My transmission guy is moving to Kentucky, so Im kinda on my own on this one. We went through my T5 a couple of times, so I have a general idea on how manual transmissions work. I originally wanted to just disassemble the T56 so I could clean and powder coat the case, but the more I've been reading Id really like to go ahead and replace the 3-4 fork with a steel one. And since Im already that far, I might as well do a general overhaul and inspection of the entire assembly.

I've found the Tremec service manual that should be able to answer most of my questions, except one. How in the hell do yall keep up with all the parts? I mean when we did my T5, he threw them all in a box, and when we were putting it back together he picked out what he needed, cleaned it, and put it on. How do you go about keeping track what's what when it's all disassembled? Engines and valvetrain are one thing, but to me trans internals look identical. Bearings, snap rings, orientation of gears and synchro hubs, all that good stuff. I could just tag everything and write little notes or whatever to help me remember, but that just seems like a PITA. Im not taking this to a trans shop either, I am determined to learn this on my own! Any advice?

 

Sounds like your asking for an easy way out. I'm sorry to say there isn't one if you do it yourself. It's all hard work and paying attention to details.

If you do decide to do it yourself, a digital camera, large freezer size zip lock baggies, a felt pen to label the baggies, and a notebook to take notes. And the factory manual is your friend. This seems overwhelming but it's not. From what you have in your sig about your car, if you have done any of the work on it yourself you should have no problem rebuilding a T56.

For special tools you will need a dial indicator and mag base, and some way to measure shim thickness. And there is a tool you will need to make to measure the free play of the auxiliary counter shaft. It's shown in the manual also. When you get tot hat point pm me and I'll tell you how I made mine. You will also need two types of snap ring pliers; one set with flat tips, and one set with the pin style tips. Get good ones, not el-cheapo's.

Take pics of everything you disassemble, make notes, keep assemblies together in baggies. The manual is very good so just follow it along and you will be fine. You will need to have the 3/4 syncro hub pressed off and back on, but most any shop with a press can do this for you.

And a few more parts besides a steel 3/4 fork are needed. You need solid 3/4 syncro keys, a good rebuild kit with carbon fiber syncros, and bronze fork pads at least for the 1/2 and 3/4 forks. I went with all bronze pads, was only $50 more and gave me piece of mind. There is also a reverse snap ring that's a one-time use and needs to be replaced. The manual outlines this. Another good upgrade is the RSG tail housing bushing. You can get all of these parts except the tail housing bushing from Bob Hanlon at www.hanlonmotorsports.com Bob is a great guy and will help you through any problems you have. Not to mention a few of us here have rebuilt T56's and have done the swap. I think I'm the last one to have done a rebuild and swap, so it's still very fresh in my mind.

Don't be scared of a T56. It's not bad at all to work

 

i find that its a whole lot easier if you take a picture of everything, and more importantly take a picture before you do something that you think you wont remember, also get little parts bins with dividers, or just individual ones and what i like to do is put them in chronological of when i took them out. so that way when im putting it back together i know what snaprings came out when and what bolt goes with which step im in. also be sure to have a good assortment of snap ring pliers, big small, long , short, wide tipped, narrow tipped, youll be glad when everything goes smoothly and you dont have to go to the store to get another tool. also if your planning on re using any of the snap rings, remember that you should only open them enough to be removed, if u stretch them out to far you wont be able to use them because they have to have the same amount of tension as before

 

spills if u go to g force transmissions online they have a 6 speed section and they have the COMPLETE manuel on the 6sp right there should help out alot

 

I wouldn't worry to much I thought it was pretty easy to service so I don't see you having a problem. Might want to lay out the parts on a table in a line as they come off, worked for me.

 

thanks guys. I kinda like the baggie idea for now. Id like to have a divided bin setup like gurk was talking about, but I dont have that much room to spare in my shop.

tom: I've got the manual from Tremec's website, it appears to be the same as the g-force one. Im pretty confident I can tear it down and reassemble it, I was just looking for some trade secrets on remembering what's what once it's all apart. I mean you can only tell so much from a picture, and I've got 2 manuals with pics plus the service manual. But thanks for the advice

 

are carbon kevlar rings the same as carbon fiber? I would assume so, just wanted to check.

