What is the consensus nowadays on going to the five speed manual?

I am about to get my R/T to the shop, and had contacted Brewers about rebuilding my 4 speed. Then the idea of just putting a five speed came to mind. I haven't seen any posts lately about the preferred company,customer service, and how they are working.

I know some 70 Challengers may need a slight modification on the floor pan.

The transmission that fits without cutting is the Passon 5-speed. It's not a Tremec. I don't know what the lead time is for the Passon, which could be its only drawback as far as I'm concerned.

R.

Full Disclosure: I own neither a B-body nor a Tremec 5-speed.

External linkage vs internal linkage makes it an easy choice for me.

There is no "just" putting in a tremec. Expect to do floor and crossmember mods. Otherwise I haven't heard any bad about them.

The passon 5sp is potentially a nice choice. I thought someone in another thread said the wait time on them is huge right now.

If you enjoy power-shifting on occasion find another candidate, unless you're willing to have the synchros modded.

That was a common complaint on the Tremecs a few years ago. I haven't heard anything lately.

R.

Have the Passon 4 speed over drive internals installed in your case, and all you have to do is remove and reinstall.

I run a ~12 year old Tremtec on a California built '70 BB Challenger with 496 and love it. It was a Keisler kit put in a car that was originally auto. I added the 4 speed hump and also clearanced, per instructions, the front of the tunnel with an added cut and piece of sheet metal. Apparently California built '70's are the tightest. With that the transmission bolted right up and I was able to shim the trans X member to dial in drive shaft angle with the OE axle and no axle shims. I did change the shifter to an improved version to eliminate buzz ~6 years ago. Newer ones should already have the improvement. Also I used header connectors with more up angle as the engine pointed down a bit more with the driveshaft dialed in to correct angle.

I understand they may get hard shifting much over 6000 RPM but my stroker does not need to rev too high so not a problem. I lift when shifting, so no comment on powershifts.

Mine has run cross country and two full days on the road track w/o issue.

You know, that comment is one that brings back memories of guys on here complaining that in the 6000-6500 rpm and up zone, these transmissions don't want to shift, at least not willingly.

Back in 2003-04 when I was putting my 'Cuda together I wanted overdrive since I knew I would actually use the car, not just go to a handful of shows, cruises or autocrosses. Back then the Tremec TKO was the only real option. If I were doing it today, I would go with the Passion since it is a true bolt it. The Tremec did require a good deal of tunnel modification in order to get the driveline angles I wanted. On the plus side it has been trouble free and I've got around 50,000 miles on it now. I did break a spring in a McLeod clutch disc once, but the transmission itself hasn't given any trouble. I don't feel comfortable trying no lift, full on power shifts with it like I did with the 833 in my '63 Sport Fury, but I do shift quickly at 6,200 rpm without any problems. The biggest problems I see with it are tunnel fit in some models and the need for an external shift linkage in "E" bodies.

the only driving experience i have with them is when i've drove my friends 427 vette with the tremec. the only thing i can say is if you have the option such as the passon transmisions, then thats what i'd do. the tremec is ok to drive on but difficult to shift briskly. i have a friend with a tremec in a '68 gtx and last time i talked to him he said he'd like to go back to the 833.

I've put 100K+ on mine.

The good: 75mph = 2500 rpm. It's a tough transmission.

The bad: Cutting a hole in your tunnel (although I heard you can bump it out for enough clearance). Everyone I've talked to has had to modify the tunnel. It's a tight fit and hard to install. The driveline angle is a bit off even with the mods. Keeping the pilot bearing in the crankshaft. The aforementioned shifting issues at high rpm.

I would go with the Passon unit if I had to do it over again, or their OD conversion for an 833.

That is not what I have understood about the 833 being easier to shift. i know they were a lot harder to shift than the Muncies and Borg Warner 4 speeds. I drove a new Mustang GT in 1967 with a top loader and thought that was pretty good and certainly it was strong. The strongest and hardest shifting I have had to live with was the NP 6 speed in my 2002 CTD and I put a BD shift kit in it to make the throws shorter and that made it harder yet, but it was stout and had to be to live with the torque of the diesel.

Its been a long time ago but this is exactly what I remember going from GM vehicles to my 69 super bee A12 car.. That 18 spline was a pig for fast shifting after the Muncie/T10 4 speeds I drove....

On a different topic the Passon 5 speed is probably the best option, but the wait for one could be 2-3 years from what I have seen?? Am I wrong??? At 60 yrs old I could be dead by then....

of all the detroit 4spds the 833 is the hardest to shift quickly due to the mass of the moving parts. the "rail" shift trans like the tremecs are more difficult to shift quickly at higher rpms, in my opinion. to me the tremecs are more of a "touring" type trans. if i had choices the "rail shifters" would be last. anybody remember the term "crash box"?

I used to have the instructions (liberty I think) on how to modify the 833 for clutchless shifting. Slickshift. Had to modify gears and synchros but it worked. Problem was you had to rebuild the transmission at least every year. The stock 833 was bulletproof and lots of chevy and ford racers used it especially after watching Sox and Martin cars.

I dunno about the A833 being hard/heavy to shift, I never felt it was but I learned to shift on old school transmissions not modern lightweight stuff. The fresh A833 I put in my 87 Diplomat definately shifted better than any other transmission I ever shifted, including more modern 5 speeds (A525/T5/whatever's in an 05 Neon).

Now a transmission you will never get to shift fast is an NP435.

I've had a tremec TKO in my challenger since 2003 with a ton of miles and have no complaints.

-Jon

I did the Keisler Tremec conversion on my 64 Sportfury convertible with a 472 crate Hemi in 2005. After 76,000 miles I tore her down to redo the car and plan on re-using the trans. While I've had no shifting issues my car was built to drive. It all depends on what you plan on doing with your car.

FWIW, I went 6-speed. The T56 Magnum is supposed to be the cat's meow with none of the shifting concerns of the 5speeds. It's a TR6060 based trans, which is current Viper, Corvette, Mustang, Challenger, Camaro, etc.