Convince me to put a TKX in my Dart

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72bluNblu said:
My Duster didn't originally have a console so I just made my own. It's not quite in the factory location, it's located to put the T56 shifter in the middle of the top plate so it's a little bit further back than the factory console location. Probably only a few inches though really. The front mount is just a piece of flat stock I bent up, the rear mounts are a section of rectangular tubing leftover from making a set of frame connectors. I just cut a slice of the end that was about 1.5" wide so I had an open rectangle and then cut it so it was the right height to meet up with the console. Wasn't going to pay $90+ for the AMD reproduction brackets, especially since they still might have needed modification for the T56 tunnel anyway
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Hey I don't blame you for not shelling out the money and it's not like anyone is going to see underneath it anyway so it doesnt really matter if it's factory as long as it holds the console in place. I've got a pretty nice auto console and have been pondering over a TKX swap for a while now. Thinking about buying a 4spd top plate and running it that way. After seeing how minimal the cuts need to be with this new torsion bar hoop, I might actually go for it. Can probably keep my carpet and still have the classy looking console set up in there while still keeping it looking stock.
 
ESP47 said:
Hey I don't blame you for not shelling out the money and it's not like anyone is going to see underneath it anyway so it doesnt really matter if it's factory as long as it holds the console in place. I've got a pretty nice auto console and have been pondering over a TKX swap for a while now. Thinking about buying a 4spd top plate and running it that way. After seeing how minimal the cuts need to be with this new torsion bar hoop, I might actually go for it. Can probably keep my carpet and still have the classy looking console set up in there while still keeping it looking stock.
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Yeah I don't think it would be a problem at all. The tunnel work looks pretty minimal, the only thing you might run into is where the 4 speed top plate opening is with the stock brackets. It looks to be further forward with the TKX compared to the T56 so it might work just fine with the console in the stock location. And if not the factory brackets would be easy to move. The carpet should work fine, you'll have the holes from the floor shift auto linkage but they should already be covered by the carpet on the console.
 
Arthur Sperotto said:
@72bluNblu , it seems we both like cruising 75mph at 2500rpm! We just have slightly different rear gears and tire heights. Also, I believe the giant hump might be the thing between the buckets where the console sits. See, I have bench seats, and keeping them is a must for me... I have my reasons. Cutting for the TKX doesn't even get close to where the bench goes. Could a T-56 fit? Maybe. I honestly don't know.

I followed your entire build thread, and you do have nice fabrication skills. I think @MopaR&D 's skills align more with mine lol. As in, I totally understand what he's saying because I feel the same way. I cringe at the thought of having to weld something... especially our uber thin 51 year old floors.

@MopaR&D , you nailed it when you said "still not sure I'd have a use for the 6th gear." And then remember it's $1k more! For something you arguably don't need in order to meet your goals! I hate the mentality of "if you're spending 6k might as well spend 7k". A grand is a grand to me, no matter what - it's equally as valuable no matter how much I'm spending. Is the T-56 a superior transmission? Absolutely! The TR6060 is even better. A PPG or Liberty Gears faceplated unit is even better than that. A Holinger sequential, even more so. Gotta step back and think, where do you draw the line and are satisfied?

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In my mind having OD split into 2 gears is only useful if you have short enough final drive ratio where they will be used under power and you don't want a big RPM drop going from 1:1 to overdrive. My setup doesn't really need that, I'd likely just use 1st-4th on the track or when ripping around. Now if I had a big-cammed engine that needed 4.10 or numerically higher rear end gears it would be a different story. For a while I had an 18-spline A-833 I considered swapping into my Duster but for all the work it seemed pointless to still not have overdrive. It needed a rebuild anyway and I had already torn it down so I just sold it as a box of parts.

And I agree, $1000 is $1000, I could put that towards other parts like some high-end adjustable shocks or a conversion kit for bigger front disc brakes or rear discs. Or some adjustable rockers with the B3 geometry kit which would make me feel a lot better about winding out my 360 to 6000+ RPM on a regular basis with a manual trans which doesn't really happen as much with an auto trans with small range of gear ratios and tall-ish rear gears.
 
