I recently purchased an 86 Trans Am as a donar for its T-5 and 9-bolt rear. It will go into my other 86 TA, it has a stock 5.0 TPI, but I do have a 350 TPI in the works.

Will I have any problems with the tranny? I know that it is not a WC T-5, I have heard contradicting stories on this.

Anyone out there with experiance on this issue, many thanks.

 

it will tear that tranny apart. The rear end will do great, but that tranny wont last long at all. It may last a lil while if you take it real easy, but I recommend the 6 speed.

 

the tranny will take a little bit of abuse. It is the shock and stress of hard launches (slicks) and high torques loads when accelerating. The t-5 is not made for the 350. Thats why it was mated to a 305 or V6. Go with a T-56 or grab a T-5 from mustang they seem to take more abuse.

 

89iroc, how much work and time went into fitting an LT1 into you thirdgen? That is a swap i am thinking of with a T56.

 

I spent about a month doing my swap, but that was taking it easy making sure not to screw anything up, I wasnt in any hurry. It could realistically be done in a week. maybe less if you didnt have to do anything else and that was all you worked on. The T-5 is stonger than everyone thinks. mine lasted over 30K miles behind a mild LT1, about 330 hp. I went through 2 clutches before the tranny started messing up, and that was only caused by the last clutch going out and having to drive it, shoving it through the gears. I just rebuilt it with some newer synchros, but Im getting more power and drag radials too, so we'll see how it does. but a T-56 is definately the way to go if you dont want to have to worry about it and have more power ability.

 

i second that.

 

I didnt actually do the lt1 engine swap it self, but I rebuilt my engine with put the lt1 intake on it. I feel thats easier to do and cleaner looking. So far everything is great.

 

well does the LT1 intake bolt up to the heads that are regularly used? Does it need the reverse coolant flow? Could i bolt on an LT1 intake to my 305? then get a wiring haness for it?