Laying patch and banging gears represents the most fundamental tradition of hot rodding, but it's awfully hard to practice without a clutch pedal or a shifter. Last month, our '65 Olds project car dumped its wheezy 330 small-block and two-speed automatic combo for a Pro Touring-certified 461ci big-block Olds and a Tremec TKO 600 five-speed from Hurst Driveline Conversions. The entirety of the powertrain swap was too much to cover in one story, so we're picking up where we left off. So far, the bulk of the conversion has already been completed, with the new motor ensconced between the shock towers and the Tremec trans bolted behind it. All that's left to address are the clutch linkage, pedals, driveshaft, shifter, and interior.
To recap, Hurst Driveline Conversions set us up with one of its Elite kits, which includes a Tremec TKO 600 transmission, a driveshaft, a speedometer cable, a trans mount, a pilot bearing, a bellhousing, a flywheel, a clutch, a tunnel patch, and a shifter and knob. This comprehensive setup eliminates all the guesswork out of swapping in a five-speed, and enables ordering up all the pertinent hardware under one convenient part number. Hurst offers five- and six-speed conversion kits for most popular GM, Ford, and Mopar muscle cars, and you'd be hard-pressed to piece together a similar setup for less money. Lending a hand once again with the install is Brent Jarvis and the crew at Performance Restorations (www.PerformanceRestorations.com). With hundreds of five-speed conversions under his belt, Jarvis was able to offer lots of insightful feedback on the nuances of getting manually shifted.
Picking up where we stopped last month, Brent Jarvis laid down the final welds on the patch panel, which is included in the Hurst kit. It can also be secured with rivets or sheetmetal screws, but we elected to weld it up for a cleaner install.
WHERE THE MONEY WENT
Item:
PN:
Price:
Clutch pedal and linkage kit
MT4614T
$289
Total:
$289
THE COST SO FAR
Item:
PHR Issue:
Price:
'65 Olds Cutlass
January 2010
$7,500
DSE four-link suspension
January 2010
$2,345
DSE front suspension
February 2010
$3,982
Baer front and rear brakes
March 2010
$2,670
DSE brake booster
March 2010
$375
DSE steering kit
April 2010
$399
Strange S60 rearend
May 2010
$2,295
SAM 461 big-block
June 2010
$8,504
Hurst five-speed trans
July 2010
$4,190
Clutch pedal/linkage
August 2010
$289
Total:
$32,549
Trans Break-In
As with most situations when dealing with fresh components, common sense goes a long way when breaking in a brand-new transmission. With new gears, blocker rings, and synchronizers, a new transmission will feel a bit tight at first, but Jeff Mortenson of Hurst says this is completely normal, and the trans will loosen up after 50-60 miles. "For the first 500 miles, you want to take it easy. As tempting as it may be, hold off on dumping the clutch or power shifting," he says. "The TKOs need to be filled with 2.65 quarts of a quality trans fluid like GM Synchromesh before you put any street miles on them. The fluid is designed to last the life of the transmission, so you don't have to drain it after the break-in period."
