Transmission Advice?

Have a 70 Camaro with a 454, stock M22 transmission, 4.11 posi-rear. I want overdrive, but would rather go with a new tranny rather than one of the add-on units. I would like to stick to a 5 speed, but am not opposed to a six. (I like the 4.11's and want to keep'm... too much fun.) Any recommendations?

a 5 spd that will hold upto a 454, you would be looking at something like a richmond or a tremec maybe. For the price of one of those though you could pickup a 6 spd. Any reason why you dont want the six??

Extra gears to run through. I intend to use the car as a daily driver after I get the bugs worked out. I don't often go over 45 during rush hour. I'm not opposed to a six, just seems like a lot of gears to run through when I'm mostly going to be running slow.

Now.. When I work late, and there's no traffic, that's a different story. I just love the scream and smoke as you get sucked back in your seat and the front end comes up. HOOOOBAAAAAH!!!

Will a standard six work or am I wanting to look at something "special"? For instance, would I be going to GM, Jegs, etc for this? I'd like something that's not going to require major reconstruction to fit. (I want to do this myself... although I AM new at it).

well, most six speeds and even five speeds from GM are for small block engines, youre looking at an adapter plate at the least, and a modified bell housing at the most to get one to bolt up. Has the engine been modified or anything?? what kind of power are you looking at. because that will dertermine if you can run a factory tranny or have to go aftermarket.

t56 swaps are getting very common in all kinds of cars now. Im positive its been done a bunch on 2nd gens.

Also, just because you have 6 gears doesnt mean you have to use them all. 5th and 6th are overdrive so its not really much different from a 5 spd.

I bought the car "done", although the engine has a few problems that I am attempting to correct.

Should I have it dyno'd to see what it's pushing? I'm guessing HP at the wheels is a little different from actual HP at the engine?

the only reason you would have to have it dynoed is if you were really itching to know what it was doing. also some places can tune the car based on dyno testing. And yes you are correct, RWhp (Rear Wheel hp) is about 20-30% less than FWhp (Fly Wheel hp).

I saw somebody close to me put up a T56 in ebay. How would I find out if it would hold up to a 454? - And is that something better left to a speed shop?

(How in the hell are you guys putting pic's in your posts? Got some I'd like to put in.)

Before you buy the tranny find out exactly what you need to hook it up, and see if you can buy the whole package or as much of the parts at once.