Ok, my friend has the same car as mine (except its black), and while I never thought of changing my tranny, he is totally convinced that he hates his automatic. I told him its possible, but after reading through the threads, I'm not sure. Is it as simple as getting a T56 from a 4th gen Camaro/Trans Am, or even Corvette, and swapping it in, and adding the clutch? If thats so, that is pretty amazing, I may even consider it, especially since I've heard so much good things about the T56. Nevermind that I just had my 700r4 rebuilt, but I can always sell it, I think. Any help would be appreciated. What will he be looking for in a T56 package? Also, once he does the swap, which is the first upgrade he wants to do, will he still be able to do all his engine upgrades etc? He wants to go Supercharged, but I'm trying to convince him to do his exhaust/intake first (perhaps a Stealth Ram and headers etc.), then worry about power adders.

There's a Sticky Thread on the T56 swap on the top of this forum.. It should answer all your questions, if not, post them back here.

I checked it out already before I posted, that is why my post was so general, just to get an idea. I may as well print out the thread and give it to my friend, he is not computer savy.

I'd still appreciate a simple answer to my inquiries above, I think the sticky gets more technical and jumps right into the install rather then talking about the actual process and whether its easy and just a bolt on install, and where the T56 can come from. I may be wrong, I'll take another look.

EDIT: one more question. How much more powerful is a th400 tranny over a rebuilt and hardened 700r4? Why do a lot of people seem to go the th400 route, its just another 4speed auto right?

Please do. Its pretty much spelled out in there.
Your looking for a trans from a 93-97 f body.

No. th400 are 3 speed auto's. A stock th400 vs. a stock 700R4 isnt even close, the th400 is a superior transmission from a strength standpoint. People upgrade to the th400 to handle higher HP applications.

So whaddya do if ya find one from a newer model? Say, a 2004 T-56? Would it just be a different bell housing? I think you can buy aftermarket housings to attach the different transmissions, but I've been wrong before.

Is anything else horribly different?

Different input shaft, you'll need to swap over to the 93-97 lt1 style input shaft.

Read the sticky do search's, I did a lot of reading before even attempting anything.