Need some input.

[Dan Sherwood]

Gear Vendors has agreed to let me return their unit at n/c, so it looks like I'm off to manual land. I have a stock console that I want to retain, so I'm leaning toward the tko600 with the .64 OD. I currently have 3.42 gears, but also have some 3.73's I had in previously. I'd like some input as to what gears might best suit my application?
What am I going to do with the car? Well I have a 67 camaro with a bbc and roll cage that is my dedicated race car, and it will be used regularly for the drag and road race tracks. This 69 camaro though will still see some track days at both venues on a limited basis, but mostly cruising. It has a 500 hp 406 sb with fi, and currently a 100 shot of nitrous, though that may be cut down to 50 or removed altogether.
I have to say-you guys gave a good descript of some of the issues I've dealt with on the auto side. I've been as quick as high 10's with this 69 with the 3.73's, but it's only legal to 11.5, and it's almost too nice to keep getting rock chips on at the road course, so I think the 67 that is not as nice will be the work horse.
With what I want to do, what clutch setup would be best? I'm thinking hydraulic, but not sure if I need a twin disc setup? I want it to live, but I'm not into a stiff clutch pedal either. Something along the lines of the effort in my previous 05 SSR truck with the t56 would suit me fine.
Thanks for the info to date!

[JustinB]

Give Classic Chevy 5 Speed a call. They can lead you in the right direction for your app. I had alot of the same ?'s and they were a ton of help. Now I just have to buy the kit and get out there and throw some gears.

[Dan Sherwood]

Kit bought-trans in-hopefully a driveshaft next week and some new tuning for the fi setup and I can start driving it. Looking forward to it, hopefully no issues. Thx!

[DarkoNova]

What clutch, linkage and bellhousing did you go with?

Matt

[Dan Sherwood]

Mech clutch, upgraded to the street/strip clutch, I believe I stayed with the housing that came with the kit standard.
I did change from the 3.42 gears to 3.73. Other than not being able to get the new gears as quiet as the old ones, it was definitly an improvment! I think if all out performance was the goal, 4.10's would be a better choice, but with the 3.42's coming up from Phx I got 19.5 mpg around 65-70 mph. going back down with the 3.73's I got 22.5 mpg at 75 mph +. Of course it was going downhill, but on the way back that day I did not bother to check mpg after hitting 140 a few times in 4th. Lonesome, open highway with no one around, of course.

[DarkoNova]

If you don't mind me asking, what's your engine setup? I got 16 mpg with my TH350 and I do about 60 miles a day going to work and school and I basically have to put in $20 a day.

Matt

[Dan Sherwood]

Previously with the th350 and the gear vendors setup I could putz around 60 mpg and get 17 or so by staying out of the throttle.
At the track with the gv unit disengaged and no nos the car would run 11.8 @ 113. This was with a vacume secondary 3310 750 holley.
When I went to a fuel injection setup it took months to get it put together and since then it's gotten too hot to get to the track. With the weight of the car and driver (3915 lbs) on the previous setup the computer info told me it was making around 525 hp at the crank.
With the fi setup the shop told me it was making another 30 hp on the top end. With the new tko 600 5 speed, they tell me it has added another 30 hp over the th350/gv setup. The 3.42's were not deep enough and I changed to 3.73's and did not see much drop in mpg, but the power was much better. Bad news is, these gears are alot louder than the previous 3.42's that were just dead quiet. I'm going to let my regular shop see if they can get them quieted down, and if not then I think I may even go with some 3.90's. I will tell you I'm pretty sure the car would lose 2-3 tenths in et now as it will not hook up as well, but I'm guessing it may well pick up 2-3 mph in the qtr. Feels much stronger once I can finally get it to hook up.

[DarkoNova]

What kind of exhaust do you have? And what size rear end? If you decide to get rid of the 3.73's, I may be interested in them if they're for an 8.5"....maybe...I'm trying to get the most mpg I can, but I'd like a set of 3.73's or 4.10's.

I should probably just put the 283 back in because it didn't burn near as much oil and was more reliable than the 350. :(

Matt