Hi fellas,

I'm swaping in the T56 soon, and am wondering about mounting the slave, and also the clutch pedal. I have an 87 iroc, which at the moment has a 700R4. The actual swap of the transmission itself, doesn't look too hard at all. It's the slave and clutch pedal I have Q's about.

For the slave cylinder itself, what is that like to install? Is there a spot already marked out on the firewall for it (ie: for the T5), or is it going to be a "tinker and position" deal to find the right spot. Also, did this require removing the brake booster or anything like that, to mount the sucker? Cutting a hole for the rod is a straight forward deal right?

Regarding the clutch pedal. I've got a pedal, mount bolt and nut, as well as a spacer, that is native to my car. Do I need anything else. It's been a while since I purchased it, so it's pretty well been sitting in a box for a bit. I can't fully remember, but I seem to recall the parts guy said it should bolt up to the existing housing already there for the brake pedal. Is this true?

As far as mounting the pedal. Did any of you have to drop down any steering components, or take apart the dash at all?

If somebody could give me a detailed account of how they mounted/installed these components, that would be great.

Thanks in advance
-Shaneo

 

i am doing this swap right now!
ran into alot of unforeseen things.
the slave cylinder goes on the bellhousing, its pretty obvious where on it it goes. the master cylinder goes on the cowl panel/firewall. thats a little trickier. i dont know if you can just add a clutch pedal, the clutch brake and accelerator are all welded together on mine. i used 4th gen pedals, dont know what its like for 3rd gen pedals. but on the 4ths, the master cylinder went pretty much right under and to the drivers side of the brake booster. we removed the brake booster. the pedals mount as a very large pain in the you know what, but we did it without removing the dash or even steering column. it would definitely be easier with them out but if you are pressed for the time of removing and reinstalling all that , you could certainly do it all with steering still in. (hope you have a decent back like I do, otherwise you may be hurtin-its a tight fit under there).
sorry its not more detailed but i hope this gives you some help

 

Thank you for the information, that's great. I guess I got the slave and master cylinder confused. What I am wondering about, is the master cylinder mounting, not the slave.

Anyone else care to add to this? thanks

-Shaneo

 

Find a spot on the engine side of the firewall to mount your hydrolic master/slave cylinder resovior. I mounted mine near the brake booster. Once you have found a spot, mark the firewall where the two side holes are on the resovior and drill them through. Now find the hole where the master/slave cylinder would mount if you had a manual equipped car from the factory. This hole is about one inch long and is in the shape of an oval on the interior side of the firewall next to the brake pedal (you might have to pull your carpet back behind your pedals to see it). Once you have located the hole, drill a few large holes around the edges and the center of the oval. Now use some kind of grinding bit to finish removing the metal. A sawzaw and other tools may work but this is the best way I found to get a smooth finish. There should also be two small circular patterns on each side of the oval shaped hole, which are not drilled out of the firewall yet. You can use an ordinary drill to drill these two holes. These will be used a few steps later to bolt the master cylinder to the firewall. Install the slave cylinder by pushing the clutch pedal lever arm through the firewall to the clutch pedal (this lever arm has a hole on the end of the rod). You will need to have someone push the lever arm through the oval hole you just drilled until you can grab the arm from the inside of the car. Once you have the arm, pull the bolt studs through the two holes you drilled on the sides of the oval (you will need to use a locking c-clip to fasten the clutch lever arm to the clutch pedal once the pedal assembly is installed).

Install the new pedal assembly. I reused the fouth gen pedals that came with my T56 transmission however T5 pedals out of a third gen will work as well. Remove the brake light and cruise control sensors from the old pedals. Insert each of the sensors into the holes on the new brake pedal (be sure to pull the brake pedal lever arm back through the hole it came out of on the original pedal assembly and fasten it to the new brake pedal with the original clip). The bolt studs, which are attached to the slave cylinder that you installed earlier, go through the two holes to the left of the brake pedal. Now you can tighten all the bolts on the pedals and slave cylinder. Mount the resovior tank for the master/slave cylinder on the firewall.


Copy and pasted from this page
http://www.z28.com/installations/trannyconvert.html

I have been reasearching this swamp for weeks on and off for my 82 T/A. Most of the time I will find something I want to use, but the cost keeps getting bigger. But I would rather get an aluminium drive shaft while the tranny is out and a new starter and so on. The only problem is the cost. So far the total is 2671.28 without the cost of a driveshaft, vechicle speed sensor, and shipping.

 

Wow, that's a great resource. You guys have been a big help so far. Thanks very much!

-Shaneo

 

shaneo.. im about to be doing the same thing you are.. good luck, and post back about ur progress


oh and do u guys recomend a new cluch master cylinder, or can i just get a junk yard one?

 

For sure, I'll try to take pictures, and not just ones that show parts and stuff, but some pictures that have some actual meaning, like mounting the reservoir, pedal mounts, etc..

Nice car by the way!
-Shaneo

 

Hello. My name is Mike here in Dover De. I saw your posting of the swap and just wanted to let you in on some insider tips. I too just completed a swap of a manual t 56 into a 3rd gen 91 Z-28 350 auto.
On the clutch pedal issue, I found a complete clutch/brake pedal assy. from a 3rd gen Firebird, which has both pedals installed and some braces that bolts to the U bracket that holds the clutch master cylinder. I took the lower panel off the dash and lowered the steering colum so it made it a little easier to get to the bolts that hold the pedals in place. I also took the drivers seat out to help with that.
My carpet pad under the carpet had 3 holes stamped into it for a manual car and i used those for a template to drill the holes for the master cylinder and they just happened to work out perfect. The center hole is a 1and 1/2 inch holesaw and the others and just regular drill bit. I also removed the entire center console which helped with cutting the hole for the shifter. A sawsall with a tunstun carbide blade worked great for that. A cutoff wheel and die grinder work good if you have access to an air compressor.
I also jacked the car as high as my jack would get it and put 3 pieces of wood under each jackstand(used 4 stands) which really helped with getting the old auto out from under the car.
Starters. My 350 auto starter did not fit in the bellhousing for the t 56 so I took a sanding roll and lightly sanded the inside area where the starter sat so the bellhousing would slide over it and mate up to the block. If you are a 305 powered car, I think you can just use your same starter or a starter from a T 5 car. My starter was on it's way out so I replaced it while I was down there (easy access).
The four bolts that hold the pedal assy to the firewall are a real bitch to get to. With the steering colum lowered, you can use about 4 extensions and a rachet and get them out by going in above the colum and working between the colum and the instrument panel. There is also one bolt that goes straight up into the upper dash area as well.
I used a Spohn crossmember and it bolted up perfectly and used a new poly tranny and torque arm mount. I bolted the torque arm mount together before I raised the tranny and bolted the crossmembet to the car. You will see what I mean. It makes it easier to put together.
I also replaced the U joints in my driveshaft ( they were original). I kept the trans yolk so I could rotate the T 56 imput shaft while I was installing the tranny to the bellhousing. That is a two person job. Anyway hopes this helps. Good Luck.
Mike