[Simon Goodman]

Hello, everyone. I have a 1974 torino with a 390 fe and an fmx trans that originally had a 302 on it. I want to experiment with shifting it 1-2-d instead of keeping it in drive just to see if that works better for me. I have no idea the basics of how to do it, though. I'm too afraid of wrecking my transmission or engine to try on my own. I've heard that a good place to shift with an fmx and 302 is around 5k, but that's all I know. My 390 is very mild, only upgraded with a hei distributer and 4barrel carb+intake. Whats the worst that could happen if I shift to early or too late? How do I down shift? I know I probably sound like an Idiot, but I would appreciate someone explaining all this to me so that I don't hurt my drivetrain.

 

[cerial]

Manually shifting is usually not good for the transmission. Something is going to get hot and shockloads are bad news. That being said I use to do it all the time To hold a gear and lay down rubber or just have the 1st and 2nd gears for off-road.


Worst that could happen is you put the thing into reverse at 85 like I did in a 80 Firebird. Have not manually shifted much since then.


By playing with your stall and power curve you can have the thing accelerate faster and live longer then manually shifting. You take more time to manually shift then having it shift and downshifts usually result in increased engine breaking and wear.

 

[JeffB28]

Hello, everyone. I have a 1974 torino with a 390 fe and an fmx trans that originally had a 302 on it. I want to experiment with shifting it 1-2-d instead of keeping it in drive just to see if that works better for me. I have no idea the basics of how to do it, though. I'm too afraid of wrecking my transmission or engine to try on my own. I've heard that a good place to shift with an fmx and 302 is around 5k, but that's all I know. My 390 is very mild, only upgraded with a hei distributer and 4barrel carb+intake. Whats the worst that could happen if I shift to early or too late? How do I down shift? I know I probably sound like an Idiot, but I would appreciate someone explaining all this to me so that I don't hurt my drivetrain.

If the transmission is stock I agree don't do it, this is a quality kit that allows you to do it and you can switch back if you want: TransGo Cast Iron Case units: FMX-3 If you kept the 302 converter your stall speed will be slightly higher than the 390's converter would have been.