Hi, this is my first post here, i have a question regarding t5 trannies, i want to buy a 91-92 camaro, and would love a manual trans, but, i am planning on a 400 hp engine, maybe a 383, would the t5 work or do i need a 700r4?what do you recommend? do i buy an automatic or manual car?

 

A T-5 will work. You just need to be carefull and use the clutch when shifting, and watch out using slicks. If you want a manual, get a manual. Don't settle for an automatic, if you don't want one. You'll just regret it later. If you go the manual route look for a '88 or later car, they have the stronger WC T-5's.

BTW it's not HP that kills T-5's it's torque and traction (and 383's are torque monsters). There are plenty of people here running T5's with surprisingly stout numbers. Just treat it good and you'll be OK

+ you can always rebuilt it to handle plenty of torque (G-Force kit). or go the T56 or Tremec route.

 

get a RS with a 5 speed and drop your 383 in it.

 

Yeah, if you like manual trannies don't get an automatic. You can build a Camaro to be a drag racer, a cruiser, a canyon carver or whatever you want without spending too much money--and the car is a blast to drive with a 5 speed.

 

if you find a really good car and it has an auto in it....you can always do a t-56 swap....or t-5 if your poor like me

I did the 700r4 to t-5, it was worth all the blood sweat and tears.......

 

Yeah, I agree with StevenK, too: if you find a good, solid car with an automatic it's worth doing the swap--I did the same thing with mine but didn't buy the car until I had the swap completely figured out and parts lined up. I didn't want to get stuck with an automatic, find out later it was too much hassle to change to a stick. As he says, it was worth the blood, sweat and tears. Now I have a very clean, original '82 with a later model, stronger drive train and it does everything I want dependably and economically using all GM parts, everything lining up the first time. People on this website guided me through the whole thing--excellent.

 

I did the 700r4 to t-5, it was worth all the blood sweat and tears....... [/B][/QUOTE]

Only blood and sweat, no tears all smiles.... LOL

 

430hp/406ftlbs motor behind my WC t5 for a year now with plenty of beating on it... so far so good!

 

Geez! 406 ft/lbs of torque thats amazing the the T-5 is holding that. I just put a new one in mine and was told not to put anything more than 320 ft/lbs on it otherwise the warranty would be voided. And ive looked online and it looks like the WC T-5's designed for thirdgens have a torque ceiling of 305 lbs of torque did you do any modifications to yours? and by "beating on it" your talking about donuts and burnouts, generally showing off? (which i know all to well )

 

i put a lot more then 305 lb tq through mine, and never had a problem at all. now its behind another members ride with a mini-rammed 350 and doing just fine last time i knew....

 

well burnouts, no donuts really, but its seen autocross and some pretty hard launches at the track with dr's (have run in the 1.80's with the dr's, almost pulls the front wheels off the ground)

 

well then how much do you think a t-5 can hold without sacrificing reliability also considering if its driven pretty hard on a regular basis? My first t-5 that i had stripped out its input shaft off of the cluster and the motor had maybe 240-250 ft/lbs of torque. but i had done quite a few burnouts and donuts. I thought that it had just put to much pressure on it. But now with what you guys are saying do you think you could "hypothetically" drop an LS1 in front of a T-5 without having to worry about blowing it out?

 

Well, I think I have about 10% of the T5 knowledge of some of the folks I've read on this website--but here's what I've learned: an early T5, up to '88-'89 is good for about 225 ft. lbs. of torque; the World Class T5, from '88-'89 up is rated for 320 ft. lbs. but never came from the factory behind anything stronger than a 305. It grenades with some members' 350's but endures behind others' 406's if they use the clutch when they shift and don't run sticky slicks.
The T5 can be upgraded for about $700 by TKOPerformance with some forged steel internals to handle 400-450 ft. lbs. or more and G Force can make it take 600 hp for I think about $1200, though there is a debate about case stretch.
There are several T5 substitutes that can handle just about any level of power, including G Force, Tremec and Rockland Standard Gear. Rockland Standard makes a 6-speed replacement T5 for around $2000--but they say it's only for some inferior, non-Chevy pony car.

 

Here is the math. T5+300lbs torque+traction=steel and aluminum all over the ground, 'eventually'.
For 1500-2000 dollars you can get a trans that will hold. For $3300 I got a new T56 all the parts to put it in(Spohn) and a new center force clutch. Now that is the price of 2 1/2 T5's put not if you count towing fees and down time.

 

A T-5 wont work behind an LS1 due to the bellhousing pattern difference..

im making almost 450 ft pounds, and although i dont run DR's or slicks i can cut sub 2 second 60 ft's.....ohhh yea i also powershift it at 6,200 off the revlimiter...im really really trying to break it..soon as i get a few extra hundred im getting full out slicks and having my dad follow me with the truck and trailor to the strip....


also look up TIM Burgess...he has a 92 5 speed G92 z28..hes also makin about 410 on motor....he launches at 6 grand off the revlimiter with nitrous (90 shot i beleive) AND SLICKS...ran 11.77@117....his tranny and rear were both stock and they held up for over 160K!!!...

 

If a 700r4 will bolt up, the t5 bellhousing should too, shouldnt it?

