To anyone thinking of a 5 speed

[57yblock]

for their project. While at Brainerd this last weekend I went looking for a certain red chevelle that was running about the same times as I was. I found him and was going to challenge him to a race as it is more fun when you have somebody beside you that is close. JMHO. It turns out that he was running a Tremec T600 I believe. He said it was not modified for more power and I did happen to watch him make a pass on Saturday. It looked to me like his shifts were very fast. So far he told me it has been bulletproof. This was a mid to low 10 second street car and must have weighed at least 3500 lbs with driver. I know Jay was thinking of building a 5 speed car so I am just throwing this out to show that maybe these trans are fairly strong. Because if my math is right he must have been putting down 650 or more hp. I am planning on one this coming winter for my car so wanted to see somebody using one in person.

[Monzy]

I put the TKO600 behind my FE in the 69 Mustang and has been working great.  I shimmed the trans up 1/4 and didn't modify the crossmember but did take a tiny piece off the shifter hole.   I had a toploader that I traded straight up for.   I do miss the toploader as shifting with it was like cutting through butter.   TKO is ratchety feeling and you've got to push and pull a little harder to shift quick, its not as fast and easy as the toploader was.   The best part is I can get on the hwy and drive without the engine screaming and I was able to lower the rear gear to 4:11 from 350's and its still perfect on the hwy.   I do have the TKO with .64 OD though.   Its a huge drop from 4th to 5th.   

[drdano]

I've got one in my '62 Galaxie wagon behind my 428 with the .64 overdrive and 4.11's as well.  I really...REALLY...wish someone would figure out a verti-gate shifter for these things....the stock and aftermarket ones really leave a lot to be desired.  So far it's been rock solid.  Once you "unlearn" how to shift 2-3 you can go sorta fast...but it's not anywhere near as nice as Monzy states having a toploader with a nice Long shifter on it.

[Heo]

Dano did you have to modify the floor
in your 62.More than a hole for the shifter?
My 64 have the same floor i think and
i dont want to cut up my floor

[drdano]

The floor in your '64 is absolutely different.  Since my car is pretty slammed, I decided at the time to tunnel it 3" front to back.  I had to build customer crossmembers for the floor, for the trans, custom trans shifter hump, etc.  I know others do it with less work and only cutting barely a larger hole in the floor and two extra holes in the stock crossmember....but I wanted my driveshaft angles perfect for the cars ride height.

All the details you could want are here:  http://www.fordmuscleforums.com/galaxie-pages/494741-danos-62-galaxie-tko-swap-thread.html 

[My427stang]

I like mine too, same feedback, shifts great but not like a good Toploader.

I have lots of miles on mine too, been behind the 489 since 2006!

[JamesonRacing]

I have a Hanlon-modified TKO600 0.64 trans in my street Fairlane GT.  I'd consider this mod the biggest impact change that I made on the car.  I wouldn't drive the car nearly as much if I didn't have 5th gear to go into above 50mph.  Now I can road trip in relative comfort and still have the low gears for fun.

[blykins]

A TKO 600 will withstand a lot of abuse.  They are rated for 600 lb-ft of continuous torque, not a peak torque for a few seconds.  They can also be built to hold about 700 lb-ft with just a few upgrades.

With that being said, they have inherent detail flaws, just like anything else.  Tolerance stacking on gear cones and synchronizers allow for less than desirable shifting at higher rpms.   We modify the gear cones, along with replacing the shift finger, and this clears it up.