my friend bet me that a t-56 wont bolt right up to a big block. This is a lt1 from a t-56 that we are talking about, and I did a search and found no results.

I myself am interested in mating a t-56 to a bbc when I buy a v-8 RS.

Now I ask you, Is it possible?

 

Go collect from your friend as I have one behind a 402 BBC in my 72 Camaro.

Steve

 

WOOHOO thanks for the fast reply!

im 20 bucks richer

 

cool!
is that without any adapter plate though? i cant imagine a BBC having the same bolt pattern as an SBC but i dont really know BBCs at all.

 

fyi, the 94-97 T56s were rated for 450ftlbs sustained for 24 hours. with the torque of a big block you'll need a damn good clutch though, mcleod makes the street twin but it's about $1000.

 

BBCs have the same bell housing bolt pattern as SBCs; they even have the same pattern on the crank (at least the 2-piece ones do). That's why there's Chevy Turbo 350s and 400s, not SBC and BBC Turbo 350s and 400s.

This is one of the reasons why Chevy motors are so easy to swap around, compared to other makes. They didn't just arbitrarily and capriciously change stuff around for no reason that then makes them incompatible, like *cough* Brand F *cough* or some others. Not only transmissions; but also distributors, starters, carbs to some extent, and lots of other peripheral items interchange. The starters are on the same side, the water inlets and outlets are the same so the radiators are the same, and on and on. A few internal items such as lifters & oil pump even interchange.

 

It's not very difficult to swap these transmissions anymore. I read that McLeod Industries now makes bellhousings to put a T56 behind a variety of motors. You keep the factory linkage, clutch and pressure plate.

This is a better solution than the one I went with a couple of years ago. I used a Weir bellhousing that allowed me to keep my 11" clutch. What I had to do was create a hard point to mount a master cylinder, link the master cylinder to my clutch pedal, and run a steel line to a hydraulic throwout bearing (came with the bellhousing). The stock crossmember was modified to accept the T56, a hole was cut in the tunnel to allow the shifter to come up through the floor, and while I could have shortened my driveshaft, I chose to buy an aluminum shaft from Denny's.

Steve