Plenty of members in or near Chicago. @71Polara383 owns a 1969 wagon and knows fuselage Polaras inside and out. @sixpkrt organizes the annual C-body shows.
Finally got my dream survivor 69 Polara, query about keeping survivor or doing mods
- Thread starter TheInstigator
- Start date
71Polara383
Kid with ballcap
Last edited:
twostick
Senior Member
I have what I think might be a stealthy compromise that gets you the car you want, without destroying the car's survivor status and very few if any on a show field will know the difference.
Pull the original drivetrain and prep it for long term storage.
The compromise will be the transmission. No 5 speed. Instead a Gearvendors shorty kit 727. You get 6 speeds with Overdrive that will bolt in and shouldn't require any modifications to the car itself other than a shorter driveshaft, which doesn't need to be the original.
Find a 400. All your 383 stuff bolts to it so it can pass for stock.
Add a 4.25 stroker kit, the Trickflow heads you want, and a cam spec'd with a wide enough LSA to idle 6Pak style at worst and make enough vacuum to run the power brakes. 500+ cubes will make traction your biggest challenge without adding the driveability issues a big lumpy cam brings to the table. Unless of course you want a big lumpy cam...
Pick a rear axle ratio that will put the engine in its happy place at cruising speed. A 108 LSA cam isn't going to be happy cruising part throttle under 2500 rpm so 3.91 or 4.10. With the overdrive and 28" tall tires, 75 mph should be around 2800 with the 4.10 as the OD gives you the equivalent of a 3.23. 3.91 would end up similar to a 2.94.
Something with at least a 112 or wider LSA will be much happier chugging around like the original 383 so a 3.55 or 3.73 will hurl it around town with authority and cruise quietly at freeway speeds. The wide LSA won't object to manifolds nearly as much either if you wish to go full stealth.
Kevin
Pull the original drivetrain and prep it for long term storage.
The compromise will be the transmission. No 5 speed. Instead a Gearvendors shorty kit 727. You get 6 speeds with Overdrive that will bolt in and shouldn't require any modifications to the car itself other than a shorter driveshaft, which doesn't need to be the original.
Find a 400. All your 383 stuff bolts to it so it can pass for stock.
Add a 4.25 stroker kit, the Trickflow heads you want, and a cam spec'd with a wide enough LSA to idle 6Pak style at worst and make enough vacuum to run the power brakes. 500+ cubes will make traction your biggest challenge without adding the driveability issues a big lumpy cam brings to the table. Unless of course you want a big lumpy cam...
Pick a rear axle ratio that will put the engine in its happy place at cruising speed. A 108 LSA cam isn't going to be happy cruising part throttle under 2500 rpm so 3.91 or 4.10. With the overdrive and 28" tall tires, 75 mph should be around 2800 with the 4.10 as the OD gives you the equivalent of a 3.23. 3.91 would end up similar to a 2.94.
Something with at least a 112 or wider LSA will be much happier chugging around like the original 383 so a 3.55 or 3.73 will hurl it around town with authority and cruise quietly at freeway speeds. The wide LSA won't object to manifolds nearly as much either if you wish to go full stealth.
Kevin
Good "recipe" @twostick . Even a mechanically challenged (from a "no dirty fingernails" perspective) cat like me can understand that perspective.
Shoot, I might have to "cook this dish up" for a couple of my last projects that i want to juice up a bit without carving on them to extent the next caretaker can't go back to factory configurations.
Good luck to you @TheInstigator with whatever your do with your fine Polara..
Shoot, I might have to "cook this dish up" for a couple of my last projects that i want to juice up a bit without carving on them to extent the next caretaker can't go back to factory configurations.
Good luck to you @TheInstigator with whatever your do with your fine Polara..
1970FuryConv
Old Man with a Hat
Curious if there really is a Tremec 5-speed kit with clutch pedals and linkage for a 1969 c-body?
I really don't think that kit exists.
If there is, please post link to source. Thanks!
I really don't think that kit exists.
If there is, please post link to source. Thanks!
TheInstigator
New Member
Based in large part on the excellent advice of the brothers here assembled, I have decided to not go the manual trans route -- I will leave my own car pristine.
That said, I am of course happy to tell you about whatever research I have managed to accumulate concerning a C-body manual trans change-out, in the hopes that it might help you or others here.
I agree with you that, at least in my research, no such complete kit exists. The closest I have found is an outfit called Silver Sport Transmissions, which you can find here: Silver Sport Transmissions | Shift Into High Gear They do not offer a dedicated C-body kit, but they nevertheless do address the issue intelligently.
I spoke at length with one of their sales guys, and thought him about 95% squared away. SST does not offer C-body pedal kits, perhaps given how rare they are and how low the demand is. He recommended that I look to parts guys like Murray Park: I sent a query there with no response just yet. Further research notes that there is apparently not terribly much difference between a C-body pedal set and a B-body pedal set: while I have not yet pulled pictures or schematics, it sounds like it is simply a matter of slightly longer pedal arms. Unclear whether that would make any difference anyway.
Of course, any such swap entails clutch linkage, which in this case would almost certainly supplant mechanical linkage in favor of an hydraulic system. The swap also entails at least modifications to, if not heavy change out, of the transmission crossmember. Even though the TKX transmission has been designed to be svelte, there is the prospect that it might require trans-tunnel cutting, and would in any event of course need to create a floorpan port for the shifter. This also relates to where the shifter comes out. The TKX offers fore-aft shifter position options, but I've seen nothing about how it would do with a C-body bench seat.
Next comes the driveshaft. Of course, you'd would need a custom one, given the other changes, as well as a proper sort out on driveshaft angle, which, in itself, is a big deal. And any intelligent review of this issue would include the idea of critical driveshaft speed, especially when using an overdrive and bigger rear gears. Because our C-bodies have a longer OAL than other cars, the driveshaft length is an important related issue. For those unacquainted, this issue is an insidious potential monster just waiting to happen if not addressed to begin with. A good shop will sort it out.
That's what I have. Best of luck to you -- and all of you -- contemplating a manual swap.
