I'm in the market for a 3rd gen Camaro with a 350 and 5 spd manual, but i'm having a tough time finding one, all I can find is automatic. I'm asking, is it worth it to buy an automatic and down the road a little ways converting it over to manual? Who has done it, and what will I be looking at as far as time, money, and difficulty? Is there even that big of a performance difference? I do not know much about cars, but I am a very fast learner and I plan on learning, I just need a car that is worth working on.

 

the reason you can't find one is because you could only get a 5speed with a 305

 

^^^^^yep, only 350s with a stick during the tpi years were the vetts as far as i know and they got the not so hot 4+3 trans

 

Oh well geeze...that makes me feel stupid

The reason I got confused was because I did come across 2 3rd gens with a 350 and a 5pd, but I guess they both had a transplant now that I think about it...

Thanks guys, I could have been looking forever

Seems kind of weird that they did not make them, was there any specific reason for that?

Can a 5spd manual beefy enough to be behind the 350 be installed at all with any practicality?

 

I have heard of people installing them and it working out fine but I know GM didnt go with it because they couldnt get a trans that would put up with the power from the 350 (read GM didnt want to spend the money on a trans that could take the power)

 

as far as I know an automatic can eventually end up faster than a manual. If you get a stall torque converter, a shift kit, and even a slapstick gear selector, you can be faster than manual. Just one of those upgrades, or all of them, will allow you to shift at the same time as a manual transmission car, but you wont be off the gas pedal at any time. So, with ALL the work it would take to convert, just upgrading an auto would make more sense. (but stick shift is sooo much funner )