Tremac 500 in a 63'

[Bob H.]

I have a friend that bought a Tremac for his 63' about 4 weeks ago. It came as the complete kit with the drive shaft, mounts, shifter, etc. He couldn't get the drive shaft angle right because the tranny kept hitting the body and was plagued with vibration. He took it to a few different shops and was told that it would never work right so he tore it all back out and put the BW back in. He now wants to sell the entire package for a discounted price. I also have a 63' and was considering purchasing it. Is there anyone here who has successfully (no vibrations) installed one of these in a 63'?

Bob

[Dick W.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

Although I have never done one of these convertions, I do not see why you could not tilt the pinion up or down slightly to correct driveline angles. Angles need to cancel each other, i.e. 2 deg down on the trans, either 2 deg up or 2 deg down on the differential. Not a big deal with a good protractor.

[Joe R.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

The ONLY way you are going to get a Tremac in a 63 is cut the floorboard out and re-glass.

The 63 has a slightly different floorpan than the later models.

I have seen a local guy with a 66 struggle over the installation of a Tremac.

You might want to raise the body off the frame to gain some room but as it sits there is no way.

Tremac knows this problem with Corvettes and has supplied some people with a lift kit.

With a 63 there are NO rubber spacers as the 63 is bolted hard to the frame. That equals NO space for a Tremac!

I wondered when someone was going to try to sandwich a Tremac in a 63 and how loud they would scream!

Give us a blow by blow accounting of what you are trying and what results you get on this installation.

Thanks,

JR

[Stuart F.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

Steve Danial on August 15th began a thread about his problem with "deck clearance" due to adding some body lift spacers on his 63 for this same purpose (Tremec 5 speed). Check it out.

Also, I got an E-Mail from another member with a 63 coupe who did a frame off and in the pictures he sent it was obvious he had a Tremec in his. I will followup (research) and repost with more info.

Stu Fox

[Stuart F.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

OK. The member with the Tremec in his 63 coupe is; Henry Atsma (17552). You may want to PM him for info. His restoration can be seen at: www.impactrestorations.com/car-restoration.

Check it out. I have been meaning to contact him to see how he liked Orlando, and to inquire why he put in a Tremec 5 speed with what looks like an L-75 engine.

Stu Fox

[Peter B.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

Bob,

You might also check out Keisler Engineering for their Install kits. I'm thinking about it for my 67, not sure about the problems associated with a 63 noted above, but they claim a "Perfect Fit" for all C2's.

Pete

http://www.keislerauto.com/

[Bob H.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

The ONLY way you are going to get a Tremac in a 63 is cut the floorboard out and re-glass.

The 63 has a slightly different floorpan than the later models.

I have seen a local guy with a 66 struggle over the installation of a Tremac.

You might want to raise the body off the frame to gain some room but as it sits there is no way.

Tremac knows this problem with Corvettes and has supplied some people with a lift kit.

With a 63 there are NO rubber spacers as the 63 is bolted hard to the frame. That equals NO space for a Tremac!

I wondered when someone was going to try to sandwich a Tremac in a 63 and how loud they would scream!

Give us a blow by blow accounting of what you are trying and what results you get on this installation.

Thanks,

JR

I've been told that the height of the body in relation to the frame on a 63' is identical to all the other C-2's because the 63's frame mounts are higher than the other years. In 64' and up the frame mounts were lower to compensate for the rubber bushings.

[Mike M.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

I've been told that the height of the body in relation to the frame on a 63' is identical to all the other C-2's because the 63's frame mounts are higher than the other years. In 64' and up the frame mounts were lower to compensate for the rubber bushings.

bob is correct. mike

[Jim D.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

The TKO 500 has about the worst gear ratio combination in the world (3.27 1st & .64 5th). I have a TKO 600 (2.87 1st & .82 5th) with 3.27 rear gears (no, it's not a Corvette). 5th is perfect on the freeway cruising at 65MPH but 1st is still a bit too low since I get zero traction in 1st. With a 500, if you geared it for a good 5th gear, 1st would be like "compound low" in a truck and good for about 20 feet.

