Transmission
I chose the TKO 600 transmission to handle the torque generated by my motor. Installing to a FE, you have two options on the input shaft
- Order the standard TKO and purchase a 3/4″ thick spacer plate to mount between the transmission and bell housing. Lakewood makes one of these.
- Order a short input shaft version of the transmission and fore-go the spacer plate.
I felt the fewer pieces the better so purchased the short shaft version.
I also intended to take my car on longer (4+ hours) road trips so opted for the .64 ratio over-drive. I have a 3.50:1 rear end ratio with 15″ tires. That should put my cruise speed RPM somewhere around 2300. Time will tell if this works well or not. There are differing opinions on this combination
If you have need of the parts or service manual for the TKO
| TKO_Cutsheet | TKO_Parts_Manual | TKO_Service_Manual |
Link to the Tremec website, manufacturer of the TKO
Round II
With my second build, I was still a fan of the TKO600 but had learned a few things.
- Being polite, the TKO’s don’t shift worth a damn. Liberty’s Gears has some mod’s that does help this. Highly recommended. It is still a little notchy but a lot smoother. Follow the link above
- The .64 overdrive is great for cruising, but really lacks if you plan to track the car. 5th gear was totally useless. I opted for the closer ratio .82 overdrive.
- Once the car had a few miles on it, I started to dislike the high rpm associated with the close ratio box. I changed out the differential from a 3.55 to a 3.15 That brought the cruising rpm down to an acceptable level and also helped in the gear choices when tracking the car.
Bottom line – Do your homework. What do you plan to do with the car – be realistic. With a 3.55 rear end, first gear is generally pretty useless. NO TRACTION to take advantage of the torque multiplication. And on the high end, if you have a torque-monster big block, it will accelerate from 2000rpm when passing. But if you have a Windsor bored to big-block size, you’re going to need to downshift to pass. Be aware of it.
