ok first off I have a 84 trans am in which I am completing a 406. The motor is internally balanced so it is like any other pre 86 joe smoe 350 with 2 piece rear main seal. What I can't figure out is why do people say the flywheels are different? why wont my flywheel from my 84 350 t5 work? If it presure plate bolt pattern? flywheel thicker? How can the 2pc main seal affect? arrg I'm so counfursed

 

exactly. The hub of the disc faces forward, therefore there has to be more clearance between the flywheel bolts and the face of the flywheel.

 

ok so the conversion flywheel I need will allow me to use the lt1 style clutch, presure plate...etc..

now I got another dumb question, if I keep the t5 flywheel does that mean I can use all the t5 clutch, presure plate, hydraylic slave cylinder????

 

On the first question: yeah.

On the second question assuming a 93-97 F-body T56: No unless you want to fabricate everything to make all that work and hack the hell out of the bellhousing. There's no place to put the ballstud, the fork is totally different, the slave cylinder won't work unless you get the T56 hydraulic line and modify it, and; then it will only mount to the bellhousing like a T56 slave which doesn't let you use the clutch & presure plate.

Not to be a smartass, but do a search and d/l as many pictures of an LT1 T56 and its bellhousing. Then look at them and you'll see pretty much right away why none of those parts work.

Granted, I've got mechanical linkage with a 95 T56 but I had to fabricate. If you're staying hydraulic there's no reason not to go LT1 hydraulics and transmission and clutch, except the price of the clutch.

 

Try the new Chevy High Performance magazine, they just did one of these in their latest issue.
Although being a "magazine mechanic" must be nice, like when they "found" the correct adaptor plate at Mcleod Industries, uhh yeah, ..right.

 

You can't use the T-5 stuff without a great deal of fabrication. Basically you'd have to make/buy a bell housing, and a special fork, at the very least. I have no idea whether any of that is available pre-made from anybody (McLeod would be one of the mfrs to look at for such a thing).

When I put a T-56 into my 83, I just bought the conversion flywheel from Centerforce; and used a stock configuration LT1 clutch. And of course the stock LT1 bell housing and fork and hydraulics.

Not really any substitute for $$$$ in that situation, either way you go.

 

yea I'll be selling all my t5 stuff and just getting the conversion flyhwheel

 

Yeah--the article in the new Chevy High Performance has a bunch of neat parts--but no prices. They're setting it up for a 12" clutch--no mention of the rear end to handle what kind of power.
What I liked were the aftermarket hydraulic clutch parts for a T5, metal master cylinder and such, bleedable system--looks like the F body will outlast the factory availability of parts.

 

You could use all the T5 stuff, but you would need to use the Aftermarket GM T56 with the adapter plate to mate it to a T5 bellhousing. Then you'd need to shorten your driveshaft and torque arm. Is it really worth the hassle?

I definately thought not. LT1 T56 is the way to go. I'm running a McLeod flywheel to make my 2-piece RMS engine work with the LT1 style clutch. The LT1 flywheel is unique, so you're basically stuck with a conversion one on an older motor. 1-piece and 2-piece RMS flywheels use a different bolt circle anyway, so they aren't interchangeable.

You've got to be careful with magazine tech articles too. I catch blatant mistakes in them quite often, and they tend to give you broad strokes instead of a step my step guide. A lot of important details are often omitted. You could easily write a small book on all the nuances of the 3rd gen T56 swap. There's a lot of information to consider.

 

Witness Porkyzilla...