I just ordered a plasma cutter to make the trans crossmember surgery easier. My next project is getting a 518 trans into another '69 Coronet 500.

sorry been away for a while,

Haven't driven the my bee with ss700 yet, my engine block froze and cracked over winter,found that when I was putting in a new rear main seal, so it's new block time, shop told me a few weeks due to their work load... 2nd week in May if I'm lucky...

anyway can't win 'em all...

I'll post more when I know more, too note, I'm gonna pound that ss700 with the new engine "535cid"...

Crossmember clearanced for tailshaft and floor cur for shifter/shifter top plate clearance.
Photo

I boxed in the cut out part with 3/16" thick strap.
Can't find that photo, but here is the trans installed at the angle/position Keisler expects (5" from the top of the trans tunnel.)

This is the height it should be, about 3.25" to 3.5" from the top of the tunnel.

At the 5" drop from the trans tunnel, this is the lack of clearance to the passenger side TTI header.
Not shown, oil pan clearance was about 1/2"

Just a pic from when I was painting the 1-1/2" x 3" crossmember spacer (and longer bolts) we made to move the trans up. The spacer sits flat, this was on end just to paint it. We also hacked the front drivers side of the trans crossmember to try making more room for the speedometer cable roting, and we added a reinforcing washer. Speedometer cable clearance is still tight. I though I took more pictures, but I think the battery may have died?

great information keep the pics coming.

Got the driveshaft this week, so today (ok Saturday) I dialed in the bellhousing with the 0.021" offset dowels, Installed the roller pilot bearing (easy), Installed the clutch and pressure plate, and went to install the throwout bearing, and ran into the first issue of the day. The bearing retainer/shaft the throw out bearing rides had a black parkerized type finish, and the throwout bearing was just grabbing it and wouldn't slide on. Took some emery cloth and polished up the input bearing retainer shaft, and the throw out bearing and that fixed that problem. Filled the trans with ATF (Mercron/Dextron per the instructions), and installed the trans which took a bit of time. Need to put the throwout bearing on the clutch fork BEFORE installing the trans (my bad), but got the trans in and all bolted up.
The driveshaft fit very good, and finished up a bunch of the small stuff which took more time than I care to admit (installing the carpet, speedometer cable, reverse light wiring, gas pedal, seats, exhaust, starter, etc...

Took the car out for a quick drive to the gas station and short drive (maybe 10-miles.) The trans shifts really nice, was quiet, and no vibrations (on went upto 70-mph.) I did have an issue where the trans would come out of 5th gear when coasting down around 40 mph? Above 40 and no problem. I will pull the console cover/boot and re-check in case the boot is trying to pull it out of 5th?

Anyhow, need to put more easy miles on it and the clutch before I can hammer on it.

Did you find out why it was popping out of gear?

any updates that you can give? i'm watching this thread closely. i need a few overdrive units for my cars.

Last week I drove the car, but did not get a chance to work on it. I need to remove the console top and make sure the shifter boot or carpet is not causing the problem? I called Keisler and they were nice, said they would take care of the problem if it is not one of the things above (I forgot to double check the carpet clearance.)
The transmission shifts really nice, so once the fifth gear issue is solved I will be happy with the transmission, and the clutch seems to work way better than my old one. Got on it getting onto a highway and smoked the tires through first, chirped the tires on the 1-2,2-3, and 3-4 shifts
I guess if you installed the trans with the tail tilted down it would fit without cutting the trans tunnel (still need to cut for the shifter.)

My other non-trans issue is the stock tach won't work with the Crane HI-6 ignition...

I am getting ready to order my trans any more advice from you guy who have done the conversion? I was planning to order the trans and their bellhousing any TO bearing issues i should watch for?

thanks for the advice Mike will make a note on the Hyd Fluid.

Any of you guys put a decent amount of miles on their 5 speeds yet?