Ed,
Is the tranny really a T-10, or is it a toploader? If it's a toploader, give us the tag number so we can determine whether it's a wide or close ratio box. If you go with a 5 speed, the tremec TKO would be a good option in my opinion, especially with the 'road race' .83 overdrive vs the standard .68 overdrive. You can use the same bellhousing as the four speed you have now (I assume it's a steel scattershield?) and you can go one of two ways (that I'm aware of). (1) You can buy a TKO from anywhere and purchase the 5/8" thick spacer plate that gets sandwiched between the tranny and the bellhousing because the input shaft on the tremec is 5/8" longer than the 4 speed. Or (2) you can buy the TKO from Mike Forte (
www.fortesparts.com) who installs a custom input shaft that is 5/8" shorter, so you don't need the adapter.
We swapped out our wide ratio toploader for a tremec 3550 in our Everette Morrison rebuild we're working on, but don't have it on the road yet. If you do the swap you might want to look at installing a removable trans crossmember if it doesn't have one, as it's easy to do at that stage.
Sounds like a very cool project. What year is the chassis? I assume you are using a 9" solid axle rear with a parallel four link and panhard rod? What front suspension is it set up for (vette, mustang II, EM custom tubular)? 335's should fit in the rear with no problems. I'm running 17x11's in the rear and have room to spare. That engine sounds HOT! When are we going to get some pics
?
Mike
What kind of cage do you guys plan on putting in it? Ron, I'd be very interested in seeing yours, so please post pics when you can.