Finally get to pretend I am one of the cool kids - Holley kit swap

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DionR said:
Yep, that's on my radar. Part of why I want a cardboard cutout of the trans so I can "play" with it easily. There is even an odd tab on the DS of the trans that @72bluNblu cut off for that very reason. I am looking at either building my crossmember to clear that or cut it off like Blu did.

BTW, it isn't on the older T56's, only the T56 Magnums that are OEM TR6060 based. I believe the OEM's used it to attach wiring harnesses to.
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I can't recall if I trimmed the tabs on mine or not. I actually use them on my Viper to help remove and install the trans though. They have holes in them, so my dad and I made up some brackets that bolt to our transmission jack and reach up and locate in those holes to lift the trans by the tabs. The bottom is anything but flat and isn't symmetric at all, so it likes to roll around on transmission jacks. The tabs do a nice job of letting the adjustments on the jack actually do something. I think I recall using at least the front ones on my Dart for that reason, but I might have trimmed the rear ones for clearance.

You might be able to find a plastic mock-up, but I've never really looked that hard. I know they make foam engine blocks for stuff like that, so it seems like transmission ones could exist. Guess the other option would be to get a junk one and pull the guts out so you just have a case. Still not exactly light, but probably way easier to move around.
 
Map63Vette said:
I can't recall if I trimmed the tabs on mine or not. I actually use them on my Viper to help remove and install the trans though. They have holes in them, so my dad and I made up some brackets that bolt to our transmission jack and reach up and locate in those holes to lift the trans by the tabs. The bottom is anything but flat and isn't symmetric at all, so it likes to roll around on transmission jacks. The tabs do a nice job of letting the adjustments on the jack actually do something. I think I recall using at least the front ones on my Dart for that reason, but I might have trimmed the rear ones for clearance.
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Brilliant! I will keep that idea in mind.

I wouldn't expect yours to have it, I was assuming it was a later model addition. But I was just guessing.

Map63Vette said:
You might be able to find a plastic mock-up, but I've never really looked that hard. I know they make foam engine blocks for stuff like that, so it seems like transmission ones could exist. Guess the other option would be to get a junk one and pull the guts out so you just have a case. Still not exactly light, but probably way easier to move around.
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Speedway released these at SEMA this year. I didn't want to spend $250 on mock up parts though.

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https://www.speedwaymotors.com/Solo...-6-Speed-Mock-Up-Transmission-Kit,554195.html
 
DionR said:
Brilliant! I will keep that idea in mind.

I wouldn't expect yours to have it, I was assuming it was a later model addition. But I was just guessing.
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I'm 99% sure that's why they were there. Guessing the factory probably uses them as tooling points to hold the case while machining/assembling, maybe while installing as well. Figured why not take advantage of them?
 
If you leave the clutch off the engine then taking trans in and out not that hard with a trans jack. Can cut heads off bolts and run two of them as guide pins into bell housing so trans will slide right in. And T56 are clocked/rotated toward driver side several degrees making trans bell housing alignment awkward.
 
To be clear, the picture I posted above has a mock up bellhousing kit the mock up trans is bolt to and is separate. This is what the $250 kit get's you:

1735856117993.png


1735856145032.png


Maybe I should have bought the kit and sold it for $200 after I was done with it. $50 would have been worth it.
 
DionR said:
I understand. I like the idea that I don't have to weld a seam all along the floor, but in the end a one piece tunnel welded all the way around probably is less welding in the end. Time will tell.

I don't think the 8HP tunnel is anywhere close to the size of one that fits a T56 in my case either. The T56 seems to be much taller just looking at how far up into the firewall my cuts are compared to yours.

If I were to do a one piece tunnel, I would consider a tunnel out of a late model Mopar like @Cool Hand did here.

2020-09-10-14-54-30-jpg.1715593128


But I wouldn't want it to go so far back. And it would be buckets only.

And no idea where I would even source the tunnel.
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I like the idea of using the tunnel from a late model, but it proposes some problems. Carpet being the obvious, second would be the stock A body console would look odd on such a wide tunnel. I also wonder how seats will fit. Mine pretty much touch the console and this looks much wider than stock where the seats will go. Lastly, it appears he removed the inboard seat belt mounts with the installation of that tunnel. Not a big deal as they can be added to the new tunnel. I'm curious as to how this project is going.
 
