I have been baffled as to why my trans. tunnel was cutout. Where the shifter hole is, it was cut the width of the original hole and about 3 inches back (towards the back of the car). It was cut pretty straight, not a total hack job. The trans that came with the car is the ONLY part not original and was out of a 63-65 vehicle. This is the main casing only, not sure about the tailshaft.

The drivetrain is installed in the car (FINALLY!!) and I have the correct transmission that my car would have come with. Also, I am using the original shifter that mounts to the crossmember that also came with the car. The cutout has been repaired and will everything hooked up there are no clearance issues.

I had tried extensively to try and track down the original trans for my car by nearly every means imaginable. If this was cutout at the factory (which I doubt) than it is possible that the trans could be somewhere in the hands of the fella that owned it from 1987 thru 2000. I have called some of his friends as well as the guy himself. His friends say he does have a bunch of parts BUT he is very unmotivated and really doesn't care to look. So, I am wondering if he may have given the wrong transmission to the guy I bought the car from.

If someone blew the trans and replaced it with something that required cutting of the tunnel than I doubt I will ever locate it. I say this because when the guy bought the car in 1987 it was essentially a basket case.

Anyone have any clues? Thanks!

Do you know if the car was ever raced? I ran into this with a friend's RS Z28 years ago. Someone moved the engine back a couple inches to help with the weight transfer. It made the distributor and the console a real pain.

I do not believe it was raced but it is possible I guess. The crossmember was not modified in any way, or the frame for that matter.

I'm guessing this is a 4 speed car? If it is I think you'll find that someone had used a Hurst "Indy" shifter at one time. The factory Hurst shifter and the Hurst "Competition Plus" do not require and modification to the factory hole but if someone uses the short throw "Indy" shifter the hole needs to be cut about 2 or 3" for clearance.

hello 68SScamaroinKS,

i had the same problem as you.someone cut my trans tunnel too.

i came to the conclusion that my camaro was a 3 speed on the tree
because before someone cut up the trans tunnel there were signs of
any hole being there.

my car is a original stick car because the 4 speed set up is bolt in and
the firewall is not cut up too.(looks original not hacked up).

everything from the pedals to z-bar looks old and like its been on the car
along time.

i hope this helps you out and i might be wrong about this or not.

thanks for your time
mark b