dibella989

So I have a 1988 GTA, 305 tpi, 5 speed manual (assuming T5 but I honestly don't know) with 109k miles. I know it needs a new clutch, in order to go into reverse the car has to be off or else it is guaranteed to grind. Sometimes it really fights me going in to gear, it feels as though something is blocking the shifter from going into place. On occasion it will grind slightly going into second during normal driving as well, and I believe the synchros in fourth are out as well, because if I attempt to downshift to fourth it always grinds, however it upshifts into fourth just fine. I have a friend that owns a shop who was giving me good quotes on labor, and said he'd be able to cut me a better deal if I put a new transmission in as well as replacing the clutch. For the most part just need a few questions answered:

1. Are most of the issues mainly due to the clutch or is the transmission going out as well?

2. What clutch should I put in? Obviously a performance clutch seems much more appealing.

3. Suppose most of the issues mentioned above are due to the clutch, would replacing the transmission be worth it, seeing as it is 27 years old and 109k miles anyway?

4. What transmission should I swap in? I saw some people at Third Gen Expo that had swapped six speeds in, and had to fabricate the interior in order to fit.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

The transmission is not "going out".

A 94 - 97 Camaro/Firebird T-56, should it some to that point. No "fabricate the interior" necessary; all I had to do in my 83 Z28 for instance, was enlarge the T-5 shifter hole about an inch rearwards. No modification whatsoever in any manner way shape or form was required to any other part: the console is unmolested, the leather shifter boot is intact, even the OE rubber inner boot. The T-5 leather shifter **** even screwed right onto the shifter I used. (Hurst) There are OTHER issues, like the crossmember, torque arm, and so forth; but the interior isn't among them. (Firebirds differ slightly in details from Camaro and I don't mess with them, so I'll let somebody else fill you in on any of that)

Your problem IS NOT the transmission. It is the pilot bearing / bushing. You can swap out just that alone (a bushing is like $5 MAYBE), http://www.summitracing.com/parts/pi...56-p/overview/ you can get em locally too. But it doesn't make much sense to pull a transmission and disassemble everything just to change that; odds are, if it's wore out, so is the clutch.

There is about a 99.999% chance that there's nothing at all wrong with your transmission. DO NOT replace it!!!! You will CERTAINLY end up with something inferior. Keep what you've got, there's nothing wrong with it.

I'd suggest this clutch. http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ct...1056/overview/

DO NOT replace the transmission, have them work on it, or otherwise mess with it in any way. It is NOT bad. Change the fluid of course, nothing else. Put ATF in it.

Be sure you know how to drive it: ALWAYS put it in a forward gear, ANY gear, before trying to shift it into reverse. Like ALL transmissions from "back in the day", reverse has no synchronizer; all you will accomplish by trying to jam it into gear and letting it grind, is to fill up the fluid with metal chips, and accelerate the wear on everything else. Metal shavings are not kind to bearings and gears.