Tremec 5 speed conversion in a 1970 Charger

[440 Charger]

One of the stumbling blocks for making a leap like this has been the cost. Looking at this from a "it will get better mileage" perspective is not at all sensible. I'll probably never drive it enough to save that much gas money even if it were to get 100 mpg after this swap.
For awhile, I actually considered the 4 speed automatic swap. One reason that I dismissed that is that IF I were going to spend $6000 or more, I wanted a more dramatic change in the car. An automatic with one more gear didn't seem dramatic enough. The 727 works great, it just needed another gear. A manual trans though....Now THAT is a dramatic difference in the driving experience.View attachment 1050941

Probly picked the wrong car if you are after just gas mileage.

 

[chargervert]

Unfortunately KD Tremic transmissions are known for not liking to upshift under high RPM speed shifting conditions. Particularly the second to third gear shift. They have made some improvements on them and your car having the latest version probably shifts better than the earlier versions. American Powertrain was offering a shift improvement upgrade on their transmissions at extra cost. My friend bought one of the first Kiesler Tremic 5 speed conversion kits,and speed shifting was not possible.

 

[440 Charger]

There is a reason our grandfather figured this out.

 

[66 Sat]

"You are about to enter another dimension. A dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land of imagination. Next stop—The Twilight Zone."

 

[Kern Dog]

Uhhh...
There is a clear reason why I have certain members on IGNORE.
Not YOU, Pete....YOU are a great asset to the forum.

Unfortunately KD Tremic transmissions are known for not liking to upshift under high RPM speed shifting conditions. Particularly the second to third gear shift. They have made some improvements on them and your car having the latest version probably shifts better than the earlier versions.

I noticed the difficulty shifting while doing a full throttle burnout in 1st gear. 2 to 3 shifts fine from what I have seen.
I don't want to blame the transmission until I have more seat time. It really could be driver error. 95% of the driving in my life has been with automatic transmissions.
This is like sex though. I'm not that good at it yet but I am having fun learning.

 

[eldubb440]

This is like sex though. I'm not that good at it yet but I am having fun learning.

Mary must have the patience of a saint

 

[Kern Dog]

Uhhh...I left myself open for that one, huh?

 

[eldubb440]

I'm just an opportunist

 

[66 Sat]

You might just need to slow down the shift slightly to give the next gear time to slow down to synchronize. I've read the old 4 spd boxes were hard to shift at high rpm due the size of the gears - modern gearboxes should be better in this respect but the principles are probably the same.

I've driven manual shift for 30 years but still miss gears sometimes when rushing. I had my WRX STI (6 spd manual) at the strip a few weeks back and even though it shifts fine on the street, on the strip I missed 3rd gear twice - party due to excitement, but also shifting at 6,500rpm is just harder to do.

 

[Kern Dog]

The new TKX that is being heavily promoted is supposed to have 6500 rpm shift capability.

I may have been misleading here. The transmission that I have is the TKO series. The TKX is the next generation.
At the time that I ordered this kit, the TKX was not yet ready and this TKO was the last that they had in stock. That may explain why the overall price of the kit was almost $700 less than a quote that I got a year or so prior.

 

[ckessel]

Maybe after you get some time on it, experiment with different lubes. Maybe a different brand may work better than whats in there. But like you mentioned, it needs more rowing/driving time to get some surface mating done.

 

[Fran Blacker]

Saw an ad in hemmings muscle machines about TKX 8000 rpm shifting. Company advertising it,moderndriveline.com

 

[HawkRod]

Maybe after you get some time on it, experiment with different lubes. Maybe a different brand may work better than whats in there. But like you mentioned, it needs more rowing/driving time to get some surface mating done.

To expand on the the above: @Kern Dog , you probably know this already, but be sure the oil is compatible with your transmission. For example, my A-855 uses GL-4 oil. There is also GL-5 oil and that takes some serious abuse, but it also destroys brass so it won't work in a manual transmission with brass synchronizers. They are not backwards compatible! So the bottom line is be sure you know the different applications before you use any oil in your manual transmission.

 

[747mopar]

Yes, as mentioned oil can make a difference.. I'd start with that since it's cheap an easy. This being a fairly new install though, I'm sure you likely filled it with what they recommended to begin with so??? I knew they had shift problems (I experienced it first hand) but figured they would have sorted that out by now, hopefully so.

 

[eldubb440]

for the money, it should practically shift itself

 

[Kern Dog]

I used the oil that they included.

 

[Kern Dog]

I have not had the car on a dyno with this combination so I don't know the HP peak rpm. I do know that the engine is pulling strong and consistent past 6000 rpms. Other engines I've had feel like they drop off at some point so I've upshifted earlier. This one feels like if I waited for it to nose over, it would be revving so high it might blow up.
The longer stroke leads me to think that it should be something of a 5500 rpm or less rpm shift point but at that speed, it still pulls really hard. It feels like I'm short changing myself for early shifting. I guess a few runs down the strip would be the easy way to determine if hanging IN gear longer helps or hurts. I'm just not a drag racer type.

 

[Kern Dog]

Unfortunately KD Tremic transmissions are known for not liking to upshift under high RPM speed shifting conditions. Particularly the second to third gear shift. They have made some improvements on them and your car having the latest version probably shifts better than the earlier versions. American Powertrain was offering a shift improvement upgrade on their transmissions at extra cost. My friend bought one of the first Kiesler Tremic 5 speed conversion kits,and speed shifting was not possible.

I just pulled up this thread and saw this post at the top of the page.
It is appropriate.....
I've been wondering if it was my limited shifting skills or the transmission itself. The 1-2 shift is fine but the 2-3 can be harder to get right. I keep blaming myself since I've gone to 5th several times. I've always lifted from the throttle though when it feels wrong so it isn't as if I'm slamming into the gear.
I'm still curious about why it feels like reverse has no definitive restriction over the gate. Downshifting from 5th I'll accidently graze it and get the clashing sound. I don't recall ever having this problem with other manual transmissions. I had a 4 speed in my 75 Power Wagon, an 833 in a Duster and a Saginaw in a Camaro. They all felt like there was a bar or something over the reverse gate that opened up under low vehicle speeds.

 

[watermelon]

i just buzzed my reverse gear this morning too but i was moving from neutral to reverse directly and from a stop

instructions says to place trans into a drive gear immediately before reverse as there are no synchros



watermelon

 

[Kern Dog]

Hmm..I didn't see that in my instructions.
I'm not having any trouble getting into reverse from a dead stop. I'm nervous because it feels like I'm scraping the edges of the gear when I downshift from 5th to 4th. The gates are much closer than I expected.