Help with Tremec TKO transmission install

[HSSS427]

Installing a new Tremec TKO 600 and Lakewod scattershield in my ERA. I've installed a shortened input shaft courtesy of Mike Forte so I can bolt the tranny directly to the bellhouse.

Problem #1 now is that the tranny is 3/4" further toward the front of the car and the mounting cross brace and mount holes on the tranny tail housing don't line up.

Problem #2 is that the new tranny has a mounting flange on the bottom of the tail housing that interferes with the cross member on the frame, so the tranny won't "sit" down onto the mounting bracket.

Appreciate any help. Here's a picture of the mounting situation. So the holes in the cross brace need to be 3/4" toward the bellhousing, which would put them right in the middle of the edge of the brace.

Oh, and welding skills are not in my bag of tricks

[Clois Harlan]

Do you have any friends that can weld? Because you may need to cut the trans bracket off and move it fwd. Or you could buy you a piece of 3" channel and bolt it up to the old bracket and also to your frame rails on the side (cut the outside walls off the channel and bend the ends down like tabs). But, if it were me I would weld in a wider plate or channel.

Are you refering to the cast portion of the transmission tail shaft that you would normally bolt to your bracket? Is it to wide or to deep? Could you post a picture of your transmission?

Clois

[nlksk]

i install tkos in my daytona coupes all the time,i trim the part of casting behind trans mounting flange you refer to ,if you need picture i can email of already trimed trans tail housing,thanks shawn pro-team inc.

[iwantacobra427]

problem #2. They say:.. you need to trim the boss on the right side flush with the adjacent rib. The passenger floor may also require some trimming where the tranny comes close. The Tremec also requires an aluminum adapter between the tranny and the mount...
-Jack

[Eljaro]

there is no easy way around what you have to do to install the TKO. I had to remove the crossmemebr and make a new one with more forward positioned mounting holes and also had to enlarge the hole for the shifter , covering up the unused gap. No plug and play here. You may also have to trim off some parts of the TKO to make it fit. Make sure you also shim the transmission enough so you do not get too much of an angle on the driveline U-joints.
Good luck!

[HSSS427]

Thanks all - got problem #2 addressed with a Sawzall - just hacked the flanges off.

Problem #1 still an open issue. Bolted up the tranny and it appears I'm actually not as far off as I thought since I ended up using a spacer plate on front of the tranny. So am looking at 2 options: #1 re-drillling the holes on the cross member as slots so they will line up. or #2, Mike Forte is sending me an adapter mount he's made for this scenario and I will try that.

Eljaro - thanks for the note on the transmission tunnel hole - I'd forgotten that it's going to have to be adapter as well.

Now I'm doing my homework on driveshaft angles.
Thanks!

[Eljaro]

one more tip: since the shifter turret will stick out of the transmission tunnel (at least in my Contemporary it did), you will have to make an elongated hole for it towards the rear because you have to slip the TKO straight from behind into the flywheel and through the clutch. I covered the excess hole with a removable insert covered with damping material, so whenever I remove the gearbox I just take out the insert. I had a new carpet made for the tunel to cover it all up.

[xlr8or]

When I put the TKO600 in my car the shifter stub was about an 1" forward of center in the hole on the tunnel. I found a can that was the same size as the hole and used it for a pattern and cut a half moon piece off the front of the original hole. Then just turned that piece around and attached it with a piece of aluminum and some rivits at the back of the original hole. This keep the hole from being too large for the boot and ring to cover and keeps the top of the tunnel solid under the carpet.