@MopaR&D , I forgot to mention - l commend your recognition of Mike's geometry correction kit. I've ran it for years on my 360, it turned my rocker sweep mark on the valve stem into more of a line than a sweep. Fantastic. I routinely shift at 7000rpm, and once kissed 8500 by mistake, 100% driver error. I carefully inspected the whole valvetrain and found no damage. That was a couple years and many thousands of miles ago. It's a pain to setup, but well worth the effort imo.
 
MopaR&D said:
In my mind having OD split into 2 gears is only useful if you have short enough final drive ratio where they will be used under power and you don't want a big RPM drop going from 1:1 to overdrive.
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I don't disagree, to a point. As an example, the TR6060 I plan to run has a 0.50 6th gear. I would not want to go from 1:1 to 1:0.50 in one shift, under power or not. At the same time, a 0.68 5th still isn't enough of a drop for me even with a 3.55 rear gear.

I think the overall combination has to rule. The TR6060 with a 0.50 6th put my 2015 Challenger at 1500 RPM at 65 mph. The motor was fine there, ran smooth and pulled the hills without needing to downshift. But the OP's motor (I don't think) would be happy there and 6th would only be useful at 100 mph or something. For him, it makes no sense to run a 6 speed, he can't use the lower RPM. For me with a mostly stock 5.7 (someday), a 6 speed makes much more sense because I (should) be able to cruise at that lower RPM.

The other thing to look at in these transmissions is the ratios and RPM drops between the gears. In that regard, a narrow ratio TKX (2.87 first gear) and narrow ratio T56 (2.66 first gear) are probably going to feel pretty comparable. But the T56 might have the edge in the RPM drops as it has a better spread 1st-3rd and 6th gear cruise RPM will be lower. No idea if the difference could be felt though. The wide ratio TKX will probably feel much stronger in 1st-3rd compared to the others but will add RPM on the highway.

For what it's worth, it looks like the wide ratio TKX is almost a match for the TR3650 that came in the New Edge Mustang GT. So if you can find one of those and test drive it, it should give someone a good idea how that TKX would feel to drive in regards to gear ratios and RPM drops. Except I bet the TKX shifts better.
 
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I should add that cruising on the highway at 2000 +/- RPM isn't a bad thing. My car does that now. My issue is that the exhaust drones at that RPM and I know a G3 can cruise happily at a much lower RPM.

I expect I could fix the drone (working on it for next summer), but even with that fixed it just seems like I can have my cake and eat it too if I can get the cruise RPM's lower when I go to the G3.

And the TR6060 will out pull the narrow ratio TKX in every gear with the same motor and rear gear. The only place the TR6060 gives anything up to the TKX is in the 3-4 gear drop (and ease of installation). Not that it means the TR6060 will give better 1/4 mile times, or that it will be perceptible. Just that based on numbers the TR6060 seems like the better all around trans for me.
 
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ESP47 said:
Hey I don't blame you for not shelling out the money and it's not like anyone is going to see underneath it anyway so it doesnt really matter if it's factory as long as it holds the console in place. I've got a pretty nice auto console and have been pondering over a TKX swap for a while now. Thinking about buying a 4spd top plate and running it that way. After seeing how minimal the cuts need to be with this new torsion bar hoop, I might actually go for it. Can probably keep my carpet and still have the classy looking console set up in there while still keeping it looking stock.
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I believe Silver Sport can provide a TKX or T56 with the shifter coming out the factory console with the console located in the factory location. They modify the trans tail housing/shifter so that the shift handle comes through the floor at the correct location.
 
340sFastback said:
I believe Silver Sport can provide a TKX or T56 with the shifter coming out the factory console with the console located in the factory location. They modify the trans tail housing/shifter so that the shift handle comes through the floor at the correct location.
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Awesome thanks. Had no idea. I'll ask about it when I give them a call. Would be nice to not have to worry about moving the brackets but I guess it all depends on if there's added costs to it that outweigh the time it takes to do the extra fabrication.
 
