6 speed vs overdrive

[dave69]

I will be doing an engine swap in my 69 C10 (nice ride) and I got a 96 lt4 6 speed Vette donor car what are the thoughts of changing the truck over to the 6 speed? I do like the auto but would like some feed back on the pros and cons. I have been looking for an overdrive trany to install with it, but maybe I should rethink it. Any thoughts?

[raycow]

Well, two cons.

1. You gotta change to hydraulic clutch linkage. That's not really a biggie. A search should turn up several threads describing how to do it, because a few other transmissions also need hydraulic linkage.

2. The shifter is too far back for the stock bench seat. If you have buckets, your problems are over. If you don't, there is an aftermarket fix to relocate the shifter, but it's not child's play, nor is it cheap.

Everything else is a pro. I think the 6 speed is the choicest thing since sliced bread.

Ray

[Ornery37]

I would use it had one in a 96 LT4 Corvette and it was great. I am pretty sure that the corvette 6 speed is double overdrive. 5th is something like 0.78 to 1 and 6th is 0.5 to 1 ,

[raycow]

Ok, I just thought of a third con. The transmission has an electric speedo drive. You can convert to mechanical with a product called Cable-X, but it costs a lot less to use an aftermarket electric speedo instead.

Btw, you would have to deal with this same issue if you swapped in a late model automatic, so I'm not really sure if it qualifies as an actual con or not

Ray

[FRENCHBLUE72]

The 6 speed sounds like more fun than an auto tranny..

[Jim 383]

I vote for the six speed too,at least you shouldn't have to do any trans tunnel mods like on passenger cars.

[bovey]

Hey,

I'm running a 427 lsx and t-56 magnum and it is fun, really fun. I liked my 700-R4 too. But having the manual 6 is unreal.

All the points above are correct with the install, but there is one I question - with a NOTE that I am running the T-56 Magnum and a '89 chev bench seat.

I used the rear shifter location but run the stock Tremec shifter rotated on that mount (shifter in forward location) and have no issues with seat clearance. For a shifter - I found a stick out of a '68 Dart and added about 1".

However, to clear the t-56 tranny - I have installed the large hump.

Either way, you need to to a drive shaft.

Again, fun. Go for it.

Bovey

[95light]

I do some research on that model of 6-speed before jumping into it. There's a wealth of knowledge out there. I'm be no means an expert on the zf 6-speed but it wasn't the best out there and I sure the camaro/firebird t56 would be much easy to fab up in the truck. Try this site for some info. http://www.zfdoc.com/faq.htm