I'm not planning to cut my tunnel. I want to modify the tranny itself for clearance instead. It won't take very much material removal to make it work. I have a perfectly good Tremec already, so I have no plans to buy a $2000 G-Force, Astro, Richmond or Keisler.
I just want to know if anyone knows how to get the top aluminum cover off.
I'm not planning to cut my tunnel. I want to modify the tranny itself for clearance instead. It won't take very much material removal to make it work. I have a perfectly good Tremec already, so I have no plans to buy a $2000 G-Force, Astro, Richmond or Keisler.
I just want to know if anyone knows how to get the top aluminum cover off.
You can download a Tremec TKO manual directly from Tremec. It will step you through what you need to do. Just a quick overview.. you need to pull the shifter and the shifting lugs so that the tail housing can come off the tranny. That will allow the top cover to come off. It's pretty simple to do.
It's been a while since I downloaded the manual, but I think this link will get you there. I have a 3550 and its manual, but they are really the same transmission (just larger input and output shafts on the TKO). http://www.ttcautomotive.com/English/onlineorder/product.asp
I'd have to say since Ford engineered it and offered it in 1965 or 66....and does the Tremec not use t/c gears...that the Tremec is a toploader with an od and an aluminum case with an internally gated shift mechanism.
But I'm positive that you are much more informed and intelligent than I.
Ford wanted out of the tranny building business, so they sold all the tooling and rights to produce the Top loader (and the other Ford tranny the "303") to Tremec in 1973. Regardless of who made it, it's still a Top loader.
Tremec was an OEM supplier to Ford and Jeep through the 80s. Tremec designed the TR-3550 on their own nickel, with no OEM contract. It was intended primarily for off-road trucks. However, they had to make it versatile enough to sell to any market out there which is why it has 3 potential shifter locations.
Dimensionally it is based on the Top loader, with the same gear spacing and mounting pattern, but you can't switch gears between the two, it has a 5th gear, and as mentioned the internal shifter was a unique Tremec design. Since at the time it was the only transmission Tremec made, there was no need to call it anything other than a "Tremec".
So I would say a Top Loader is always a Top loader regardless of who made it, and even though Tremec bought the entire transmission division from Borg Warner, everyone will always recognize the "Tremec" as the 3550 because it is the first transmission that was designed by Tremec.