He is experienced in restoring and modifying cars. I have seen his past work and the cars he is restoring at the present time. That is why this site is so very helpful getting the knowledge and opinions of others is extremely important to me.

If I did buy this Richmond would it be difficult to sell it in the future?

Thank you for your help and your opinion.

500 hp from a 455 cubic inch motor is almost STOCK...

My 427 small block chevy makes 489 foot pounds of torque as measured at the REAR WHEELS...it idles @ 900 rpms - runs A/C... etc.

Taking off in first gear with 455 cubic inches "or more" is NOT going to be an issue. If you were running 800 hp from a N/A small block... that might be an issue...

Ron,

Do some more research BEFORE you buy. Why would you ask an opinion - and then turn right around and go against that advice - and then ask what it would take to bail out of that dumb decision? Sounds to me like you've already made up your mind - you trust your builder. I would bet he's never driven a car with this transmission... 'cause if he had he wouldn't be recommending it.

Ron --

Why don't you look into doing a POLL here -- you can post a poll - and get votes on various transmissions - 6 speed - 5 speed od - 5 speed richmond non od - muncie 4 speed etc.


My guess is you'd not get one single vote for the Richmond non OD transmission. Seriously -- post up a poll. It would be interesting to see what the response would be.

This is why I like the opinions and advice from others. The overall plan for the car and engine is not set in stone. I have thrown out to my builder that I want a high torque 550+ hp with Butler Performance building the engine. Butler has a 474 to a 501ci that looks temping.

There are two issues being mixed up here - the overall ratio in first gear and the ease or difficulty of shifting the transmission.

Many trucks have a very low (high numeric) first gear to get a heavy load going. The 3.28 first gear of the Richmond coupled with a "normal" rear end ratio in the mid-3.XX or higher numerically, would give you a super low first gear - you'd be wound out at 20mph. But if the car is geared for the transmission, this can easily be avoided.

The overall gearing of a Tremec TKO600 with the .67 5th gear and a 3.55 rear from first to 5th is as follows: 10.19 - 6.71 - 4.54 - 3.55 - 2.38

The overall gearing of the Richmond which has a 1.0 5th gear and a 3.08 rear from first to 5th is as follows: 10.10 - 6.56 - 4.84 - 3.82 - 3.08

So the two can be made very comparable until you look at 5th gear. To put it in more understandable terms, the Richmond would have you turning about 2,700 to 2,800 rpm at 70mph, the Tremec would have you turning about 2,100 to 2,200 rpm at 70mph. Also, depending on what rear is in the car, the Richmond may require a change in rear ratio, but if you're planning on redoing the rear end anyway, that may not be a big issue.

The second issue is shift quality. An internal rail shifter (the Tremec) is likely to be smoother than the external shifter (the Richmond) if for no other reason than it's protected from the elements. I drove one Richmond and found it very notchy. My internal rail T56 shifts like butter.

There have been some issues with the 2-3 shift in the Tremec TKO600, but most attribute those problems to operator error. I'd also check out the size of the Richmond shifter. I saw a first gen F-body with either a Richmond 5 or six speed that required a lot of cutting on the trans tunnel to accommodate the Long shifter.

Overall, if it were me, I'd skip the Richmond and go with either a Tremec TKO600, a Magnum T56 six speed or a used T56 six speed.

I am definitely going to take more time to research transmissions and talk to others about this subject. I am very picky and I want to do it right the first time around.

He has mentioned that he has used the Richmond in the past.

How do you post a poll?

Thanks.

The main thing a poll will determine is who has the most successful advertising department.

I don't know how or why you'd say that. A poll on this website would give you a broad array of some very knowledgeable people - who've been there and done that. In fact - if you just looked through the "project introductions" on this website - or over at Pro-Touring.Com - my guess is you wouldn't find a single person planning on using a Richmond non OD 5 speed. There's a very good reason for that... and it has nothing to do with "advertising". You know that because you've shifted (driven) one of these beasts - and have compared it to the far superior Tremec.

I have no axe to grind in this - I don't care what he does - I won't have to drive it. He asked for opinions on this transmission and I have TRIED to give him some honest no BS feedback.

Now -- I hope he buys it -- so when he drives it he can come back and post "dang! I should have listened to you"! :rofl: :cheers:

BTW - RON - Your builder must have a personal interest in this particular used transmission - otherwise there is NO WAY he'd advise you do put it behind a HUGELY TORQUEY Pontiac big block... particularly since this is an all new fresh build - so tranny tunnel mods etc should not be any issue... and NOBODY puts in a non overdrive transmissions these days... it would just be a complete waste of time and money. The beauty of having an overdrive transmission - is because you can have performance AND cruisability - something that was unobtainable "back in the day".