I used to have a T-5 in my 83Z. Broke it twice, went to a saginaw 4-speed, broke it, went to a muncie M-21, never broke it but killed the 2nd and 3rd gear teeth on front of the gears enough times that I had to have the guy who did muncie trannies in his garage damn near on my payroll. I'm hard on a manual tranny, and I admit that. I used to go through clutches like it was nothing. I even met a dood that sat at a table and made clutches all day for a regional tranny shop. He made me one out of some material that would slip like hell on the street, but hooked up at the track. The clutch pedal was so hard that in stop and go traffic, my left leg would start to shake because the clutch was so damn heavy from pushing it in and out all the time. I didn't have the cash for a tremec, and the T-56 wasn't as plentiful a swap as it is now. This was about 10-12 years ago. Driving on the freeway with a 4-speed, 4.10 gears and a 3.5 inch exhaust with a flowmaster gets old real fast, trust me.

That's why I went with the 700R4 swap. Yes, I actually went from a manual tranny to an auto. Lots of people have. The price for a tremec was about the same as a built 700 at the time around $1500, but I still had nightmares about clutches, so in went the auto. Haven't regretted it since.

I also autocross with the 700. I leave it in 2nd gear, and when I want it to drop down to first, I floor it, and it kicks down.

Like I said before, I'll take my auto over your manual any day, and would do it again. To each his own. In the long run, the auto will win for price versus reliability versus performance.

$.02

 

I've been following the post, and I decided to throw my opinion in too.

Sure I might loose races if I had a stick, but I would have fun doing it. Something about doing 55 when some idot tries to pass you and smashing it back to third that gets me going.


( Also it is hard to beat dropping the clutch at 5 grand)

But both types of trannies have advantages. It all depends on what you do with you car.