I want to put a 5 speed in my chevelle. What are the plus's and minus's of each brand. I have done a search and have not reached a conclusion. Please list specific things you need to change or alter with each transmission, or for that matter list things that make whichever one you recommend easier.

Buy a Tremec TKO. They are stronger,less money,and their internal shift rail system works much better. Just my .02.

But dont want to alter the tunnel if I dont have to. Do you have to alter the tunnel in any way with the richmond?

The tunnel will be OK with the Richmond 5 speed but a new location for the shifter hole is a must. Pinion angle is not effected. But as Clint states, the shifting is much smoother with the TKO.

Regards, Jody

How far do I need to move the hole for the shifter? I have a console to worry about.

I would contact Long Shifter Company in Pennsylvania for an exact location. The last time I talked to Wayne, he said they redesigned their 6 speed shifter (the Long shifter comes with the Richmonr ROD 6 speed) to work with a console. I would imagine they redesigned the 5 speed shifter too. Give them a call.

Regards, Jody

With the TKO you will cut your tunnel, but you can acheive stock shifter positioning in your console with the McLoed 2" offset shifter.
Check here for more info: http://www.classicchevy5speed.com/.
http://www.classicchevy5speed.com/64_67_chevelle_transmission_install_notes.htm.
I hope this helps.

How far do I need to move the hole for the shifter? I have a console to worry about.


The issue with the Richmond 5 Speed in the Chevelle is the side to side location of the shifter. All Chevelle shifters had a 2 inch or so Kick over that in effect moved the shifter toward the passengers side. Surgery on the hole in the floor is required because no aftermarlket shifter for the Richmond has this kick over.

The issue with the console is because of the fact that the centerline of the console comes right down the centerline of the transmission hump. The shifter (without the kickover) cannot line up with the center of the console. The shifter comes right up almost thru the drivers side wall of the console...believe me I tried this console and Richmond 5 Speed installl. You cannot do it without that kick over and possibly some minor floor surgery.

Now here is some other information . I also have a 66 Vette and it has a Richmond 5 Speed in it with a Hurst likkage. With the Hurst mounted in the farthest most foreward set of locating holes the shifter comes thru the floor dead nuts in the original position where the Muncie 4 speed lever came thru. SO the conclusion you can draw is this..because the side to side and fore and aft position of the Hurst on a Richmond 5 Speed exactly duplicates the position of a stock shifter on a Muncie the issue is that darn kickover when you are talking about a Richmond 5 Speed and a Chevelle with a console.

If you build a home made "lever extension / kickover" and do it right you CAN get the Richmond 5 Speed to work with the Chevelle console. Remember ..because the fore and aft and side to side location of the Hurst on a Richmond is JUST THE SAME as any linkage installed on a stock Muncie all you have to do is allow for the fact that the Chevelle console hole is directly over the tunnel centerline.

Make the kickover piece correctly and you are all set.

The issue with the Richmond 5 Speed in the Chevelle is the side to side location of the shifter. All Chevelle shifters had a 2 inch or so Kick over that in effect moved the shifter toward the passengers side. Surgery on the hole in the floor is required because no aftermarlket shifter for the Richmond has this kick over.

Uh, not ALL Chevelles... 64-67 shifters do not have the kick over...

I don't know what year Chevelle Kyle has (maybe he posted somewhere else?)...

For my 66, the shifter was about 1"-2" rearward of the stock position... I "slid" the console back an inch or so (leaving the stock console floor brackets alone).

The only floor mods were the "relocation" of the shifter hole. I simply moved the shifter hump rearward, and added a filler piece in front...

I also modified the shifter to accept the stock Chevelle shifter handle, so it looks stock.

The console location isn't apparent, since it only moves very little...


MY reasons FOR a Richmond swap:

Richmond/Doug Nash has been around for years, so not too hard to find a used trans (saves $$$).

No major tunnel surgury
No driveshaft alteration (need a different yoke).
Can use stock crossmember (slid back).
Close ratio trans.
Works great with typical "freeway" gears (3.08s, etc, mine has 2.73s)

The only differences between the Richmond and the Muncie were the clutch disc (same as later Muncies) and the rear yoke (same as later Muncies/TH400)...

The Tremec is "cheaper", but thats the trans alone, not all the additional pieces you need (driveshaft, crossmember, optional shifter, etc)...

If I had it to do over, I'd probably look into the Tremec more... OD would be nice, and the kits are better now, and its getting cheaper and easier... Or the Richmond 6-speed...

I' ve driven them both and at the end of the day it's all about shift quality .........Tremec with Mc Leod shifter by far is better ...... the console hole cutting thing is really not a big deal whether cut a little for the side mount Ricmond shifter or you cut alot for tremec height you still cut the floor and need to make a cover

"Uh, not ALL Chevelles... 64-67 shifters do not have the kick over..."

Yup my mistake. I have been focused on my 72 and thinking how to get my console back.

Funny thing is one of the considerations I have been knockin around is the use of a 66 / 67 console. The shifter hole in the 66 /67 console is indeed "inboard" toward the driver. I am wondering if the hole in the floor for the 66 / 67 unit is more or less in line with the location of the Richmond shifter?

Seems that since the 66 / 67 Chevells (console or no console) all used nonoffset shifters and IF my experience with the Vette proves out then there should be pretty close side to side alignment. Trouble is the cost of the 66 / 67 consoles is outta sight but so are the 68 to 72 consoles. Isn't COST always at the heart of the problem???

Why do you need to buy a new crossmember,Tony? I just modified the stock unit in my 69 when we installed the T56 in it. Is the TKO that much different than a Viper T56?

Why do you need to buy a new crossmember,Tony? I just modified the stock unit in my 69 when we installed the T56 in it. Is the TKO that much different than a Viper T56?

Well, true, I guess you don't NEED to buy a new crossmember, but how much modification is needed? You also don't NEED to buy a new driveshaft because you can get yours shortened... Its just that if the typical person wants a "bolt-in" setup or not...

I think some of the kits come with a cross-member, and if it wasn't a "needed" part, I doubt these companies would include it...


In all honesty, I did modify my crossmember slightly for the Richmond swap. It wasn't a necessity, but the Long shifter sits pretty high, and would have made the stock handle look funny in the console (after I had it adapted)... The solution was to lower the crossmember mount on the X-member about an inch... Of course this opens up a bunch more issues (pinion angle relative to trans, header clearance, fan clearance, etc... None of these were significant... I was trying to lower the shifter on the trans, but the crossmember work was easier.

On my convertible (boxed frame), the crossmember still bolted to the stock holes, although it only uses one hole per side now... The front-most hole on the cross-member lines up with the rear most hole on the frame bracket...

Not sure on the later frames either, as Clints Elco might have different brackets than earlys (I know my 66 Elco with TH400 had angle iron brackets welded and used a stock X-member, but later cars came optional with the TH400)...