i am just wondering....how much would it cost to buy all the parts needed for a manual changeover and how much time would it take? cuz i am tired of my 700r4 and i just swapped 2 trannies in the past 2 days and now the torque converter is bad so i am just totally done with automatics

thanks
-brian

 

Well 1st things 1st, what manual trans are you wanting? T-5 / T-56.

t56 is stronger but requires more modification. Check the tech articles as both swaps and parts lists are in there.

 

I'm going through a t-5 swap from a 700r4 right now. After close to a 1000.00 dollars and over 20 hours on the swap I can say, you can do this. Today I'm about 90% complete and it was more involved than I thought. However if you prep well with all the parts and bits, you will glide through this well. I remember reading a post from a member who said he had done it in 4 hours. That's crap! Take it from me, if you don't want a sloppy job, take your time. I estimate another 4-5 hours in the finer details of this, and i will be done. And I can tell you it looks like factory. Buy all the items on ebay and go for it. I hoe this sways you the right way.

 

thanks guys...and yeah, i kinda want to do a t-56 (thats the 6 speed modified t-5, right?) and i dont really plan on doing this till i get the moneythis summer too...i spent 2 days with two separate 700r4's and iam done with it lol...its not shifting right now....my father thinks its due to either the torque converter itself, or the solenoid in the pan....either way i am not dealing with anymajor problems till summer when i pull it and do the manual....if i did get the 6 speed kit, how much is it and how hard is it to do by myself?

 

well it's not a modified t-5 it's the transmission from the 93-97 (LT1 cars) that you'll want. You can use a LS1 t-56 but not with out modification to the bell housing and input shaft I think.

It's not very difficult as long as you read up on other peoples experiences on here and the tech articles, have all the pieces you need.

Mandatory reading for a t56 swap is in the FAQ board "stickies" entitled "questions not normally covered in a t56 swap" something like that it will cover all the little odds and ends that you wouldn't expect to run into, especially with wiring it up.

Just checked it out and it isn't in the stickies anymore so here is the link.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/faq-...questions.html

 

since it seems that you have gotten really good at removing the auto and changing the torque converter, you should be able to do this swap easily. the T5 is a bit lighter than the auto so no problem there.

I found that the hardest things to do was to swap the pedals, just a PITA to get to the bolts with all the wiring and crap under the dash, and finding a good shifter plate.

 

oh ok...thanks guys, and yeah i think ive gotten alright with this project and the auto trannies lol, my brother is a lot better than them at me (his record is 1 in his 4x4 truck and 1 in his utility van in one day) and him and my father helped me a lot on this job cuz this was my first, and second one lol

and i hope it does go pretty easily and i will read up on that link before doing this....unfortunately i have no money to do this job right now, but i plan on doing it this summer when i do get the money

i have one more question though...i thought i saw one time on the hawk's site that they sold a kit for the t-5 tranny to make it a 6 speed...i could have sworn i remember reading something like 'convert your old 5 speed into a 6' or something like that, i could be going crazy though....i wouldnt doubt it lol

 

you probably did see that add, and it was for a t56 swap kit. Ive never heard of a way to convert a t5 to a 6 speed by bolting something to it.

 

well it sounded like it was a whole new gear set that you put inside the t-5 making it a 6 speed....like you gut it and put in new gears, but i guess i must have read it wrong when i saw it lol....its a good thing i didnt try to buy it then lol.....last night i tried to think of all the things that would have to be changed over (before reading that link that was sent about the t-56 swap stuff) and heres a question, the torque arm that runs along side the driveshaft....can i use the same one from an auto as for a manual, t-5 or t-56? just cuz i hear its a pain to get the back bolts lined up properly without messing up the alignment of one of the rear end gears.

also can i still use a t-5 slave cylinder with a t-56 or do i have to get a t-56 one?

 

scratch those questions....with a simple bit of research i found that the same drive shaft can be used from a 700r4 to a t56 transmission and the same with the torque arm....now the new quest is going to be finding one this summer for 'cheap'

 

two final questions:

1.) how much will this conversion cost about
a.) junkyard parts
b.) "aftermarket" parts, like hawks

2.) is there a thread on here which will give me a list of every part i'll need an each step to do this conversion?

thanks
-brian

 

answers to your questions could have been found after reading the second post.

http://www.skulte.com/T56.html

"Check the tech articles as both swaps and parts list are in there."

 

Plan to spend around $2000 to $2500. If you can find good deals you can make it happen for less. If you reuse the stock clutch, shifter, torque arm, etc this will save you some money. Most people upgrade these parts when they swap because it's easier than tearing it apart to upgrade later, of couse this increase the cost to swap.

 

I swapped for a T56 last summer. It's pretty straightforward but the bolts for the pedals are time consuming. That skulte article that mcgarnigle posted helped me a lot when I was preparing for it.

 

I've read where other had problems with the pedal bolts. It was no big deal for me. Just get a deep well socket and a swivel with a few extensions and you can just stick that up in there between the wire and get to the bolts without to much trouble.

 

so the only big deal is just the pedals?

 

I'd say cutting the holes for the master cylinder and the shifter are a bigger deal than the pedals. The pedals are just a matter of undoing the bolts, removing the old ones, and bolting the new ones back in. On the holes, BennyK had a thread on here recently that had excellent pics and a good explanation of how to go about cutting the holes correctly. The shifter hole doesn't have to be absolutely perfect, but the master cylinder holes are pretty critical. Remember, measure twice, cut once! Also, if you end up putting the T56 in, most guys say the 4th gen pedals work better for the swap. You have to modify the 4th gen pedals by cutting off the gas pedal portion of them, but it's not hard to do. There's quite a few posts on here that explain how to do it.

 

Good point, the pedals weren't really a big deal they just took forever because of their location. The master cylinder holes were pretty straight forward but you could be in trouble if it's in the wrong spot. I ended up using third gen pedals and it worked out fine after some slight modification of the push rod.

 

Yeah, as far as cutting the master cylinder hole goes, I wouldn't recommend using the firewall padding as a template, even though a lot of 3rd gens have the padding pre-punched, since the pad may not have been installed perfectly straight from the factory. A good way to do it is to install the manual pedals, then swing the two support rods down into position against the firewall surface. This will give you the location for the 2 small, u-bolt holes. Mark those, then take the pedals back out. If you happen to have the master cylinder/firewall gasket handy, you can line that up with the u-bolt holes, tape it to the firewall surface, then make the big hole. That's how I'm gonna tackle mine whenever I get around to installing the TKO 5 speed I've got sitting in the garage. For the shifter hole, I had a junkyard cut the tunnel piece out of a manual 3rd gen for like $20, so I've got that to use as a template. From what I've read here on the boards, when installing a T56, you need to elongate the back of the shifter hole about an extra inch or two compared to the stock, T5 hole.