[Philip]

Spent the day getting the transmission mocked up. I used an old 307 block and bellhousing for this step. The crossmember was modified 2 years ago when I started this project.

After installing the trans into the bellhousing it was raised up to the floor and marked on the under side. Then small holes were drilled from the bottom up and the marks were transfered to the top for cutting.

no turning back now

transmission installed again

sitting on the crossmember and shifter installed

 

[Richardlss]

man that looks good, great job! wish i was that handy!

 

[Mark Keenum]

Congratulations!
Did you order the trans as a kit?
How far are you from driving your car?

 

[Philip]

Not a kit, they do not offer one for the 4th gen. Just bought the trans from Dark Horse Performance. They had the best price. Modified the stock crossmember and need to get a drive shaft built. The motor is going together as soon as the heads arrive. Hopefully on the road by the end of the year. Still have to rebuild the front end, front brakes and detail under the hood. Rear is in and disc brakes installed, shock relocation almost done. Paint and interior will be done after I get to drive the car.

 

[Philip]

A little more progress today. I had the center floor section of a rusted out El Camino in my scrap pile. I did some rough trimming and I think it is going to make an excellent removable floor patch. It is raised in the front giving ample clearence for the transmission and flattens out right where the shifter will be. I need to trim more off and lower it about an 1" - 1 1/2" to get a tighter fit. This will also allow me to open up the initial cut in the floor to allow more working room if needed. (The dotted line) i reworked the shape of the back of the El Camino pan to match the shape of the Nova floor. I think with about 2" more cut off the front of the patch and the sides trimmed up it will fit great.
The seam across the front will even line up with the seam on the Nova floor.

Here is the minumum size hole to cut for the initial install on a 4th gen. From this more trimming can be done to suit individual preferences.

And I need to remove that awful red paint the previous owner sprayed on the heater box. I have another box I may just swap it out.

 

[ChevyBelly]

Nice work!

 

[aron69nova]

i used a camaro floor section for my car, but i like how you used the el camino section. i welded mine in as well, instead of making it removable. looks good. there sure is a lot of red there...

 

[Philip]

I am not a big fan of red, especially since all of this has been "touched up" by the previous owner. Once I replace everything that was painted with a rattle can I think it will look better.
I was considering making the interior 2 tone. I bought some tan bucket seats and they do not look to bad sitting in there with the red dash and panels. I might toss in some tan carpet and do the rear seat to match the buckets and see how it looks.

 

[77-427-5sp]

tko

great post thanks for he pics and layout this will help out lot when i stat cutting this weekend

 

[Philip]

I did not use that metal to cover the floor. I cut the floor out of a 76 Nova larger than the hole in my 77. Only the front was covered with metal and the small opening with a shifter boot. A better way to cut it out would be to do the square in the front portion and only a hole in the shifter area. If not running a console a smaller shifter boot can be used.

 

[77-427-5sp]

tko floor cut gen four

thanks for the updated pics and info

you suggest that i make a change from diagram you layed out
there is a frist large box then a smaller box , then lastly the cut out for the shifter in the update are you say i should just cut the frist large hole
leaving the middle intact

now i flipped the shifter to the 16.75 spot from the 19.5 like you have because that put the shifter closer to were it allways was except centered

car was born with a 3 speed stick with a bench seat and that the way i got 25 years ago ,

not using a consule as i put the rally gauges in from another car and would need a lowprofile 2 in offset shifter to work well i think

here is what the 3 speed stick floor looks like

 

[Philip]

The large and middle holes will need to be cut out to fit the transmission under the floor.
The forward cut line is 2" in front of the center line of the seam and extends back 18" from the cut. To try and use the factory shifter hole it may work to cut the floor back to the raised forward edge. You will need about 10" of floor behind the seam removed to clear the top of the transmission. Remember that the engine and transmission are not centered, but offset about 1" to the passenger side. If you look at the hole marked out before cutting you can see it. I am not sure the shifter will align to the hole in your floor, but an offset shifter is available that will move the handle towards the driver.
Very interested in how this works out for you. How high is the raised mount for the boot above the floor? It may work out that you can cut up to the upper mount area and make your patch even with the shifter hole giving a smooth floor.

 

[77-427-5sp]

4th gen tko

here is i few more pic of the 3 speed stick floor before i start cutting

measurement from seam

front of shifter add on is a 1/2 in height then tunnel the back is 1/4 in lower then tunnel

 

[Philip]

Doesn't appear the shifter will be in the existing hole. Have you you tried bolting the trans to the bell housing and raising it up to see how the shifter aligns?

 

[77-427-5sp]

3-4-5 speed

well with the hump for the 3 speed may be more forward then the one for 4 speed as you see from he picks i had to notch out the back for the 4 speed shifter

in my case you end up taking the hump off ,and i think this will make fixing the floor far more simple since i am not running a console the fact the shifter is now moved to the passenger side about 3 inch's as compared to 4 speed
now i have the shifter turned 180 from the way Phillip's is (inside Transmission has two spots for shifter ball)
this put about where the 4 speed was front to back of the car

i think next will be weld in the new mounts for the drivers seat put the seat
and see how it feels , i may want move it back has everybody used in the back location like Phillip's ?

then i have the buy a clutch the hays that i put in twenty five years ago to go racing seems to be in ruff shape ,and this is a mild low rpm motor a want something easy any my leg

 

[77-427-5sp]

now i see why you run the shifter rear position
i did a test fit with the seat in and found it was just to far forward
this is the same shifter handle i used on the 4 sp t10 and the muncie
the knob height is 3 inches higher now and about 3 inches towards the passenger side

 

[Philip]

The handle I am using is angled towards the driver.

 

[ddidier]

I'm in the process of a TKO install in my 79. It seems the stock crossmember will work, but It needs to be dropped down and new holes need to be drilled in the sub frame. How far down did you guys drop the cross member?

 

[77-427-5sp]

i did not drop the crossmember , but the energy suspension and the auto part mounts were a 1/2 to tall i just ended up using the one of the t-10 i had in there
after everthing else is done and the car is on the ground i will recheck the angle but so far its good
yes redrill the frame

 

[ddidier]

Well, I have a slight vibration in the drive-train and I think it is due to pinion angle. I'm going to do some measuring and get a figure on it, but I'm quite certain it has to come down an inch or two. I'm using the energy bushing. I am wondering if putting the cross member on the bottom of the subframe would be enough... as opposed to sitting on top, where it is now.

i did not drop the crossmember , but the energy suspension and the auto part mounts were a 1/2 to tall i just ended up using the one of the t-10 i had in there
after everthing else is done and the car is on the ground i will recheck the angle but so far its good
yes redrill the frame