I was wondering what you guys think of this list of parts for an automatic to manual tranmission conversion:

Jeg's Heavy-Duty GM Clutch Fork #555-60101
Mr. Gasket GM Adjustable Clutch Fork Pivot Ball #720-3855G
Jeg's Pilot Bushings & Bearings #555-60106
11" Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch #DF735552
RAM SFI Approved 168 tooth Flywheel #1501
Centerforce Throwout Bearings #183-N-1716

TKO-600 with Hurst Billet shifter, C6 31 spline slip yoke, trans mount,
gold Billet speed sensor with white, red, or black speedo gear, and reverse wiring harness.
TKO-600 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GM-TREMEC-TKO-600-STARTER-KIT-PART-TCET-5009_W0QQitemZ8076682485QQihZ019QQcategoryZ33733QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

The only major part I think I'm missing is the bellhousing. If anyone could help me with that part that would be appreciated. The best one I could find so far is Lakewood Blowproof Bellhousings, but its a little expensive at $390 from jegs.

Thanks in advance

Make sure to leave room in your budget for the clutch linkage parts. Ground Up sells a set for about $400. You will probably need to change the starter - $100 for a remanned GM unit, more for a high torque starter. Steel bellhousings can be bought used to save a few bucks. Repro aluminum types go for about $170. If your car has a column mounted shifter for the auto, you will either need to get a steering column for a floor shift or modify the one you have. There are a bunch of other little details.

What car and engine do you have? That's a pretty heavy duty set up your are planning to build.

Yea, sorry forgot to mention that I found the clutch pedals and linkage for $100 from a junkyard and I will probably just get a Delco starter or Jeg's starter. Also, I know about the modifications I need to do for the floor shifter.

The car is a 79 nova with a 350 right now, but will most likely have a 383 with about 500+ hp this time next summer or the summer after that. I just want to make sure that everything else can handle the extra power, so I'm upgrading everything with heavy duty parts.

Also, does anyone know how hard it is to make a TKO-600 that was for a ford work with a GM car, because someone's selling one in the classifieds here.

Thanks

The Nova uses a different bellhousing than Chevelles because of clearance issues. The clutch fork comes out at a different place than a Chevelle or full sized car. The tunnel is smaller in the Nova than a Chevelle. You may have to do some cutting and welding to make the trans fit. Jegs carries adapter plates for mating a Ford transmission to a GM engine. I don't know much about how well they work.

I'm not a big fan of the heavy duty clutch forks. The HD fork is slightly longer than a stock GM fork, probably to make stiff pressure plate a little easier on the foot. The longer fork requires more travel in the clutch linkage to get the clutch to release. With my car, that difference was just enough to mess up the geometry of the clutch linkage.

If you are interested, http://www.keislerauto.com site lists a complete conversion kit. It comes with a hydraulic clutch and offers the TREMEC trannys. I'm going to do the swap on my '66 Chevelle.

Vince

I was wondering what you guys think of this list of parts for an automatic to manual tranmission conversion:

Jeg's Heavy-Duty GM Clutch Fork #555-60101
Mr. Gasket GM Adjustable Clutch Fork Pivot Ball #720-3855G
Jeg's Pilot Bushings & Bearings #555-60106
11" Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch #DF735552
RAM SFI Approved 168 tooth Flywheel #1501
Centerforce Throwout Bearings #183-N-1716

TKO-600 with Hurst Billet shifter, C6 31 spline slip yoke, trans mount,
gold Billet speed sensor with white, red, or black speedo gear, and reverse wiring harness.
TKO-600 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/GM-TREMEC-TKO-600-STARTER-KIT-PART-TCET-5009_W0QQitemZ8076682485QQihZ019QQcategoryZ33733QQ rdZ1QQcmdZViewItem)

The only major part I think I'm missing is the bellhousing. If anyone could help me with that part that would be appreciated. The best one I could find so far is Lakewood Blowproof Bellhousings, but its a little expensive at $390 from jegs.

Thanks in advance
Keisler engineering has aluminum bellhousings for the Tremec trans. They also have hydrauliuc throwout bearings and master cylinders. I used this setup in my conversion on my 71 SS convertible. The hydraulic setup saves a lot of hassles with the mechanical linkage, particularly if you have headers as I do. I also wnt with the Summit small starter after the big Delco didn't fit with headers and the manual bellhousing. Whatever bellhousing you choose, you're going to have to dial it in to have no more that .005" of runout from the crankshaft. Save yourself a lot of hassle and get the adjustable offset dowel pins from Lakewood. They stay loose until you're done adjusting, and then tighten with a center expansion screw. You can get them from Summit for about $50. Sounds like a lot until the third time you pound out the fixed offset ones. Good luck! I just finished my Tremec conversion with the Keisler kit, it took about 50 hours, but I took my time and did it carefully.