Transmission swap

[FastDriver]

Mike,

Thanks for the competitive prices on the TKO swap I plan to do. You beat everyone else's price on the TKO. All of the other stuff fell within +/- $10 of everyone else. Do you mark up the shipping prices? If not, I'm sure I'll be ordering through you. Please let me know what shipping would be to me (area code 10997).

There are a couple of things that I need to clear up, though. This overextends my "planned" budget for the car, this year. So while I'm trying to do this right, I'm also trying to take it easy on the budget.

I'm happy with the King Cobra clutch, and want to keep it. Possibly in the future when I have regained enough capital to install a nitrous system, I'll upgrade to the Spec clutches you sell, but for now, I'm told that I can just replace the clutch disc. Travis was unable to find the correct disc for the TKO/King Cobra in his catalog. I don't know which one it is. D&D sells it for $69, which will save me about $100 over replacing the entire assembly. Is there any reason to replace the assembly, anyway? I think I've got the stock quadrant and cable, is it necessary to upgrade these, even if I'm happy with the current operation of my clutch, now? Or are these other guys just trying to sell me parts?

Travis reccomended a Poly mount, but some of the other vendors reccommended strongly that I stick with the rubber mount due to vibration problems associated with the poly. What's your take on this?

Lastly, even though I swore I wouldn't let me distract myself with car work up here, the place that does car work around here wants $500 to do the work, and that's unacceptable for me. Having never disconnected the driveshaft bolts before, but given that I've done a lot of work on the top end of the engine, how difficult will this be for me? How long am I going to have to spend at the autohobby to get this done? Besides some locktite (what level?) for the driveshaft bolts, what else will I need to make the installation go smoothly, so that I don't need to drive back to the auto-parts store?

I just can't leave you guys alone......I wonder what's next on the list :confused: I am grateful for the help that you've offered beyond the scope of selling and installing parts for me.

Thanks Mike,

Chris

[Dayton50]

Wow, this is going to take a while. Uhm, the first answer is that we do actual shipping costs. Most of what you will get will be what we are billed from the suppliers. It will be cheaper on you to have most of the stuff drop shipped, so that is what we will do. I believe after looking over the list we estimated shipping at no more than 85 for everything.
As for the disk replacement, well, their is a chance it will chatter on engagement. You can use an orbital sander with some 80 grit paper on it to surface the pressure plate and the flywheel.
As for the quadrant, no that isn't hot air. Our firewall adjuster will extend the life of your trans and your clutch, and you can use the adjastability of it to move the engagement point of the clutch, closer to the floor or farther away.
We can get you the correct disk, he has been overwhelmed lately with all the stuff that's going on in the shop. We have three major jobs, plus all the telephone calls, I am going to have to add another person if this keeps up. The price will be the same as D&D's.
With the list of parts that you gave to Travis, the install should go smoothly. If you can get the old one out, you can get the new one in, but remember, you are leaving the realm of stocker and moving on to modified, so there may be some need for modification here and there to make all the parts work together. The only real thing that jumps to mind is the exhaust clearing the new scattershield and the new trans. This should be minor stuff, though, as many people are running the same headers you are with the same shield and trans you are planning to install. The hpm crossmember will make it an easier install for sure.
You should be able to get it done in no longer than a weekend, I would think. Depending on how much time you can devote.
You will need blue loctite for the driveshaft bolts, GM synchromesh fluid for the trans(3qts), lots of swivels and wobble extensions, a 1/2 inch drill bit, as the last Mcleod we got used the two stock metric bolts on the left side and two 1/2 inch bolts provided for the opposite side, drill, new throw out bearing, torque wrench for the flywheel and clutch bolts, and that is about all I can think of besides some blue silicone for the shifter install.
It is no problem Chris, you are always welcome to call, even when you aren't buying anything!;)

Michael

[FastDriver]

Sounds good, Mike. I'll be calling you in the next couple of days to place the order.

Chris