Tremec Transmission Mounts

[The Dreamer]

I want to thank the Kirkhams for the Tremec transmission mount. I guess a few of us are blazing the trail by installing TKO600s in the Kirkham cars and its a great option to have. The thing is beautifully made as usual. I will post some pictures if they don't beat me to it. I need to get some software (free ) that will shrink my camera pictures down enough though.

[DonC]

Dreamer:
Look up the program Irfanview on the web. It's free and uses one of the best down-sizing algorithms around.
DonC

[The Dreamer]

Well, I haven't seen them posted anywhere so here a picture.



If I remember from my discussion with Tom, these ONLY work with the TKO600 and use the torque arm mounting points (along the bottom of the tail housing). Looks straightforward. You need to also have the short input shaft installed. Steel moons weld on to the back of the frame cross member that has the toploader trans mount on the front of it.

BTW, thanks Don for the tip. That is what I used to reduce these photos.

[David Kirkham]

Dreamer,

Let us know how this works out for you. Thanks for posting the pictures.

David

[The Dreamer]

KMP329 has been on the road for about 2 weeks. I'm still working out a slave cylinder and speedo issue, but I thought I would post some pics of the tranny install for those thinking of going with the TKO600.

[David Kirkham]

Thanks for the up close photos of our new billet Tremec mount! The thing I like the best about it is you don't have to butcher the cross member to make the transmission work. Now, BOTH transmissions will work in the same chassis without any modifications or problems.

David

[Morris]

Dreamer

Do you have any interference between the top of the transmission and the top of the tunnel???

Morris

[Morris]

And did you have to drill a new hole in the tunnel for the TKO 600 shift lever ..???

Morris

[ENTDOC]

David,how can I get one of those TKO mounts? I may have to change directions on my tranny choice. thanks;chuck smith

[xlr8or]

Is solid mounting that tailshaft a good idea if your running standard rubber motor mounts? Seems like that is just asking to snap off a piece of the tail shaft housing.

[John A. Simpson]

X

That looks like a bushing around the lower single bolt.

[David Kirkham]

Dreamer,

Thanks for the pics and the kind words.

Morris,

Everything fits fine in the tunnel. The shifter lever does, however poke up through the tunnel. We are looking at ways of making it lower. I will let you know. The tranny is really, really nice to drive.

You do have to make a new top for the tunnel as the shifter is 3/4 inch forward in the rear position and about 4 inches forwad in the front position. I think the rear position is fine.

Chuck,

Just tell me you want one. They are $275 and they do require some welding, but it is really quite simple.

The tranny is NOT solid mounted. If you look really closely at the picture there are some very large black urethane bushings that isolate the tranny.

John,

Hello! How's the build? Need pictures.

David

[John A. Simpson]

Hi David,

I posted some pictures of the driver's side and the finished pit stripes a little while ago. Now I'm getting ready to polish the center of the car so I can layout the stripes. Here's the previous post.

KMP 393

I'll be needing a Tremec 600 mount also but I'm not in a hurry, plenty to do before I 'need' it.

John

[ENTDOC]

David,when you say new top,do you mean adding a piece of aluminum to fill in the existing hole or do you mean a whole new tunnel piece? chuck

[David Kirkham]

Chuck,

You can either patch the hole and cut a new one, or make a new top. We usually just make a new top for the tunnel. It is a pain in the butt, but it looks nice when you are done.

David

[The Dreamer]

Gentleman,

David beat me to the answers to your questions. The hole is actually more to the left as well. We patched my hole with the pieces from the new hole. The new tunnel top maybe more work than necessary, but it would be nice to not have a patched tunnel. Of course, I will get around to covering it with carpet one day, so who will know.

You will need to purchase a reverse adapter for the speedo unless you reverse the drive gear on the tranny. Remember, if you change the drive gear, get the correct speedo gear as well.

David, a suggestion would be to move the speedo cutout in the dash slightly to the driver's side to allow clearance for the speedo adapter vs the down tubes from the dash. Using just the cables as in with a toploader, which flex more, it is able to pass by the tubes, but the adapter is not.

How does that new top come (are the rivet holes already drilled) and how much are they?

[maurice19]

Hi Dreamer,

Good news on getting on the road with your build.

Looks like I will go to dmv Monday to get my temp. operating permit. whoopee

Regarding the new hole for the T600, did you cut it the same diameter as the old hole or did you cut it closer to the Tremec flex diameter?

I have the Tremec 600 with.64 5th and shortened input shaft, along with Mcleod hyd. t.b..

Everything seems to work well, so I`m ready to cut the new hole and would appreciate your input.

What problems are you having?

Thanks,
Maurice Lawrence
Sacramento

[The Dreamer]

Maurice,

I used the INSIDE of the shifter ring as a template. We then measured the location on the center of the TKO shifter relative to the toploader hole. [TIP: Measure the location of the toploader hole relative to some reference in the cockpit with the tranny tunnel on. Then, measure the location of the TKO shifter relative to the same reference point. Of course the tranny tunnel would have to be off at this point. Then, figure out where to cut. ] Because we didn't really have a reference to the toploader hole while the tranny tunnel was on the car, we had to match it up as best we could. Fortunately, it is not critical that you be absolutely precise. My shifter doesn't go through the center of the hole we cut, but it is all covered by the shifter ring.

I'm having two issues. My speedometer is not working. [TIP: You need a gear reverser. I got mine from Tri-States Motorsports in PA, $38]. The reverser is a bear to get on. I had to pull the dash off slightly (all screws out). I have traced the problem to the speedo cable binding and the cable broke off in the gear (checked speedo and reverser, connected and unconnected). BTW, the cable the Kirkhams use is C5DZ17260A which is a discontinued Ford part. I'm getting a replacment from the Kirkhams, but I have found Ohio Mustang and Classic Iron Parts sells them.

My other issue is not enough travel on the slave cylinder for the clutch. I didn't want to go with a hydraulic TO bearing. I thought I was getting a.875 bore slave, but in fact got a 1 in bore. I picked up a new 1 in bore slave today and I going to get it resleeved down to .75 in. I should get another .5 in of travel with this setup. I had the Kirkhams put a .75 in master for my clutch when I bought the car because I knew I was going with the slave setup for the clutch. I have the pressure plate preloaded now to get it to release and so I can drive the car. It is loosening up as I put more miles on the car, but I want to do this right.

[maurice19]

Dreamer,
I feel for you on your speedometer issue( using a reverser at the back of the gauge.
I didn`t go that route , and still the space between the cable connection and the down tube is non existent.

I used a drive gear from the passenger side of the older Mustangs and installed it on the drivers side to get the dial to read backwards.
First test showed it worked, so I cut and patched the tunnel and installed it today, no room at all on the passenger side of the tunnel.
The Shifter boot will be really stretched when I screw the base down.

I sure hear a lot of issues getting the slave and master co-ordinated.
So far, my hyd.t.b. appears to have the proper space and function properly,
I plan on taking it around the block for the first time tomorrow, so I will get a better feel of it.

Take care,
Maurice

[ENTDOC]

Maurice,where did you get the drive gear? chuck