TPIMarow6.6

Hey everyone, im wondering since i have the motor and transmission out of my car that it would be the best time to swap to a T-56. im figuring i have a good complete t-5 setup i can sell for say $600 bucks or so and that would be most of the money needed for the T-56 swap. well anyways i am not sure of the value of the t-5's but its a non WC but has been on my 400 and no problems, i want to get rid of it while its still good.

RB83L69

No doubt about it. 11 AM.

Nobody in their right mind is going to pay $600 for a 1st design T-5 that's already been behind a big-inch motor. You'll have to find somebody REAL STUPID to buy it at all, at any price, let alone for the top of the range that a 2nd design one in good shape goes for.

I'd say just start accumulating the T-56 stuff, And don't count on your T-5 having even a dime of value. Then hope your T-5 lasts until you have it all, and put the T-5 in the trash when you're done with it.

TheGreatJ

You might have a tough time selling a NWC T5. Everybody that wants one wants the tougher version.

$600 isn't "most of the money needed for the T56 swap." I spent a hair over 2 grand swapping mine in, and I got a hell of a deal on the trans. It can be done for less than $2000, but you're looking at a used clutch and stock shifter and such.



I'm not trying to talk you out of it, in fact I highly recommend the 6-speed swap. I just don't wanna see you get in over your wallet's head. Do some searching on eBay and TGO's classifieds.....that might give you a good idea how much the T5 will sell for and how much the T56 is going to run you.

RB83L69

I got a used T-56, a used Spohn torque arm, a NIB but not new CF 2-pc RMS flywheel, a new CF DF clutch, a new set of GM hydraulics, and a new shifter..... I think I'm into it for a hair over 2 grand also. Maybe closer to $2200. That was after accumulating stuff for over a year, and picking up the TA and FW for quite a bit less than ordering them. The clutch alone was between $550 and $600 IIRC.

I took out a functional 2nd design T-5, Spohn torque arm, bell housing, HO (lightweight) flywheel, Hurst shifter, and nearly new hydraulics.

I also highly recommend the swap. But be realistic about the money side of it. And one part of that is, it's one hell of alot more than $600 from drive-in to drive-out, and another is that your 1st design T-5 stuff has any value whatsoever.

MrDude_1

then again, im using Spohns crossmember, a new Zoom clutch, resurfaced LT1 flywheel, new GM hydraulics and a B&M ripper shifter... and have put over four thousand miles on it so far without a whimper.... and i only paid $1200 for the entire thing in the car....


then again, i did keep my ear to the ground for a year looking for deals... ask everyone selling a T56 early this year/late last year... they all got a PM from me with a low offer... one guy who replied late told me i was on crack for asking such a low price.. i PMed him back asking whos on crack? the guy that paid $700 more then me, and still has to buy a clutch?
:lala:



anyhoo, good luck on selling the T5, and save up for the T56.

DonP

I'm at a good point to do such a thing with my car. I need to replace the clutch, but the price is just too high right now. Then again, I have a WC T5 behind a stock LB9 305.

The right time to me would be when I replace the motor and tranny all in one shot from a later model F-Body.

Good luck,

Don

jmd

iTrader: (4)

600 ain't gonna cover "most" of a T56 swap.

Mine included a clutch, bellhousing, tranny, and shifter. Brand new rebuilt, and that was a grand. My swap is totally different than a hydraulic pull clutch (it's mechanical and using a third gen clutch w/ 95 trans.,) and not including the custom machine work I did and had done, I have at least 1400 in it. That's without counting the bits and pieces.

RB83L69

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, the JTR speedo cable conversion..... although I didn't pay JTR's price for that either.