DionR said:
To be clear, the picture I posted above has a mock up bellhousing kit the mock up trans is bolt to and is separate. This is what the $250 kit get's you:

View attachment 1716347133

View attachment 1716347135

Maybe I should have bought the kit and sold it for $200 after I was done with it. $50 would have been worth it.
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These things are cool. They have engine mock ups made in a similar fashion. If I was doing engine/trans swaps on a regular basis, I'd say they are 100% worth the investment. Honestly, it is probably fairly easy to duplicate if you know CAD. Just snap a of the sides and top and trace the profile. Section it out and have sendcutsend work their magic. Or you could do it even cheaper with plywood and a jigsaw!
 
racerjoe said:
I like the idea of using the tunnel from a late model, but it proposes some problems. Carpet being the obvious, second would be the stock A body console would look odd on such a wide tunnel. I also wonder how seats will fit. Mine pretty much touch the console and this looks much wider than stock where the seats will go. Lastly, it appears he removed the inboard seat belt mounts with the installation of that tunnel. Not a big deal as they can be added to the new tunnel.
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I thought about the carpet, but figured if I did it I would use the late model console as well. And I know people have used those in A-Bodies so I would guess the seats would fit?

Here's the car with a seat in it:

2021-02-20-15-55-40-jpg.1715699699


Didn't notice the lack of seatbelt bolts. In the first picture, the tunnel wasn't welded in so I would bet he added them afterwards.

racerjoe said:
I'm curious as to how this project is going.
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Curious how my project is going or the one I linked with the late model tunnel?
 
racerjoe said:
These things are cool. They have engine mock ups made in a similar fashion. If I was doing engine/trans swaps on a regular basis, I'd say they are 100% worth the investment. Honestly, it is probably fairly easy to duplicate if you know CAD. Just snap a of the sides and top and trace the profile. Section it out and have sendcutsend work their magic. Or you could do it even cheaper with plywood and a jigsaw!
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I was wondering if there's any 3d print files floating around out there but it would take a good size printer.. or pieces. But yea, the plywood idea is excellent.
 
racerjoe said:
These things are cool. They have engine mock ups made in a similar fashion. If I was doing engine/trans swaps on a regular basis, I'd say they are 100% worth the investment. Honestly, it is probably fairly easy to duplicate if you know CAD. Just snap a of the sides and top and trace the profile. Section it out and have sendcutsend work their magic. Or you could do it even cheaper with plywood and a jigsaw!
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I'm going to do a cardboard profile of the top view just to get some ideas of where the tunnel needs to be. Hoping Tremec will give me an image or drawing I can print, but if not I will sketch it myself.
 
DionR said:
I thought about the carpet, but figured if I did it I would use the late model console as well. And I know people have used those in A-Bodies so I would guess the seats would fit?

Here's the car with a seat in it:

2021-02-20-15-55-40-jpg.1715699699


Didn't notice the lack of seatbelt bolts. In the first picture, the tunnel wasn't welded in so I would bet he added them afterwards.



Curious how my project is going or the one I linked with the late model tunnel?
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I love that seat.. wrong color but damn, that is nice!
 
DionR said:
I thought about the carpet, but figured if I did it I would use the late model console as well. And I know people have used those in A-Bodies so I would guess the seats would fit?

Here's the car with a seat in it:

2021-02-20-15-55-40-jpg.1715699699


Didn't notice the lack of seatbelt bolts. In the first picture, the tunnel wasn't welded in so I would bet he added them afterwards.



Curious how my project is going or the one I linked with the late model tunnel?
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That fits better than I would have expected. Same seats as me too.
 
DionR said:
There's a couple around with the Challenger console. @Red Stripe has one as well.

duster-1066-jpg.1715446791
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You guys need to stop giving me ideas, lol. I have some seats out of a Hyundai Genesis I got from a guy a work for free that actually look okay in the car. They have seat belt mounting provisions on them, but since they are just bolted to my floor and my floor is "questionable" as far as strength in an emergency situation, I opted to keep the factory anchors instead of relying on fender washers to keep my seats in place in case of an accident. I could extend my frame connectors to include seat mounting provisions as I've seen others do, but the factory belt points work fine, so figured why change them. I have been debating using the seat belt mount on the passenger seat to mount a cupholder though. I do coffee runs for my wife and I often enough that I have just been keeping a drink carrier from a fast food place behind the passenger seat, but it has tipped over more than once now. Now you have me thinking about a full console instead, lol.

That front panel area is also kind of interesting for the possibilities. If I moved my Raspberry Pi setup down to something like that I could potentially keep the center A/C vent that comes with the Classic Air kit if I ever pull the trigger on that. Would also make it easier to reach for actually operating it. I think I still like the idea of trying to put some vents where the radio normally goes though. Someone already cut mine to a single DIN square opening, but I'm using my Pi setup for audio now, so that's just an empty hole. I had planned to run A/C vents there so I could get them higher up in the car where they have a chance at blowing air on your upper half.

I might have to play with the idea of building my own console out of some wood just to see what it would look like. Could be an interesting side project and would force me to finally clean up my mess of wires I've added since I rebuilt the cabin harness a while back, lol.
 
DionR said:
Here is the finished interior of that car:

2021-10-06-16-32-16-jpg.1715802875
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Oh I think I know this car. Does it have a valiant grille and black wheels? If so, I'm not a fan of this car. Seems like some good work, but just poor decisions on some things. That orange dash is gross.
 
