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Richmond 5 speed

9K views 44 replies 6 participants last post by  Aukai 
#1 ·
What is the best way to tackle this for floor modifications. The car came with the add on floor shifter hump in a box. Don't think that it is going to be that simple, has anyone done it?
 
#5 ·
Thanks Freddie, I'm in the wing it mode, I hope it doesn't turn out too bad. It's a tight fit, I started by finding the interference, and moving it with the blue tip wrench, and hammers until the transmission fit. It's also tight in the bell housing for the hyd bearing hoses. I haven't fit those yet, and still have to check throw out bearing distance. I'll have to look up the throw on a Mcleod hyd bearing, I'll probably need to add spacers back behind the bearing that I took out, but I do have room now for the clutch fingers. When I cut the shifter opening I'll be able to smooth the tunnel out more with the hammer, and dolly, it really looks pretty ugly right now.







 
#10 ·
No TH400 option offered so far as I know of. Maybe with the L-79 option (350 horse 327), though I suspect most L-79 cars had a Muncie four speed.

The Richmond is stronger than the Muncie the same way a Muncie is stronger than a Saginaw. Bigger shafts, bigger bearings, and wider gear faces. Bigger is usually stronger in trannys, but it makes fitting in a bigger tranny a little more challenging. I had a Richmond in a '70 Nova but I cut out the entire trands tunnel to get it to fit. I used a Mr. Gasket five speed vertical gate shifter but it sat practically in my lap (part of the problem was my size), but it stood off from the back of the tranny by two to three inches from memory to get all of the sraight large diameter shift rods in a straight line with the body of the shifter.

No way in hell you are ever going to get it to fit with a console, and I used a lot of aluminum sheet metal (my first TIG welding job from school) to fabricate a new tunnel to cover everything. (I hate getting wet while driving from water off the tires coming up through a hole in the floor). Today a TKO T-56 is stronger yet comes on a smaller package.

I think Doug Nash owns Richmond, who had earlier bought out Liberty Gear, but I can't remember any more. Parts are available (such as rebuild kits, small parts kits, and different gear sets to customize the ratios for your driving style). So it is a valuable box to have.

Big Dave
 
#12 ·
All of the tunnel smacking is done, got the shifter, and linkage in also, The inline shifter is not going to be an option I'm afraid. The cross member has to be move around 6" back, that will be next....Dough Nash sold out to Richmond, my third gear combination is no longer available if it lets go.





 
#13 ·
The trans cross member has to move back about 3" actually, the factory frame mount is spot welded in so many places I'm not going to mess with it. So I'm going to make stubs to the frame, and weld them in. The cross member is an odd width, so I'm cutting a 2.5x2.5 box tubing down, then half it, notch it to fit the frame, and cross member, then weld it up. Yeah like it's that easy......





 
#14 ·
Got a little done today, this is the stub that will weld to the frame, the "flap/tab" will get pulled down, and welded across the bottom of the frame. SO across for the tab, up the frame in the corners, and welded to the floor pan. Will this be strong enough? If need be I can cut down the floor pan sides, and weld another flat with a tab extending out like the frame side to extend the floor pan weld out farther. I hope this makes sense...



 
#15 ·
Wouldn't it be easier to buy a press brake attachment for your shop press and form flat steel into shapes you can weld together to make an equally strong but about ten times lighter transmission cross-member?

https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-p...xaAgPW7iNhtQpPuv1E5UJ8hrxaoZad7kaAniTEALw_wcB

This is a handy tool to have in your shop to put ninety degree bends into flat steel (two bends makes a an open U shaped channel that can be boxed in with a flat piece of metal to form a tube of any size.

Big Dave
 
#18 ·
The frame stubs are done, now I need to notch the cross member to clear the belly of the Richmond 5 spd transmission, the tail shaft housing is short. The top of the mount will go through the floor pan(tight fit), and be welded top, and bottom, then down the frame, and the off angle tab will be formed across the bottom of the frame, and welded there.





 
#24 ·
More boring stuff, Wire wheeled the foot wells, Ospho had to dry, then epoxied some pin holes, then waited for the paint to dry. Next was small patches of sound deadener(sp) now the carpet is in. Thinking of leaving it the old carpet look.





 
#26 ·
Thank you Dean, by guess, and by God is more like it:yes:
Dodged a bullet, got the bench seat in, and my wife just gets the pedals to function. A seat back cushion will probably be more comfortable for her. Next is what shifter handle to put on it with the bench seat, the seat is all the way back, and the seat touches the shifter in 2nd, and 4th?
 
#27 ·
The Chevy II shifter for the Muncie mounted farther forward on the transmission than it did for other cars. Your shifter is mounted in the position for a Camaro or Chevelle. You may have to modify the seat to make it work. The shifter handle for a '55-'57 Chevy bench seat might be what you are looking for, but you still may have problems.
 
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