Right now everything is up in the air. I just a couple of days ago bought a shifter for a 4-speed and today I got a fork, boot and return spring. Looking at options for a bellhousing, found one for $75 that's been a little "cut into", not sure what that means yet. A Z-bar and some hump fabbing and I'm set for a stick.
As far as auto goes, I've got a converter that's supposed to stall 2800 or so but I think that's with a hopped up 440 so it's probably too hard for a little 273.
Maybe stick is the way to go?
When it comes to gears, I've got a 489 with 4.56 gears and a welded diff and a 741 with 3.23 and an Auburn diff. Changing to something else in the 741 shouldn't be a problem. There's not too much to choose from, though. I could move the Aubrun over to the 489 of course so I've got options.