hey all I just got an 84 z28 not to long ago it was a T-5 but the guy I got it from swapped a T350 in it. So my question is I know hawks and youngs sell a complete used t5 swap but they are in NC. and SC. and Im in Spokane anyone know a closer source? hope so I would hate to buy one of these setups only to half to rebuild the t5 or pay big shipping costs to get another one traded out.

 

Craigslist maybe? I don't know of any yards in Spokane area...

 

I would try finding a t56 its a better tranny
if you werent so far a way I would of said Pick a park in tumwater here they always have 3rd gens.

 

Thanks. I think Im gonna be yard sufin' for awhile. They want 1200+257shipping for an automatic conversion from hawks and 850+258shipping from youngs. Im thinkin I can peice one together for cheaper than that.

 

or you can drive down to portland this weekend for the swapmeet

 

Don't deal with Youngs anyway. They are total freakin crooks and have made lots of Thirdgen owners lives miserable.

Yikes, I bet it won't be much more then 300 at a local yard. At the Pull A Part in BC I think I paid 50 bucks for a T5 transmission from a V6.

 

amorget: yeah I talked to youngs today they were rude to me over the phone so I decided I wont ever do business with them the gal at hawks was nice though I just dont want to spend 1500$ on a T5. maybe an LS1 is in my future. who knows.

 

i spent about $700 for a USED WCT-5 tranny, all mounting brackets and stuff, and wires, and BRAND NEW bolts, clutch (centerforce), and starter (ministarter).

it could be done cheaper, but i did not have time to look for deals as we had the car apart before i found out my clutch was useless.

so i was going to give you a quick word about clutches and i just continued to type for way too long. so what follows is my unsolicited advise about your future transmission swap, if you already know what you are doing feel free not to read it.

good luck with your swap. putting a manual in my 88 GTA was the best mod i have done to it so far. hands down.


CLUTCH
i would advise against a centerforce clutch, if i had to do it again i would get one from Spec. www.specclutch.com. i would also STRONGLY advise against parts store clutches. ultimately it does not matter what kind of clutch you use, as long as you install it properly, and do not allow the transmission to hang on it while you are trying to feed the input shaft into the pilot bushing. this is why my napa clutch shredded itself after only 7,000 miles on my 86 2.8L car.. improper installation.

STARTER
the starter that is on your automatic may or may not fit a t-5 or t-56. gm used (at least) two different cone styles. the larger nose cone will fit into automatic bellhousings, but NOT the t-5 manual. i have been told the smaller kind will fit into an auto, but i cannot confirm this. i do know you can change the nose cones on the starters. so if you snag a nose off a junkyard starter you can re-use your known good starter.

that said now would be a good time to replace an original starter. you can if you like use a "gear reduction" starter off of an LT1 car. i tried this at first. in addition to sounding wicked cool, the turn with more torque for faster starts. i had worlds of trouble with several napa starters and ended up going with a "powermaster" brand high-torque ministarter. in addition to a smaller lighter package then the original starter it's performance has been impressive.

MOUNTING
i don't know about how a th-350 mounts, but stock thirdgen automatics and manuals have the same mounting point on the cross member, and use the same mounts. the earlier cars sometimes had a dual mount instead of single, but this is fixable with a trip to the junkyard. the chasis will accept the later crossmember and the transmission will accept the later mount. get a polyurethane transmission mount. many autoparts stores have them in stock for our cars. it will hold up much longer then the stock rubber piece, and me even be stiffer then a brand new rubber one. (the 20 year old rubber ones are useless). see attachment for a picture of the poly mount

DRIVELINE
the drivelines for TH700R4s and T5s are the same, the TH350 may use a different shaft, i don't know. but while you are in the yards keep an eye out for a thicker aluminum drive shaft. many performance IROC, z28, trans am, and GTA models will have these, but look under every car as an aluminum drive shaft was put on many fbodys that returned to the dealership under warantee for vibration.

SPEEDOMETER
your car is an 83 so it has a cable driven speedo. transmssions from 89(or 90?)+ from camaros will have a vss, and from 86+ in firebirds. this means you will have to pop the sending unit out and replace it with a mechanical one if you get a newer transmission.

 

Very very good advice!

 

xophert: thanks for the advise/info. I have had good lock with clutch masters clutches on a few other cars so Id prob. try one of those but thanks for the info.

 

I got a couple of used t-5's. Some Assembly required.

 

Some assembly required?

been to a lumber yard lately?

 

I'm from Tacoma, but I came across this place on ebay, it's called Spalding Auto Parts. I have never delt with them or bought anything from them, so I can't really say what they're like as far as deals and customer service or anything like that, but I figured I'd throw it out there cause I remembered them being in Spokane.

 

dont know if you would be intrested but it might be an idea.
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/pts/635518749.html