Interesting topic. Our '86 Mustang has had no issues in 11 years of racing a full Rocky Mountain CMC schedule, including 5 or so Nationals events. We've replaced the clutch a few times in those 11 years and added a road racing 5th gear about 5 years ago.
Last edited by BADVENM; 09-11-2020 at 06:58 PM.
I don't know exactly what Joe added to make it shift so much better but it really helped. It may have not been more than $600.00 or $800.00 as I don't keep up with exactly what I spend doing this stuff. You could ask Joe what it is that he did to make it shift so much better. Before it broke it shifted as well as a T5. Jay and I do not even try to shift like Michael does or I don't think we would finish a weekend. I certainly do not push it as far as shifting really fast. I am going to ask Joe what all is broken but I'm almost sure the input shaft is one item.
I was going to switch over to a 3650. Aaron and others have ran it as is from Ford and have had no issues. I talked to Tony at Astro, a guy that owns Pro Force and Joe and they are telling me the 600 should hold up better than a 3650. Hell I don't know what to do. If I'm going to have to replace them every other year I will go back to running a $1800.00 T5 at only 75 lbs. Since we are not drag racing I don't think the 10 spline input shaft is an issue but I have gone through two A5's and a TKO600RR in 10 years of CMC racing. The thing that bothers me is I was getting four years out of the A5 (these were rebuilt units as there are no new A5's) and we were running every event NASA Texas put on (and NOLA three times). In the last two years we have been running the 600 I doubt we have ran in more than six or seven events.......TOTAL! This is the kind of shit that makes me think of quitting. It's not really the money it's all the work to get to the track and then clean up and put it all up when you get home and not getting to race the full weekend due to parts failures. Then of course I get tired of the wife saying "didn't you just buy that transmission brand new (not rebuilt) for $2500.00 less then two years ago and now he is telling you it's torn all to hell"? I assumed a transmission that is rated to hold up to 600 ft. lbs. of torque would last ten years in a 260/310 CMC car. I even remember telling Kathy "well we should be through spending money on transmissions". "This new one is made to handle way more power than the 55 makes". This is why I'm asking if there is something we are doing wrong. I don't know what it would be but how in the hell do we tear it up with so little power? I would hate to have the TKO600 behind my Lightning. I doubt it would make it to the end of the street.
JJ
Last edited by ShadowBolt; 09-09-2020 at 03:29 PM.
What transmission were you running? T5? A5? Hell the guy at Pro Force said if he was me he would buy a new T5. LOLOriginally Posted by BADVENM
JJ
I honestly don’t have much faith in the quality of the new Tremec. My 600 was crap out of the box and I had to fight with Tremec for 2 months to fix it under their dime. Joe was great and went to bat for me or I doubt they would have even given a crap.
If I could do it all over again I would have just fixed a few issues on my old 3550 and kept running it. It worked way better as a used unit when put in the car in 2005 than this brand new 600 ever has been.
I’m sorry you are having so many issues Jerry, I wish I had a good answer for you.
-Michael Mosty
CMC #11 Mosty Brothers' Racing
Director - TX Region
Just as an example, the 600 felt worse out of the box than my 3550 did after 12 years of racing, and it was obvious the 3550 needed some work to fix some issues.
After Tremec fixed the 2-3 and 3-4 issues it felt way better but it has never felt like a perfectly working transmission.
-Michael Mosty
CMC #11 Mosty Brothers' Racing
Director - TX Region
We're running a non world class T5. I think we changed the synchronizers one or twice in 10 years when we had some clunkiness going into 3rd. Are all Texas region races standing starts? Are you power shifting? What shifter are you using? Is it one with adjustable stops and is it set up properly?
In my opinion the 3650 is the most reliable easy to quick shift transmission i have ever used in any mustang pre 2014. I spent about $900 on new parts to rebuild it when I first built the car just as preventative maint but there was technically nothing wrong with it even though it had 110k mi on the car. Making sure the clutch is adjusted right it also critical. Need to make sure when clutch pedal is all the way down that it doesn’t try to lurch when putting into gear at a stand still.
Also i have always used the steeda triax shifter cause it has overshift stops that are adjustable.
“A man with no enemies is a man with no character.”
― Paul Newman
I really have no intellegent Ford input, but what engine and trans mounts are you running? Solid, poly, or rubber? My engine ones are still rubber (I think... either way def not solid) and T5 trans is poly. Thought is the softer mounts absorb some of the shock better than solid.
- Gary R.
'86 Camaro Z28 "KNOCKER"
I ran rubber engine mounts for nine years and just switched to the solid this year. The transmission mount is a Stifflers https://lmr.com/item/STF-TCBM20/must...ssmember-99-04.
JJ
I'm leaning on going with the 3650 but I have always been told that with long tubes I would have to pull the engine to change the clutch! That means if you lose a clutch at the track (like at Hallett) you are screwed. Now we have never had a clutch issue. In ten years I have changed the clutch disk only once (just for shits and giggles) and I'm still running the same pressure plate that I installed with the first A5. We are not hard on clutches but tear up transmissions. Maybe it would be worth it to go to shortys and the 3650.
JJ
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