Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

After ogling the Tremec conversions at car shows for the past couple years, I finally decided to pull the trigger on a complete t-56 Magnum kit from Hurst Driveline Conversions this spring.   If some of you are considering doing the same, I wanted you to know what you are getting into.

I had inquired of the sales rep as to what would be required to install this kit, and whether it was all set up for my ’66.  He repeatedly assured me that the kit used the factory crossmember, and that all that was required was to move it back 2” and to drill two new holes in the frame rails.  As I have a convertible, I asked if the procedure was the same, and he assured me that it was.  I ordered up the full boat, with a hydraulic clutch conversion kit as well.  It arrived a week later, at a price of just a hair over five grand.

I pulled out my Muncie and bellhousing, and got to work installing the new setup.   I pretty quickly realized that the factory crossmember wasn’t going to work. I measured the distance from the block face to the mounting bolts on the Muncie and then on the Tremec, and the difference was 6 and 5/8”.  So to use the factory crossmember, it would have to be relocated 6 and 5/8”, not 2”.  The 2” setback is for the TKO, but not for the t56 Magnum.

 The convertibles have a kind of boxed frame, and the X-member bolts onto a bracket on the frame.  2” would have been feasible, but almost 7” was not.  I e-mailed and called the company, and their final solution was “we didn’t know – you’re going to have to figure that out yourself”.  I was pretty disappointed, as the thing was halfway together in a garage where I don’t have a welder.  I borrowed a buddie’s shop and fabricated a custom x-member and mounts, and bought a cheap 110-v MIG welder to get it installed enough to drive.  With the new X-member being that far back, I had to modify the exhaust as well to clear it.  A 2” relocation would have fit with the exhaust as it was.

Next was the clutch assembly.  The “kit” had instructions for installing the hydraulic conversion, and they said “66-67 chevelle”.  As some of you know, although these cars look similar, there were a lot of changes between the two years, and the clutch/brake/column support was one of them.  The parts they supplied would have worked on a 67, but not on a 66 (which has an offset in the clutch pedal that puts the whole setup out of alignment).  Again I called and e-mailed, and again they told me “we assumed that they were the same – we didn’t know that they were different. You will have to fix this yourself”.   After much frustration, I fabricated a clutch pedal that mimicked the ’67 geometry as best I could.

Finally, when I was contemplating the order, the sales rep sent me some photos of a “customer’s car” to show the tunnel patch.  When the tunnel patch showed up, it was a PIECE OF SHEET METAL that had been slip-rolled.  It looked nothing like the finished tunnel patch in the photos, and it certainly didn’t fit the car.  Many, many hours of cutting and fabrication later, I have a reasonable tunnel patch.

Guys, this was a difficult enough project that I sought out a vendor who knew what they were doing and could provide support if something went wrong.  That’s what I thought I was getting at Hurst.  Instead, I have gotten laughable support (they actually don’t believe me that the factory X-member doesn’t work and that the mount offset is 6 5/8” and not 2”. )  I have asked for a partial refund, and all they will do is to take the entire thing back now that I have it installed in the car.  That is not really a reasonable solution.  In short: if you are thinking of doing this on your car, please, PLEASE do what I should have done: buy from SilverSport.

John Braun

Minneapolis