Thread: Anyone have a Tremec in your street rod?

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or know someone who does? I was wondering what type of shifter was used because all of those mustang guys use those short stubby shifters. I also would like to know if you kept the shifter in the stock location, or used the midshift conversion kit.

They come with an internal shifter, you just need to supply the chrome lever and knob.

Well...I think nearly everyone that gets one immediately puts a Pro5.0 or Steeda shifter in it (all the mustang guys, anyway), and the handle is only about 6 or 7" long. That's way too short for my 37 Ford.

The other thing is the shifter location. The shifter on a Tremec can be mounted in 3 locations, but the stock location is in the end closest to the rear. I'm thinking that the shifter and the seat would interfere with each other in the stock location. I probably should just get it in the middle.

bulldog,

From what it looks like you should be able to adapt a Hurst shift lever (available in a bunch of lengths) to the stock stub. Looks like a flat side and two holes, might need to fab some bushings. Here's a link to a guy who says he did it; http://webpages.charter.net/1bad6t/tremec.html

The Tremec site advises using the front locating position for "hot rods", but the mid location for truck retrofits. I'd suggest you mock up the installation, set the seat location, and then decide. That way you won't have to cut one of those notch outs in your seat that makes it look like an after thought, or be stuck having to reach too far forward to shift. Also looks like you'll need a kit from Tremec to use either of the forward locations, as it appears the rear location hardware won't transfer forward. Here's the Tremec manufacturer web site.

http://www.ttcautomotive.com/home/home.asp

bulldog, I've used many of the Tremec trannys and I always keep the stock shifter. It works great. Bob's right about the handle. I make my own for the Cobras I build. You could do whatever you want for a good fit. It doesn't really need bushings, I just bolt the handle directly to the shifter. You will feel more vibration through the handle but nothing drastic. There is an extra kit you need to purchase to move the shifter. I buy alot of my Tremecs through Swaar auto. He sets them up for whatever configuration you need. Good prices also. His number is 760-963-0352
Don

dscott is right,
I have installed so many tremecs, I can't even count them anymore, and they used to give you a manual in the box, not any more. The stock shifter is fine, especially for a street rod. I think most guys replace it because a shiny billet part exists (that you can't see), and they feel comfortable doing the swap themselves, after they paid somebody else to do all the hard work on their car.

I'm still not sure where would be the best shifter location. I'm concerned about the travel of the shifter arm (side to side and front to back). The middle position seems like it would be more comfortable, but it might bang your knees in 1st and/or 2nd. The front positon would solve that, but the shifter arm would have to be rather long (like the origonal) and would vibrate heavily. Also, the longer the shifter arm, the longer the travel. That's the big question mark.

Does anyone have any pics that might help clear this up?

I have a Tremec 3550 in my '32 Ford 5W with a Hurst Competition Plus shifter arm adapted to it. It uses the mid-shifter kit which provides a very nice placement of the shifter centered on the floor well in front of the bench seat (was going for a '60s drag car kind of look). Shifting is comfortable, but it is true that to get the handle where it needs to be required the longer arm - those little shorty shifters would have had me leaning over and reaching to the floor to shift. So the shifter throw is longer than anyone would expect who is used to driving modern cars with their short shifters, but just fine for someone like me who grew up with muscle cars. The length also gives just a little shake at the knob. But I wouldn't change a thing. I can post some pictures of the setup if interested. One thing to watch out for - on the Tremec mid-shifter conversion kit for the 3550 there is a part listed called the "Oil Deflector", but it is not pictured anywhere in the manual and there are no instructions as to what to do with it. If you leave this part out your transmission will leak fluid that seeps out of the rubber dust boot that fits around the top of the shift turret.

I've put a tremec into a 65 Mustang. I used a pro 5.0 shiter base and got a 60's model Camero hurst shifter handle and put that on to get the proper location for the driver. The Tremec comes with a fair shifter base but the throw is very large the pro 5.0 closes that up some. The bolt pattern is the same as most hurst shifter handle I've seen. They will bolt up fine. I used a T-5 and a 3550 in the mustang and in my 93 Cobra I used a TKO. If you use one of these be sure to go to the Chevy dealer to get the proper fluid to put in it. It uses syncromesh fluid for the friction clutches and it makes the trans shift alot smoother. A nother thing the tremec makes alot of noise when it's cold.
Good luck
If you need any part #'s I used I will get them for you.