I live in West Chester, PA (very close to Philadelphia) Does anyone know of a local shop near me that could put a T-56 trans into a 350 IROC-Z auto in a timely fashion with zero drivability problems? I wouldnt let anybody do this swap unless they had done it at LEAST a few times before. So what I'd be looking for is an F-body specialist in the Philly area. Anybody have any advice? Any idea of how much it would cost? What drivability issues would I have to deal with after the swap? Can this be done?

 

you might try talking to "kat" from the boards here. i know he's done a couple of the swaps before

 

Kat is kind of his own little shop, but he's done around half a dozen t56 swaps, including most of the work doing mine in my 87 iroc 350, originally an auto car. he's in chester, pa as well. He can do a full swap and can even burn you a chip for the car.

your biggest concern will be the vss signal. Also cruise control would be a major issue as well if you feel you need to retain that.

The stock setup on an 87 iroc is a cable output on the trans to a cable driven speedo, then a vss on the cable driven speedo with an output of 4000 ppm. The vss output then goes to the computer for a speed signal which is uses in the calculation for injector pulse, etc. Cruise control is a secondary cable coming off the speedo i believe.

Since the t56 is an output at a very different rate, you'll probably need to ditch your stock speedo and get some other stuff worked out as well.

you might want to read up here a little if you don't know what you're getting into:
http://www.poorformance.net/tech/t56/t56.html

 

So wraith, does your speedometer now work then? I dont want to not be able to tell what speed I'm going in a car that can double the speed limit in mere seconds if ya know what I mean, that might not be good. As for the cruise control, I'd like to keep it but its not absolutely necassary. The AC on the other hand, is. I need a functioning AC.
OK so I tried to PM this Kat guy but his box is full or something, I'll try later. But the thing that I would be concerned about is I would want a reputable shop to do the swap and offer me a warranty on the work. Say I drop a bunch of bucks into the tranny swap and a bunch of cash for the person installing it, and then BOOM it locks up on the highway at 125 MPH. I would need some one to be liable for that so does anyone know of a shop that does these type of things? I'm lookin to give someone the car and my credit card and tell them to not give it back until its a fully functioning 6 speed manual with no quirks or problems. No cruise is fine, but the speedo must work for obvious reasons.... so...

 

yes i have a working speedo, but i had to put in a speedo from a firebird. also, no shop is going to warranty the trans itself. the only way to get a warranty on the trans is to buy one brand new that comes with a factory warranty, and you're talking $2000+ for the transmission alone. i can tell you straight out if something minor would go wrong, that kat is a stand up guy and he'd do his absolute best to help you fix it.

 

I got yer PM and will answer it when I get a min.

Kat