Map63Vette said:
You guys need to stop giving me ideas, lol. I have some seats out of a Hyundai Genesis I got from a guy a work for free that actually look okay in the car. They have seat belt mounting provisions on them, but since they are just bolted to my floor and my floor is "questionable" as far as strength in an emergency situation, I opted to keep the factory anchors instead of relying on fender washers to keep my seats in place in case of an accident. I could extend my frame connectors to include seat mounting provisions as I've seen others do, but the factory belt points work fine, so figured why change them. I have been debating using the seat belt mount on the passenger seat to mount a cupholder though. I do coffee runs for my wife and I often enough that I have just been keeping a drink carrier from a fast food place behind the passenger seat, but it has tipped over more than once now. Now you have me thinking about a full console instead, lol.

That front panel area is also kind of interesting for the possibilities. If I moved my Raspberry Pi setup down to something like that I could potentially keep the center A/C vent that comes with the Classic Air kit if I ever pull the trigger on that. Would also make it easier to reach for actually operating it. I think I still like the idea of trying to put some vents where the radio normally goes though. Someone already cut mine to a single DIN square opening, but I'm using my Pi setup for audio now, so that's just an empty hole. I had planned to run A/C vents there so I could get them higher up in the car where they have a chance at blowing air on your upper half.

I might have to play with the idea of building my own console out of some wood just to see what it would look like. Could be an interesting side project and would force me to finally clean up my mess of wires I've added since I rebuilt the cabin harness a while back, lol.
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I have only 2 must haves for a console, it has to have an arm rest at the same height as the one on the door and it has to have cup holders. BUT...I don't like the cupholders in the Challenger console. When I had my '15 Challenger, I used them but only rarely and usually kept the cup size small (like you can do that anymore) otherwise they interfered with my elbow when I was shifting. I think I sometime used the far right one when when I was alone in the car, but if my wife was with me she used it. I usually put mine in the door and was super careful to move it from the door to the console when I got out so I didn't splatter stuff on the seat/floor when I shut the door. But if the shifter was taller than in the Challenger (I expect it would be), they could still make for a good option. That said, because of my limited requirements I could be ok with a half console that has just the arm rest and some lower cupholders behind the shifter. Time will tell though.

In regards to the AC vents, I wish the A-Body had come with integrated vents. I have thought about using the earlier Dakota center vents in place of the radio, but don't see a great way to integrate vents at the far ends. I've also thought about trying to swap an F-Body dash in since those did come with integrated vents. But since the top of the dash is actually part of the cowl, it would be a real feat. In the end, I plan to use the factory AC vents and plumb whatever system I use into those.

My current plan for a radio is to use a block off plate and create a mount for a floating screen radio or tablet that slips into something in the ashtray area. The idea being that I can dismount the screen and put it under the seat and flip the ashtray door up and make the dash look fairly stock. Also something that time will tell on.

Fun story about cupholders I watched recently while "researching" Vipers. I guess the original Viper didn't come with cupholders because Iacocca was annoyed that the minivan only got awards for the cupholders and not something else. So he didn't want cupholders in the Viper. But I think he missed the point, cupholders are almost revolutionary and a must have (to me) so it says something that the magazines stepped over other things to give an award for the cupholders.
 
You know, cupholders are one thing that you kind of take for granted nowadays. It's only after owning three cars with zero cupholders between them (maybe half a cupholder if you count the Viper, but it's technically an "ash tray" that just so happens to be cup sized) that I realized how much of a pain it is. Maybe even more so now that I'm married and have a wife who loves her coffee, lol. The Viper one is especially bad because it's right behind the shifter and pretty shallow, so any spirited driving and you're going to make a mess, which I think was probably somewhat intentional given the design mandate of "no cup holders". It was fine when it was just me as I rarely had one drink in the car, let alone two. She actually bought me one of those cupholders you stick between the seat and center console for the Viper. Makes it so no one can really sit in the passenger seat comfortably, but easy enough to just slide out. I've just been using the drink carrier for the Dart and my old 71 Vette I just haven't ever done a coffee run in, lol. It's an automatic though, so I can stick a cup between my legs if it's just me for short term stuff. I could probably do the same drink carrier idea in the parcel area behind the seats on that one though.

I'm more excited about the idea of integrating my display into a console though. An arm rest would be handy as well and I might even see about getting one of the control knob things out of a modern car to use with it as a mouse. I bought a HAT for the Pi that was designed partially with one in mind as the guy included a CAN chip to talk to a BMW or Mercedes unit if I remember correctly. Could make it a lot easier to control than the touchscreen since the system is Linux based and really more like a shrunken computer than a real dedicated automotive device. Pretty hard to press some of those tiny buttons on a 7" screen, especially while moving.
 
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