FYI, got an email from Siler Sport today that said Tremec has announced a price increase. Might be worth jumping on things now, they said current stock won't see the price increase.
 
Silver Sport Transmission announced that the Tremec TKX, etc. kits. Prices are going up.
 
340sFastback said:
Unfortunately probably not the last time we will be seeing price increases across the board for all parts.
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Very true, in July I bought a pair of Trick Flow heads. Three weeks later they went up $300. Received them today in fact.
 
I went ahead and ordered the kit today. Everything is included except the drive shaft. Came out to about $6130. This is a 68 Barracuda small block auto car so it needed the whole kit.
 
ESP47 said:
Awesome thanks! Do you remember roughly what the price was for theirs?
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I know exactly, it's in my build thread...

3.5” x.083 steel driveshaft, 1350 joints, 45 3/8” $293.85

But that was 2019, so I would expect higher now...
 
@ESP47 Great to hear!! That's roughly what I paid as well. I encourage you to find a reputable local driveshaft shop. Silver Sport charges $499, without the slip yoke and with smaller u joints. Local shop I found, Indianapolis Rack & Axle, $325. Fantastic service and they had it done in 12 hours. I wanted 1350 u joints on both ends and Silver Sport told me that would also incur a small cost.

I bought a 1350 slip yoke from Strange, and the shop used Spicer 1350 solid u joints. Pinion yoke came from Dr Diff.
 
72bluNblu said:
I know exactly, it's in my build thread...

3.5” x.083 steel driveshaft, 1350 joints, 45 3/8” $293.85

But that was 2019, so I would expect higher now...
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Awesome I believe SST's is $500 with the 1350 joints so even with inflation I should be well below that.
 
Arthur Sperotto said:
@ESP47 Great to hear!! That's roughly what I paid as well. I encourage you to find a reputable local driveshaft shop. Silver Sport charges $499, without the slip yoke and with smaller u joints. Local shop I found, Indianapolis Rack & Axle, $325. Fantastic service and they had it done in 12 hours. I wanted 1350 u joints on both ends and Silver Sport told me that would also incur a small cost.

I bought a 1350 slip yoke from Strange, and the shop used Spicer 1350 solid u joints. Pinion yoke came from Dr Diff.
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Thanks man looks like the prices went even further up than I was expecting. I'll look into sourcing the parts myself as well so this is a great start.
 
ESP47 said:
I went ahead and ordered the kit today. Everything is included except the drive shaft. Came out to about $6130. This is a 68 Barracuda small block auto car so it needed the whole kit.
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I paid close to that, including shipping for my b body.
 
72bluNblu said:
I know exactly, it's in my build thread...

3.5” x.083 steel driveshaft, 1350 joints, 45 3/8” $293.85

But that was 2019, so I would expect higher now...
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Mine was close to that price, but I did a 3” with chrome moly.
 
Car Nut said:
Mine was close to that price, but I did a 3” with chrome moly.
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I almost went aluminum, it turns out a Fox body Mustang with a TKO swap uses a 45.5” driveshaft so that size is readily available. Only thing is they’re all 1330 joints. I reminded myself I already had a 1350 yoke and my car is a street car, so plain steel is just fine. I did go 3.5”, did a little looking and now I know it will fit if I ever decide to go aluminum.

Driveshafts – Carbon Fiber, Aluminum, Steel Driveshafts | Summit Racing
 
Arthur Sperotto said:
@MopaR&D , I forgot to mention - l commend your recognition of Mike's geometry correction kit. I've ran it for years on my 360, it turned my rocker sweep mark on the valve stem into more of a line than a sweep. Fantastic. I routinely shift at 7000rpm, and once kissed 8500 by mistake, 100% driver error. I carefully inspected the whole valvetrain and found no damage. That was a couple years and many thousands of miles ago. It's a pain to setup, but well worth the effort imo.
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Hey Arthur did you just wind up having to do the 2 cross cuts on the center hump or did you have to do the third that is up closer to the firewall?
 
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