 

why spend 3000$ on a used LT1 T56 with a crappy pull type clutch, cut the floor board and all that,

when you can get a Tremec T56 from McLeod for $2200 which uses the stock T5 bell housing, comes with adapter plate, shifter, correct speedo gear, and sensors, has better gearing, ect.



oh by the way, you do however need a new trans mount, and shorten your drive shaft and torque arm by 1", but thats not hard to find a shop to do.. cost me 90$

 

because its not a 700r4, its a 4l60e and its the latest series with the appropriate bell housing config -

 

But a 700r4 will bolt up. I know the difference between the 4l60e and the 700r4, otherwise Iwouldnt have asked the question.

 

Its because the LS1 has a different bolt pattern on the bell/tranny and the demensions arent the same on the rear of the block...so any transmission before 97 wont work on the LS1...thats why people who do LS1 swaps HAVE to use the LS1 T56..and why you can use any previous year tranny (a 73 TH350 for example) on a LT1 with no fitment problems...

Edit: obvioulsy there are adapter kits to allow use of these trannies on LS1 motors like a TH400...but they wont workfactory

 

A standard 700R4 WITHOUT an adapter plate will bolt up to an LS1. There are people here who are doing it. You have to leave one bell housing bolt out, but it works fine. If you search you will see plenty of people that do it here.

 

all you have to have is an aftermarket flywheel for the ls1 to use a 700r4 .............as far as t5 holding up...........i can't keep third gear and i have cut a 1.65 60 ft..................my trans just wouldn't hold up in third..............i'm going to a turbo 350 now.................my 700 won'y shift right when i shift it........i would love to have my 5 speed back though.......i miss all that fun i had.........it just got too expensive rebuilding the t5 time and time again

 

Another option is to get the T-5 guts from:

http://www.gforcetransmissions.com/tran_gt-5.asp

I think it costs $1000 and requires no special dodads outside the trans itself.

Jason

 

Since the v6 T5's have a more aggressive gearing, is it any benefit to look for one of those for a V8 car? Or would that make it just more likely to end up all over the highway? What year did the T5's go to electronic speedo drive?

 

the only place that i could find that showed torque ratings for both v6 and v8 t-5's is here

http://www.tacreationsusa.com/manual.htm

it shows that the NWC v6, v8 trannys have the same torque ratings as do the WC v6, v8 trannys 275 ft/lbs and 305 ft/lbs respectively. So with that info i would say that you could use a v6 tranny.

Here's a site that show's the differences in the trannys with each year and type of engine.

http://www.thirdgenresource.com/tran...s_information/

I just put a WC in mine so i looked at alot of info so that i would get the gear ratio's i wanted in mine.

As for the electronic speedo i think that happened in 86' or 87' not positive about that. My 87' has it though.

 

Thanks!

 

Any more info on this $700 TKOPerformance upgrade? Links? Thanks!!

 

i have a 90 WC and a 91 WC the 90 has the electirc speedo and the 91 has a cable speedo...i wouldnt use a v6 tranny becasue the first gear is 4.06:1....thats for the cars who didnt have the ***** to get out of there own way...AKA the v6 cars....the 2nd gear ratio is a only a little taller then the WC v8 tranny 2.75 to the V8's 2.95....so youd actually wouldnt need that first gear...

 

Yeah good point on the gear ratio. The automatic ratio is 3.06:1 and that's a stump puller. With a 4.01:1, I wouldn't want to imagine the gobs of rubber left behind...

 

Im running my 83 T-5 behind my 88 350 TPI, will i run into problems with a signal or not having a spot for the electric plug in? There is the donor T-5 still laying on the ground so if not looks like I will have to swap. If they work could someone let me know. Thanks!

 

CrazyHawiaan--best way to get TKOPerformance is e-mail:
BigRedK5Blazer@aol.com
It's not the Corvette place some folks get through a search--it's a place in Delaware, as I remember, run by a guy named Tom who really knows his stuff and charges decent prices.

 

Well as mentioned by f-crazy his 90 WC has the Electric and his 91 has the cable but my original 87 had an electric and then when i replaced it i just kept the speedo hookup i already had. The way it seems as if GM just put whatever they had on the shelf at the time and the it doesnt really matter about what year the car came out IMO. So you should look at your speedo hookup and see if it set up for electric or cable, it wont matter what motor you are using. The only thing that i would worry about it the ft/lbs ceiling on a NWC T-5. 265-275 depending on who you talk to. If you ever "beat" on the car then you could strip your input shaft or snap your whole cluster. Then again you have plenty of ppl running WC t-5's without any problems so i would suggest either turning your car into a nice crusier or going with a WC.

 

On that cable v. electronic sending unit stuff--after asking a bunch of people about putting an electronic sending unit '91 T5 into my cable speedo '82, being told I had to replace the tail housing on the T5 or buy a $300 electronic to cable conversion box, I finally found out that you just pull out the electronic sending unit and plug in a cable one, same drive gear on the tail shaft, same hole in the case. Folks on this site advised not to use an early T5 piece, to get the new GM one--local parts house found it when Scoggin-Dickey couldn't.