Auto to Stick

[Rory McNeil]

My own Stocker is a "stick only" combination, so I have no input on an automatic in it, but about 12 years ago I converted my 10 second bracket car from an auto to a Jerico 4 speed. It is a rather mild 428 FE Ford in a back halved Fairmont that I used to race with a fairly nice C6 trans. Although it was not a big dollar lightweight Stock or S/S trans, it did have low drag Torrington bearing internals, with a trans brake and 8" convertor. On the trans brake I could leave at WOT at 5200 RPM, and the car ran a best of 10.55 @126mph. Then I bought a used Jerico DR4 4 speed, with a 2.96 low gear, and a new McLeod `Soft Lok`` clutch. I made no other changes to the car, other than a switch to 4.88 gears , replacing the old 4.56s, in anticapation of no convertor slippage in high gear. Within the first few passes, the car was running 10.2s, and after a couple of races to get more comfortable with hitting the shift points, it has gone a best of 10.03 at132 MPH. I realize that if I had a state of the art high tech automatic with the 904 internals before, the gain would not have been as dramatic, however the trick auto would have cost at least as much as the stick changeover did. And other than a fresh clutch every 2 or 3 years, the only part I have hurt with the stick was 3rd gear once, after 10 years. ( Which cost a whopping $ 300. to repair.)The 4 speed is a lot more fun to drive, and a good used Jerico really holds its value. I can not imagine ever putting an automatic back in.