[Henry A.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

I'm the guy who has the Tremic in his 63 as Stuart has noted. I did this because I really did not like my power gluide transmission. I have had the car since 1990 and did not drive it much due to the transmission. The frame on my Michigan car was rusting away, so in the process of replacing the frame we decided that putting in the Tremic would be a good thing...much easier with the body off. Or so we thought, the transmission fit great...the body was not a problem as we used a 65 body mounting kit..to raise it up a little and to soften the mounting due to the rubber mounts as opposed to using a 63 kit. We also used the rubber spacers that come with the kit for the Tramsmission cross member to raise the floor...most of our bodies have some sag in them due to age. This provided adequate clearance for the transmission and for the stock tunnel insulation. WE DID NOT CUT OR MODIFY THE BODY AT ALL. IT CAN ALL BE CONVERTED BACK TO STOCK.

Having done all of this we found that when we drove the car we had a vibration and a terrible harmonics in the car. Rembember this is a 63 coupe. So we started to work on the drive shaft angle. This is not as easy as it sounds...we had trouble putting any instruments on the transmission and the pinion to get good angle measurements. So we made tools (pipes) to attatch to the pinion and to the transmission. The result was that we did not have offsetting angles. We started by experimenting with a 3/8tths inch plate between the Diff and the supporting frame. This only moved the vibration to a higher RPM, so we knew we were on the right track...next we put in a 1/2 plate...same result. Still had the vibration, we just moved it to a higher rpm. The third time we put in a 1 inch plate...which allowed for more pinion angle...the vibration is gone...car runs great.

I am now enjoying the car much more. Running about 1,600 to 1,700 RPM at 70 MPH with 3:70 rear gears. The vibration and the harmonics are gone.

I hope this helps...I just wish the folks that sell this kit could have been more of help. Taking the rear apart 3 times was a major pain as we tried to fix the vibration after a body off restoration.

[Jim D.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

So tell us, with a 3.27 1st gear and a 3.70 rear gear, how do you like it? Unless you have a really under powered pig, 1st gear must be basically useless.

[Stuart F.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

Henry;

Sorry to kind of rudely pull you into this, but I'm glad I did as you have some real good information to impart on this subject. I too have long considered this change for my 63 and have discussed it with the Keisler boys at the winter meet here in Orlando on several occasions.

BTW, did you get over to the Old Town cruise while you were here? My son and I visited Roger's I believe on the 9th as he is still considering a move to a C-2 and Roger has a nice SB 67 coupe he wanted to see. His stock has been reduced significantly, specially the outside lot. Must be a sign of the times.

Stu Fox

[Kent S.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

Henry:

Could you be more specific about where you installed the 1" plate? With what I'm picturing it seems like it would significantly change the geometry of the rear spring, half shafts and ride height.

Thanks...

[Bob H.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

Well hearing all this has certainly turned me off doing it for now. That is a few too many mods. I just finished doing a frame off and wasn't looking to replace the body mounts and pull the rear-end out for this tranny. I am amazed that Keisler advertises these as "a simple bolt in, no mod required, direct replacement" transmission. That sounds like total crap. I have posted this on another forum and they are all kind of saying the same thing. The reason I was interested was because I have the 4.11 rear gears so the car is screaming at 60mph. Maybe I'll switch them to 3.55's instead. Sounds like a lot less headache......

[Henry A.]

Re: Tremac 500 in a 63'

Well, my car is a L75, or a 300 hp. We rebuilt it during the restoration process. We did not dyno the motor nor have we put it on a rear wheel dyno.

It is not an "under powered pig" and first gear is fine...not as tall as some but very useable and allows for quick acceleration and "in my opinion very driveable. Sure it will roast the tires, if I want to, or it can come off the line and be very competitive. It also has the feature that my BB 67 has...fourth gear speedo and tach are parallel.

Jim, I would love to let you drive the car...I think that you will be pleasently surprised at what a great ride it is. If you are in Michigan some time maybe I can give you a new perspective.