Mckinney Motorsports was nice enough to find another small block to mock up with to keep mine as clean as possible. They started by modifying the pan to clear the cross member. About a 2x2 inch box had to be sectioned out of the back of the pan that I bought to allow for cross member clearance. Other than that, the whole center and rear part of the pan works perfect. As you can see, there is plenty of sway bar clearance. Some mild hammering in the tunnel allowed for the bell housing to fit and the motor sits back as far as possible without the distributor hitting.
The one problem they ran into was the size of the transmission. The TKO 600 is great that it uses a Muncie 4 speed transmission case for a 5 speed configuration; the bad part being that the actual transmission is shorter and sets the shifter about 4" further forward then the normal whole centerline, or about 1.5 inches completely out of the hole. There will be a shifter handle (as there is a million configurations) that will bend back further, though the shifter will come up in an unnatural location.
Using a T5 or T56 traditional 5-6 speed transmission will put the shifter in the stock location due to it's added length. Additionally, due to the tight tunnel clearances, it will require a hydraulic clutch release bearing for correct operation.
As you can see, the headers are going to be fun. Hooker was kind enough to send over 3 sets of their tightest fitting headers in search for a set that will require minimal modification. Also a remote oil filter may be used for added clearance for the headers
Linear Mode
