tranny tunnel surgery-possibly a really bad idea but....

[Guest Anonymous]

....I'm wondering if it would be a mistake structurally speaking, to cut a section of tunnel out to facilitate easy installation and future removal of my new five speed. I hear one has to pound it out some to accomodate the bigger 245. Also, I hear, you have to do a few other tricks to get it to fit, i.e. loosen motor mounts, approach installation from an angle. I don't mind jumping through these hoops once to get the 5 speed in but what about a clutch change down the road. I'm thinking an access panel might be the ticket. It would closely follow the shape of the original tunnel but would be a bit bigger and removable to allow easier access to the slave cylinder and shift linkage. I am going for the boy racer look anyway with no carpet and bed liner spray for floor covering, as well as a street roll bar. I probably will do a few other things to make it look more race car like-aluminum shift console, gauges, etc. Other than affecting resale, does anyone know of any reason this would be a bad idea? Just pushing the envelope so humor me. TIA

[Guest Anonymous]

In all honesty it's not that big a deal to 5 speed your car. The tranny R&R is virtually no different than the 4speed and you barely have to dent the floor to accomodate your slave cyl. In other words you wont gain any significant ease of R&R to justfy the hassle of noise intrusion and possible exhaust and water leaks. IMO, Skip

[Guest Anonymous]

When you see those nifty removeable-tunnels on race cars, generally the chassis is a complete tube frame and lightweight panels are attached all around. The panels themselves add something to chassis stiffness, but are not critical like the sheetmetal in a unit body car. If you cut out a section of your tranny tunnel you will be putting extra stress on other nearby parts of the body. You could get away with punching a small hole if you reinforced the surrounding area, but I think that a large access cover should be avoided unless you install some other sort of framing, like a monstrous roll cage.

Mike

[Guest Anonymous]

.....thanks guys.