Tranny Swap question

Hi all. Currently in my 71 nova, i have a lockup turbo 350 tranny, but for sometime i have been wanting to go to a four speed. I recently had a shift kit put in, and the mech said its not much, but theres starting to be a little grit in the bottom of the pan and in the future i need to start lookin at other trannys or have mine rebuilt. I have been serioulsy debating on whether to put some kind of muncie 4 speed in. Not a rockcrusher, cause thats outta my price range, but may be a M-21 or a M-20. Does anyone have any feedback they could share? All would be appreciated.

Rob

Rob if your th350 is making grinding noises it's probably on its last leg (planateries) But you want to put a four spd in it, i have what you need!!! I have a complete 4 spd set up out of a 74 SS hatchback nova which includes the following wiring harness, z-bar, pedals, crossmember, drive shaft, SS steering column, neutral saftey switch and shifter boot mounting plate which is factory welded to the trans tunnel. I even have the origonal 8.5 10 bolt which contrary to popular belief is a very tough rear, its the 8.2's that are junk. I will part with this as a package, rear seperatly. please contact me at spottweld@frontier.com or (717)368-7630

got a salesmen on our hands here eh? rob my suggestion is to stick with a th350, first of all theyll run faster in a quater mile and second its an easier swap because you already have one. and yes i know everyone likes to bang gears, blah blah blah, but id rather win a race with an auto, summit sells a great unit for 700 bucks thatll handle 400hp, just get a decent stall converter to go with it and your set. im not knocking a muncie, but its quite a conversion from auto to stick. if you want a stick go with a 5 speed. or if you can find a 2004r they have a great first gear and an overdrive as well. a muncie 4speed will not let you cruise at a lower rpm because of the 1:1 final ratio, which is the same as a th350 btw. think about that before you go with a stick.
-chris.

I agree with Novaboy. Going from auto to manual is a big proect and probably not worth the time or effort. Stick with yoru th350 or even make the upgrade to the th400. The 400 is practically bullet proof and is an easy swap to do. And if you wan t ot shift the gears, put a shift kit on it and get yourself a ratchet shifter. Then you can bang the gears with no clutch, to headaches from making the swap to a full blown manual trans and no missed shifts. :-)