine down any for trans to clear the header is about 1/8 from motor mount

What kind of motor mounts are you using? Got any pics? I wonder if you could clearance the mount some to give more header room.

[markm]

I don't know why it makes any difference where it came from or whether it's in a 55, 56 or 57. All TKO600's are the same, and I believe they're the same case as the TKO500 too. The floors and frames of all tri5s are essentially the same, including the tranny tunnel.

I always thought the 57 had a different firewall/cowl.

[chevynut]

I always thought the 57 had a different firewall/cowl.

It has a different firewall the floor is the same up to the transmission tunnel seam at the firewall.

[Rick_L]

I always thought the 57 had a different firewall/cowl.

True but where it counts for engine clearance it is the same. Cowl is lower, also the passenger side firewall is different because of the heater and fresh air stuff being different.

Most good headers don't have any problem with clearing side mounts. Why would you want to lower the engine anyway? No good reason to.

I don't know if they've fixed their stuff, but the TKO transmissions have a bad rap for shifting poorly. For me that would be a deal killer, because it would take all the fun out of having a 5 speed.