Cm87pta

Hey I have a 700r4 in my nicely modded 87 Trans Am. The transmission is also built up as well with a bit of a stall. My problem is I blew it up today for the 3rd time. Its still under warranty but a royal pain. The torque converter is what usually goes because people do alot of street racing around here and I do alot of downshifting in movement. I'm totally tired of dealing with a blown tranny every couple months. A friend mentioned why not convert it to manual, it would free up more power and would benefit me since its a daily driven, gas prices basically. How hard and expensive is it to convert over. How difficult is it to find like the set up with the clutch pedal and linkages and how expensive and difficult is it to convert and is it worth it? Please help i'm goin crazy dealing with these problems.

crucial

Well I'm actually doing this swap next Tuesday, but I'm still iffy about giving up my NICE probuilt automatic for a weak stock T5. A WC T5 setup (complete with clutch, pedals, mounts, slave and master cylinders etc) just fell into my lap for free I'd love a stick, but I'm thinking about having to constantly shift in heavy traffic and probably rebuild it every month. LOL

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1991 Z28 5.7 TPI

ZZ4 heads, ZZ4 cam, Harland Sharp roller rockers, Accel base, SLP siamesed runners, 52MM SLP Throttle Body, Hooker Headers, Flowmaster catback, MSD6A ignition, Home made ramair system, 2500 stall, bullet proof 700R4, aluminum driveshaft...

Soon to be installed. WC T5 !

Cm87pta

yeah i heard the T5's kinda suck for our cars, how hard is it though, i mean i'm totally blowin my tranny hard and its like really built well. Its killin me though i hate blowin the tranny ya know. If you get your set-up in let me know how hard or easy it was to do and how much nicer does the transition feel. I'm actually modded like your car possibly adding a few things. Let me know thanks

LilJayV10

iTrader: (5)

T56, thats where its at.

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Wide Open Till You See God...Then Brake

Cm87pta

T-56? Again my biggest thing is how hard and expensive is it to switch from auto to stick. Is it worthwhile too. I would totally imagine that it would but how hard to find all the parts?

Crusader

iTrader: (1)

Its worth it IMO. I like shifting my own gears. And only bought a GTA with an auto cuase it was a good deal! But now its a 5-speed and sooo much more fun to drive If you have decent power I would go T-56 over T5.

Jess

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1988 GTA - 5.0 Auto now with 5-speed power!
1989 Firebird - 2.8 5-speed: Sold

My Page - http://transam.freeservers.com
Firebird owners check out http://transamgta.com

Ryan89IROC

I have done this swap. It took me about 12 hours total to do it. As far as a T-56, have you seen how expensive those are? Crazy. The t-5 is easy though. A couple of things though. You need a different starter, they are different on manual cars. You have to pull the steering column, or at least loosen it. Try to get everything out of a donor car, that way you can get everything, including the console trim plate, and can measure where to cut the holes. The other thing to think about is speedo gears. I had a 2.77 rear and never did find the right one. Also you have to open the tranny to change that. That's not too hard either. So basically you need tranny, bellhousing, flywheel, shifter, pedals, clutch hydraulics, starter, clutch, and trim plate. I liked mine after this because of the simplicity and ease of taking the t-5 out. Also it makes the car more fun to drive.

Cm87pta

So for the most part it seems that its not the easiest to do but its worthwhile. How different did the car feel when you guys swithced over, did you notice more power with stick and how far over a automatic were you able to rev the car to. I've got an edlebrock intake and slp runners throttle body and more stuff, and i wondered if there was a difference in how much more the car can rev with a stick, I take it to 5000rpm's with the auto. Thanks for the responses

Ryan89IROC

My auto shifted consistently at about 5000 at WOT. With the t-5 it would pull past that but not very hard. I still shifted at 5K because I don't think you get much power past that with the L98. I just really like shifting my own gears. It is better than a stock auto since you don't have to wait for it to downshift also it seemed to take off better than the auto after about 2200rpm. If you are just looking for ets then the auto with a ratchet shifter and a shift kit is the way to go. A friend just put a B&M shift improver in his and it downshifts immediately and shifts hard. I still like the t-5 because it is just more fun on the street and thats where 99% of my driving is anyway.

Cm87pta

Yeah i hear ya Ryan about street driving. In Ct we have a thing called the Berlin Turnpike, and Fri, and Sat nights during the summer it gets totally packed. What happens is sometimes, it so busy you dont get a light and people will slow down to about 10mph and go at it, and with my auto it sucks cause i have to down shift, and then i'm still in an akward power band, my buddies got a 90 lx coupe mustang which has a stick and it pulls hard as hell, with mine i have to power shift otherwise the tranny shifts a like 4000rpms and thats it for me. But if i start off in first, it pulls hard as hell with the built up tranny and 3:42's but again of a roll or whatever i'm like a sitting duck.

Ryan89IROC

Sounds like this swap would be good for your car. Like I said, it isn't a hard swap-easy weekend project. All I used to do it was a socket and wrench set, floor jack, hole saw and a disc grinder. Make sure you use a good clutch though. My napa one always slipped. My friend had a pep boys one and was real hard on it. Held up good though. Also the hurst shifter is really nice too, if you can afford it. Good luck if you decide to do it.

Cm87pta

Thanks, i just gotta get the parts basically, The shop that does my work is replacing the tranny, but maybe come spring if i get all the stuff i'll convert over to 5 speed, and still could sell the tranny. Thanks for all your help