ok folks, a small update on the el camino, I've got everything but a carburator and a set of headers to build the motor. Since I've gotten sooo close to being ready to slider 'er in, I'm standing at the crossroads of manual vs automatic again.

My tastes have changed, I no longer want to go in a straight line as fast as I can. I want to enjoy my ride and take the girl out on sundays in the sun for a little romp in the mountains. However, being the 19 year old male that I am, everyone knows that I won't be able to resist trying to put my right foot where it belongs, through the floor

My question pertaining to your thoughts is: Will an m22 be beefy enough to with stand the ballpark of 450 HP (similar torque, maybe a little less) I won't be brutalizing this transmission on a daily basis, but I want it to be there if I see someone and feel the need to blow his/her doors off The reason that I am at a crossroads is that I have an automatic now, but I need to buy a good 3000 stall torque converter and a full manual valvebody. Those two right there will be about 1000 bucks for what I want. I can darn near get the standard in there, with a good clutch for that amount. What do you guys think? I know this is about the 3rd time i've made a post pertaining to this topic and its probably a bit redundant, but I am about ready to do it and I want to make sure that I've covered all my bases before I jump off to one side or the other.