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Attention Go Fast folks...I need your opinions. I may have access to a cheap 62 SWB Stepside that I'm contemplating turning into a ratrod. Mill will probably be a 350 sbc, but I need help with the tranny. I'm not interested in an automatic so what standard 5 or 6 speed would be good behind a slightly modified 350? Next question would be rear end gearing...any suggestions as to a good ratio?

Depends on how much H.P. your going to have. If you will be relatively mild you can pick up a T-5
from a camaro,mustang, or others relatively cheap/ I did it with success. Later with increased hp, I went to a Muncie M2Z, rockchrusher. about $4-500 darn difficult to tear up.
If you want 6 speed, be prepaired to spend some bucks.

GAZIM how much horsepower will a T-5 reasonably handle? I have a 61 that I swapped a 350 for the 235 and am still using the 3 spd. With the 3.90 rear gear I would like od. Any mods needed to make it work?

The M2Z is a 5 speed? I'd rather stay away from a T5 if at all possible. My understanding is that the only ones that are really suitable are the ones from camaros and they are sort of hard to find. I don't plan on getting too crazy with HP, but I do plan on using a realtively new 350, probably fuel injected, maybe add a moderate cam, etc. The idea at this point is to take the truck down to the frame and start from scratch so doing something a little unconventional with the driveline isn't out of the question, but I don't really want to spend big $$$ on a tranny if I can help it. I'd rather get something out of the bone yard.

Nope, I didn't explain enuf, the muncie is a 4 speed. I don't know what year camaro the t5 came out of but I had a mildly warmed up 350 and beat it a little bit. The tranny was still good after 4 years. I do know the Muncie will handle a lot of H.P. sorry if I mislead you.

Apache, I had to swap bell housings from the camaro and needed a new clutch plate with the proper number of splines. $28 at the local clutch man. It worked swell for me as it kept the rpm's down when I was in 5th overdrive

My '92 pickup with a 350 has the factory 5 speed, same as Camaro trans. I have done a lot of burnouts and speed shifting and it hasn't ever broken and has almost 200,000 miles on it. The t-56 Camaro or Corvette trans will hold 450 to 500 ft. lbs. but costs about $3000.00 new, used not much less. I am using a 5 speed from a pickup in my '32 pickup with a built 292, which works great with the 4.56 rear end gears. The 5 speeds are about $1500.00 new and $1200.00 used around here.

be aware that a 62 pickup has a x type frame and not much room for a nonstock trans.

Zenish...thanks for the tip. I had about come to that conclusion myself. The truck is priced right ($150), but I'm not sure I want to fight it for the rest of my life. Apparently 60 - 62 trucks have other issues as well.

Tex, another point the T5 is considerably smaller than the stock4speed truck tranny

yea, but it is longer too. There's also an issue with the front motor mount requiring a lot of fabrication to accept a 350 that I've read on other posts. I've almost made up my mind to look for a later model (65,66) and let this one pass. I'm still interested in opinions on a good hotrod driveline...this project will go forward at some point...with some truck.