Bought a 68 fastback w/ original 3 speed. wanting to swap out w/ a tremec 5 speed. Conversion kits online seem pretty expensive $2770 and up? Am I kidding myself or should i expect such prices?
I did my first T-5 swap for ~ $850, the details of which I have posted here a least a few times. That included a used T-5 for $600 (this was about 6 yrs ago or so). Used T-5s might be cheaper now, I dont know.
You can pay 2500 and get the Rolls Royce of swaps, or do some looking, fab an item or two, research online, and employ good used parts and hit your target at around a grand (or less). Your choice.
The complete T5 swap doesn't have to be extremely expensive (mine ended up costing about 2k, but thats because i got a high end flywheel, shifter, and clutch... which made up about 1300$ of the cost). T5s still run about 400-600$ in working used shape. The big things you need are the transmission, bellhousing, a new crossmember and transmission mounts, clutch, flywheel, shifter, tailshaft/output thingy, clutch cable/pedal assy... if you're shrewd about it you can get it done for $700 or so, its been done.
One thing to think about is I sort of regret not immediately going with a T-5z... my current T5 probably won't last long with what I'm planning for my engine and I could have just ponied up the extra $600 or so and gotten a new T-5z and not worried about it. If you have a mild or even a moderate 289/302 based motor it shouldn't be an issue.
Try to get a T-5 out of a 90-93 GT (they're stronger than the earlier ones and don't require adapters like the 94-95 models), and also try to use a steel input bearing retainer. If your transmission comes with a standard type clutch cable, just use that... I was planning on spending $300 for a cable clutch setup but just tried the one that came with the transmission (some random aftermarket cable for a fox body) and it works great.
Engine is a 302 but planning on upping the hp to high 400 mid 5's in near future. We'll see how the $$ holds out, new at this and can see things can get expensive fast if ur in a hurry. I want to buy the trans 1x and be done. If it costs 2k, maybe its worth it. Does the Z indicate can handle more hp? Thanks for quick reply
If you are planning on cranking out 400-500hp and you are going to drive it hard then you might want to spend the cash now and get yourself an Astro or Gforce T5. That way when you are hard on it, it doesn't grenade and leave you with either just 4th gear or no gears at all.
There are a LOT of different ways to do this swap so figure out what you want out of it and research the different options. Good luck.
The only thing I can say is that using a cable clutch does make for a pain in the neck when geting headers.