I've been looking for a T-56 for my swap project for a few months now and have finally found something that looks promising, but I'm not sure how to proceed.

Someone recently replied to a local wanted ad I have up and offered to sell me a running 94 Firebird with ~240,000 kms on it with an LT1 and T-56 for $3000 (it's actually at a used car dealership, the sale sign says $5995). Around here, T-56s seem to go for around $1500, so if I buy this car, I want to recover at least $1500 or ideally more. So what are my chances of doing this if I part out the rest of the car?

A friend suggested I swap in a T-5 in place of the T-56 and re-sell the whole car. Problem with that is that it could be hard to sell the car especially to someone who knows it should have a T-56 instead. The other downside is that I will still need to find pedals, clutch, flywheel, and hydraulics. Then I thought about swapping in a 4l60e in place of the T-56 and reselling it. The up-side is that it will be closer to looking like stock, and I will get to keep all of the swap parts I need. Also, a 4l60e can be had locally for around $300. The downside is that I will then need to find pedals for an automatic, a shift plate, and a flexplate. Also, I'm assuming there will be differences in wiring, the crossmember might be different, and the computer will need reprogramming (correct me if I'm wrong).

And of course if I part out the car, the up-side is that I will be able to take off other parts I may want for my car, and the only down-side would be that I might not recover as much money as I would like. I don't know if the rear-end is posi and the engine looks completely stock. The guy at the dealership showed me a receipt for $1500 that the previous owner had paid for a new clutch and flywheel around 10-15,000 kms ago (an outrageous bill in my opinion). The previous owner got rid of the car because he thought the starter was gone; turned out to be the neutral safety switch.

Anybody have suggestions/advice for me?

 

I'd swap engine/trans combo if the car runs good more power than the tpi setup. Seats should fit your car. $3000 for a good running engine/trans combo sounds like a good deal.

 

Yes but I already have a rebuilt LT1 with no kms on it yet. I'm thinking it would be best to stick with that for now. I did think about keeping the seats but the driver's side has a good size rip in the leather, so that's a maybe.