 

Im still doing some price comparisons on parts, but I was tearing it down today and I noticed something. I NEVER had to use a puller to get the case torn down! Most manuals I've seen shows that you need a very large puller to get the 5-6 gear off, but mine just slid right off with no problem. Should this be a concern, or is this normal?

 

Everyone I've talked to says the exact same thing. You look online and there are instructions for the puller and they show how to use it, but no one ever seems to need it. Mine came off by hand, but I assure you the 3/4 syncro hub will not come off that easy. As I recall, that's the only thing you will need a press for.

 

I haven't gotten around to tearing down the shaft yet, Im gonna wait until I get all the parts in. Im already leery of pressing off gears though, that's how we f*d up my T5

So far, here's my shopping list from thegearbox.org

T56 "Basic" Kit: $178
-1st & 2nd three piece synchronizer rings
-3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th carbon kevlar synchronizer rings
-brass reverse synchronizer ring
-front and rear seals
-shift fork pads
-synchronizer keys
-retaining springs
-shifter bushing

3-4 steel fork with bronze pads $67

1-2 Bronze fork pads $26.50

Bronze Shifter bushing $25

Snap-ring kit $20.95

And after looking at the prices of the billet keys, Im not sure that I really need them. They might be a good upgrade, but $50 per synchro is pretty high for me, Im already over $300

 

If that's a bronze cup for the shifter you don't need it. The plastic one works perfectly. Have you looked at your rear tail housing bushing yet?

How about shims? Didn't see that on your list. You need to preload about .001 to .002 on the main shafts. From everything I read that's the secret to a nice quite running long lasting trans. I read posts about how others T56's are noisy. Mine is much more quite than my T5 ever was, but I was **** about setting end play and it paid off big for me. And I'm assuming you already have the dial indicator and mag base to set end play, along with a mic to measure the shims. If not you need to add that to your costs.

And yes, you really do need solid keys for the 3/4 syncros. That's a very common failure point and the factory fix is a steel 3/4 fork and solid keys. If you go without these keys on on 3/4, you will eventually regret it. You only need the one set of these. The others are fine as is.

You can easily expect to have $2000 or more in this. It's not a cheap deal by any means. I have a little more because of upgrades and a Hurst shifter, but don't cheap out building this trans. In the end it will all be worth it. And don't take my word for it......ask others here. I'm sure they will all tell you the same, it's worth every single penny.

 

I had to use a puller to get the 5-6 gear off of my friend's T56, and to get it off mine the first time. It came off by hand the second time, when we put the steel fork and solid keyways in it.

I've always pulled the synchro hub off with a bearing splitter and a two-bolt puller, and driven it back on with a hammer and a punch (use a brass punch if you have one). It wasn't that bad. But that's just what I do since I can't always get to a press.

Good luck!
David

 

$2000? Good lord man! Im not going that insane. Im not really out to make it bulletproof, but rather more reliable with the ability to handle 500 ft/lbs for a weekend cruiser.

I forgot about the shims, I was planning on doing that, I just completely left it off the list.

BTW, what all did you do to yours to have $2000 in it? Basically convert it to a Viper spec T56? Mikronite everything? What kind of abuse does it generally see?

 

$2000 is about the going price by the time your through. Read the 4th page of the T56 sticky. I've outlined everything there. And check online170's post on his cost.

And if you want the trans to handle even a stock motor reliably, go with the solid 3/4 keys. If you scratch the shifter bushing for $25, it's only $25 more for the keys. And if you decide later you have to have that shifter bushing, it's 4 bolts to pull the shifter and put it in. When you blow the stamped sheet metal 3/4 keys your out the time to pull the trans and $$$ to repair it. And maybe another rebuild because of what the broken keys did inside your trans. My trans had less than 2 years on it after a rebuild. The 3/4 keys broke, took out both 3rd and 4th syncros, broke the 3/4 syncro hub, bent the 3/4 fork because they were trying to force it out of gear, and melted the 3rd gear bearing spacer. Lots of damage that could have been easily prevented for $50. And I know exactly when the trans was rebuilt because it was stamped under the shifter with the rebuild date less than 2 years ago.

Don't get me wrong, I'm no T56 guru. But I did take the time to research this in great depth and make a number of calls to people that do this for a living. I took their advise and it couldn't have turned out better for me.

Ask Uncle Skeletor why he took the time and $$$ to put the solid keys in.