6 speeds

[mikes_classics_68]

well i was curious as i am in the process of locating a charger, my plans are to putt a built 440 in it assuming iit doesn't already have one, prolly somewhere in the 500-560hp range, but i wanted to put a 6 speed to keep the acceleration  aspect but have better top end and fuel economy.
Now i seem to be finding that these often require quite a bit of modification but what i was wondering was   which one is the best?  what do you guys use or have you used for your cars Richmond seems to be pretty popular, i'm not so much worried on price as much as just which one will generally fit easier and function better.
I will mainly be using it for around town and the occasional 1/4 but i wanna be able to drive it on the highway with ease. thanks alot guys

Mike

[suntech]

Hi there
I dont think you will be able to fit a 6 speed, without making more room in the tunnel, but that´s ok. I am going to do that on my 68, and go with a T 56 Tremec.
You will also need to make new bracket, to hold gearcase in the rear. If money is not biggest consern, i would go with a block from World Products, since they have BB chevy bellhousing pattern also. Will make you more options for bellhousings, and is a really nice block.

[Rolling_Thunder]

Richmond is a good transmission, however it is an older design that uses external rods and levers. The only other option is a T-56...   which are rated to 500tq...    your engine will be making more but it is still an option...       lets look at the richmond though - sinse it already has a 1 1/8" x 18 spline input shaft....      You will need to make ALOT of cuts to your floor for either transmission including hacking of the torsion bar crossmember and fabbing a transmission crossmember.

Just going by what I know...    I would actually discourage a 6-speed...     the idea that the more forward gears you have the better acceleration you will have is incorrect - How long does it take you to shift a gear ?  now with the richmond ROD you have a vast selection of gear choices - but think about it this way - If your 440 will be making 550hp it is safe to say it will be close to 600+ tq. With that much torque the close ratios will limit you - with a slightly wider ratio your available torque will "cover" the wider ratio. The ratios of 3.28, 2.45, 1.67, 1.24, 1.00, 0.55 would be what you are interested in. You would stay within your first 5 gears on the street (alot of shifting) then on the freeway you would go to 6th....    but with that much of an overdrive, you would HAVE to run a lower gearset...    with a 28" tall tire and a 0.55 OD gear with say a 4.10 rear you're at 2200rpm at 80mph     3.28 with a 4.10 rear...   at 6000rpm you would be at 35mph...    and 1st gear is almost useless because you would simply overpower the tires and they would spin...     sure..    come easy off the clutch and save the tires, but you would literally have to immediately shift to 2nd gear....     it makes 1st gear almost useless...   

If you are set on the 6-speed...    I would go with the ratios above and a 3.73 rear ratio...      this will make 1st gear alot more practical as well as with the 0.55 OD you will be turning 2000rpm at 80mph     


Good luck

[Mike DC]

 
The Tremec-based 5spd setups will work better for a Charger.  There's a couple of places selling them now.  It's a little/no cutting installation if you get all the aftermarket stuff for it.

The Richmond 6spd tranny won't go into a B-body (or much else from the musclecar era for that matter) without a lot of tunnel & crossmember hacking.  And I don't just mean some annoying trimming on a few protruding edges, I mean the entire shape of the Richmond case is too big.  The extra gear just isn't worth enough to justify the hacking & work to install.  Especially since the Tremec-based 5spds are still stronger & smoother-shifting. 

[Rolling_Thunder]

yes - i agree...     5 speeds are all you need.

[Upholstery guy]

Hey, Guys

Phat69charger and I gamed the Richmond  6 speed trans swap a few years ago, and come up with this combo a 3.54 rear ratio 29.5 tires and the gears almost identical to what Rolling Thunder said for the trans, would be pretty close to perfect for his charger on the street, the mopar Richmond six speed OD gear set only goes down to .76 based on there chart of gears for there trans, I say get the lowest OD you can if you have a street car it's for the highway anyway who cares if the rpm's are real low downshift if you need to take off and catch up, a lot of people base the rear gear choice by what the car would do at the track racing a ¼ mile, if your car is a street car having a 3.28 first gear or lower allows you to run a regular street car rear ratio but have the car react like a racing rear ratio, I know phat posted info about 6 speeds when we where researching them a while ago, we realized that most people don't do the math by using a gear calculator for there setup they go by other peoples car and don't compare things to what they have and they don't understand the gearing should be based on what there motor can do, our example we came up with was two cars built the same but the only difference was the motors, if the two motors have different rpm limitations and power bands the cars will perform different, if one redlined at 4500 rpm like a diesel engine and the other one redlined at 7500 that's a big difference in speed in the gears, so the gearing should be based on what the motor was built to do, use a gearing calculator to compare what things can be for what your motor can do.

Gearing Calculator we used, put in your info for your car http://users.erols.com/dmapes/GEARCLC.HTM

Phat69charger's post about Richmond Six Speeds
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,11080.0.html