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« on: January 01, 2023, 06:51:19 PM »
I installed a TKO 600 Tremec in my 63 Galaxie with a 428 about 4 years ago. I absolutely love the way it drives and shifts compared to the BW T10 that was in it. My car does not see dragstrip duty so I can't comment on that.
I did have to do some work to the tunnel to make it clear, I would expect less or no work would be required for the TKX transmission to clear. The T10 shifter is mounted to the left side, as is your toploader shifter, where the Tremec's are mounted directly to the top so it would seem you would have a very hard time not redoing your shifter hole. I wasn't crazy about cutting up the floor pan but the reality is after fabricating and securing the new metal it is absolutely undetectable other than someone nit picking that the shifter is in the center rather off to the left side. My TKO 600 had a fore, center, and aft shifter location. I used the center shifter location which might put it a little too close to the dash for a drag racer but it works well for me. The aft shifter location could create a conflict on a bench seat car, you just need to closely evaluate what works best for your car.
On my TKO 600 I was able to use a FE pickup bell housing which eliminates the requirement of the adaptor that you mention. This bellhousing is about 5/8" deeper which accommodates the longer input shaft on the Tremec transmission. The bellhousing has "C5T" prefix on the casting number and was used from 65-?? on FE powered F series pickups. Pretty easy to find and reasonably priced. I have the exact part # somewhere if you need it. A possible caveat is my 428 has a Scat stroker crankshaft which has 2 holes for the pilot bushing/bearing. I used the large bronze bushing that goes into the largest of the 2 holes in the very rear of the crankshaft for the BW T-10 transmission. There is a smaller and deeper hole (toward the front of the crankshaft) that accepts a pilot bearing (smaller diameter) that was used for the TKO 600. The problem MAYBE is I'm not sure if ALL crankshafts have this smaller hole to accept the pilot bearing. In any case you need to be careful that your crankshaft thrust end clearance is maintained during final assembly.
With the above mentioned bellhousing I was able to maintain my factory mechanical clutch linkage.
I do have an extensive write up and lots of pictures of the TKO 600 installation as it pertains to my 63 Galaxie that I could share with you if you're interested in reviewing. It's on a Word document and is quite lengthy so it would best to be emailed to you. I would expect some of it would apply to your 59 Galaxie. Let me know if you would like to review it.
Whatever route you choose I'm sure you will love having the overdrive.