TheGreatJ

My price list (approximated....it's been 4 years I don't remember exactly)


tranny with bellhousing.....$500 (wouldn't go into 3rd and wouldn't stay in 4th)
3-4 shift fork and shift fork pads........$40
4 qts Mobil 1 synthetic Dexron IIe.......$25
new GM clutch hydraulics.....$110
Centerforce 1-piece RMS T56 flywheel.....$340
SPEC stage 3 clutch......$500 (got a discount for paying cash on a Friday)
B&M Ripper shifter........$160
Skulte crossmember.....$140
Autometer electronic speedo.......$200 (could have done this differently but I wanted nicer gauges anyway)
manual console plate.......$40 (TGO classifieds)
manual pedals......$35 (TGO classifieds)


That's around $2100, and of course there were a couple other little things along the way. I've been rowing through the gears for the last 4 years without a glitch and it's been worth every penny. I'll probably put synchros and bearings in it this winter, mainly because I don't know how many miles are on the trans.

TPIMarow6.6

i guess you guys focused a little too much on the "most" comment. but anyways its because im selling one of my cars for 800+, i have 700 cash on me and i was hoping to get some money for my transmission. but i see tranny/bellhousing/shifter's going for about 750 at some places. and that was the main peices, besides what i can by later on.

RB83L69

I guess we focused a little too much on reality.

You got answers from people who have done the swap, and we all told you how much it cost. There's a certain degree of consistency there in what it cost us all. I'm thinking that's about what it costs to do the swap. You haven't done the swap. You're not qualified yet to tell us how much it costs.

You've seen one person asking for $750 for a swap setup, in your use of the classifieds looking for parts. Count those people carefully. ONE. And I don't know that he actually got that for it, or ever sold it at all for that matter. That price was absolute top dollar for a freshly rebuilt 2nd design trans, a new clutch, a new shfter, and some other new parts. You have a worn-out 1st design trans, used clutch, stock shifter (maybe something decent instead? I don't know), and so on. There's no comparison there.

Time to get out of fantasy land, and back into the real world. Very simply, you don't have enough money for the swap yet, with or without your T-5; and selling your T-5, if you can accomplish it at all, won't help very much. Some maybe, much no.

Selling another car and using the money will of course get you closer faster. You might have gotten a little different answer if you'd mentioned that earlier.

J's parts list looks alot like what you'll need. I'd suggest using that as a guide, and expect to some money for parts for a $750 trans, rather than it being ready to run (In other words, that $750 is not the total cost). Or, buy a better trans than the bottom-dollar one, and maybe you won't have to buy any parts at all. Mine cost $1000 and required absolutely no work, for instance. Also don't forget shipping costs..... there's $200 in that easy if you can't find it all locally. And don't forget, every one of us that answered, collected these parts over a period of time, as they kind of popped up on the radar screen; the quicker you want them, the more they'll cost.

Let me also give you a couple of clues: the clutch fork is about $80 at the dealer, and the little spacer poiece that goes behind the slave cyl is about that much too IIRC. Every piece you DON'T get in the package with your $750 trans, will run the cost up.... in a hurry I might add.

So, now we've told you what it really cost to do something we've done and you haven't. Please don't try to argue with us about how much it costs until you've done it. It makes you lose credibility.

DonP

I'm just throwing out an idea that I have in the back of my head that I plan on doing someday.

What I plan on doing, is keeping my current stuff running until the price of forth generation cars comes down. When they start getting pretty cheap, I will start looking for a beater or a wreck. Then I will transplant the entire engine and tranny into my 1990 GTA. Hopefully it will be easy because I will have all the parts I need from the donor car.

Then I will part out and sell the rest of the forth gen car to finance the cost, along with selling my current engine and tranny.

This will be sometime far into the future for me, because my engine runs great, the tranny works good and can handle what my stock 305 can throw at it. If I was in your situation with a beefier motor, I would swap right now. The NWC trannies have let me down before with just a stock 1984 Trans Am motor. They are a POS.

TPIMarow6.6

Thats kind of funny because i dont remember argueing with anyone about the cost or said what the total cost would be. and iv seen more than one person asking for 750 for there parts. but ok there really is no need to make assumptions, i was just here to ask a simple question, not get chewed out by someone who seems they answered too many 6-speed swap questions. i know i need a 300+ flywheel and i know i need a 300+ speedo (X-box for what im told) that right there is over 600 bucks. its not like i dont know the total cost of things here iv seen before that people play 2k plus for there setups. but thanks for the info guys