C4 to T5 Swap
(Continued)

After the transmission, linkage, vacuum line and kick down linkage was removed the equalizer bar was installed. The bellhousing and transmission was bolted to the engine to mock up the shifter location. After removing the seat to peel back the carpet a hole was cut in the floor pan with a 3-1/2 in. hole saw. Hine site being 20/20 I should had used a 4 in. hole saw. I had to cut the floor for more clearance with a cut-off wheel. Also looking back, the cable linkage mount didn't need to be cut that much if any on the bellhousing. I did have to shave the bellhousing about 1/4 in. around the starter for extra clearance for the header flange.

After the shifter hole was cut everything else was just your basic clutch replacement type job until we got to the crossmember. This is where the custom exhaust tried to throw a wrench in the spokes. With the factory driveshaft bolted in place with no issues, a 1x4 piece of wood was jammed between the crossmember and transmission to drive a couple miles down the road to Harold's shop. Having the man who designed and manufactured the crossmember on hand, a custom crossmember was made to clear the custom exhaust . A new transmission mount was also installed before finishing up on the bottom side.

I was surprised the 3.00:1 gear ratio was enough to work with overdrive. Everybody was telling me that I needed at least a 3.55 or better ratio or the car could not pull itself in 5th gear. But with the low end torque from the 250 inline six, I can cruise around town at 45-50 mph in overdrive without any problems. It use to take 2850 rpm to cruise at 70 mph and now it only takes 2000 rpm and I'm at 75 mph with 235x15 tire on the rear. A few years later I did swap to a 3.40 gear.

The automatic gear selector was removed from the column and replaced with a '71 floor shift collar. This opened up a can of worms. The early collar has a smaller channel for the key switch to slid into, along with a smaller release pin and this caused my lock not fitting the early collar. Also the slot for the emergency flasher switch is not cut deep enough for my turn signal switch to fit all the way in the collar. Since I didn't have a key to fit the '71 column it was cheaper and faster to fill the gear indicator slots on my automatic collar with filler. The collar for the shift lever swapped out with no issues.