i want to switch my 84 elky over to a manual shift. how much work is involved and how much will it cost???? thanks in advance

It's possible but can be difficult to find the parts you'll need. I found mine on Ebay. The bellhousing is the hardest part to find, no other GM bellhousing will work without modifying it, this bellhousing has the clutch fork pivot ball located in a lower position, it is no longer available from GM. Most of the linkage parts can be bought new from OPGI. The bracket that holds the brake and clutch pedal is the same as the one currently in your Elky, you will just need to replace the brake pedal with the new clutch and brake pedal. Transmission choice is up to you, and that will probably be your biggest expense, I bought a excellent condition Borg Warner Super T-10 for $280 locally and that was a steal. I have not installed any of these parts yet, because I am building my engine to install at the same time. Finding a donor car for parts in a boneyard will be difficult if not impossible. The 78-81 I believe were the years that a manual shift trans was available, 82 and later came with automatic trans only. I also contacted Lakewood Bellhousing, they do not make a bellhousing for 78-87 G-body cars. They said to use their F-body bellhousing and use a hydraulic clutch linkage set-up. This is another option for you.

heres a start http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=10076&item=2428222860