Just curious, I've always toyed with the idea of one day trying to convert my camaro to manual, but the idea of messing with my stock ride, messing **** up, just doesn't sit right in my stomach.

That said, if it was done good, and done right, I don't think there would be any problems at all.


So I was wondering, to anybody that has done the swap, do you have any regrets?

 

Hell no. Nothin like bangin gears. Ours cars were never street/strip terrors from stock, so any upgrade you can make (like a T56) is a worthwhile investment. Plus you'll have something relatively unique, while gaining invaluable knowledge of the condition of your car in the process.

 

I'm only in the middle of my T56 swap and I can tell you even looking at my car now all torn apart I dont regret this at all. I cant wait to drive it. I'm going from a 3 speed auto though. The thought of having overdrive (2 actually) makes me so happy. I cant wait to hop up on the highway. My car was already WAY past being stock, but even if it was, a T56 swap is a great way to make it not stock

 

Did mine about 5 years ago. Only took 1.5 days to do both conversions.
We jacked up both cars on my driveway and just swapped everything over. 88 GTA 5 speed and my 88 Formula Auto.
I have no regrets and would do it again in a heartbeat.
Autos are for lazy people and drag racers.

 

If i may add something to that, for those of you who have converted an auto to manual i have a question: How do i go about doing that, how much time, money and effort is involved, and what is a better transmission for a 1stgen 2 bolt main 350? the car is an 84 'maro. thanks

 

If you have a donor car to do the swap with it is an easy process. We did a conversion on my and my best friends. If you have the cash I'd go straight for the t-56. The t-5's you'll find are going to be pretty old and they aren't considered the best for taking a beating. Can't wait till I have the cash for a 6 speed. If you were building a drag car auto seems the better tranny but if you like to have a fun sports car there is nothing better than banging through gears on a twisty road.

 

I'm also thinking about doing this swap, so i figured id post here rather than make another thread.



I’ve been thinking about doing this swap for some time now, and I have done some looking around. This site, ( http://www.skulte.com/T56.html ) has a list of parts needed for the t56 swap, but it looks as though it is from t5 to t56 not auto to t56 can someone that has done this give me an idea of what parts I’ll need to go from auto to t56 aside from what I have here already.

• T56 6 speed
• Fabricated Crossmember
• T56 Bellhousing
• T56 Shifter
• T56 Flywheel for 1 Piece Rear
• T56 Clutch Disc
• T56 Clutch Pressure Plate
• T56 Sealed Master/Slave Cylinder
• T56 Tranny to Bellhousing Bolts
• T56 Pressure Plate to Flywheel Bolts
• Shifter Bolts
• Transmission Tunnel Heat Boot/Bellows
• Bellhousing to Engine Block Bolts
• Petals
• Center console plate for manual
• Speedometer calibration device

If there’s anyone that can shed some light on the speedometer calibration stuff for me I would appreciate it greatly.



I know I’m missing stuff, I just don’t know what. When I tear into my car I would like to have all the parts on hand and ready to go so I can get it done as quickly as possible, and get the car back on the road.


Also; Will I need to do anything with the prom?

 

For me it was 1.5 days and maybe $20 for Pilot bushing and tranny fluid (ATF) since we just swapped transmissions.

If you are starting with nothing, it can be from $250-1000.
I sold my complete T5 conversion from my 86 Trans Am many years ago for $950 to a member here. Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch kit, flywheel, B&M Ripper shifter, TQ arm mount, pedals, hydraulics, crossmember with trans mount, transmission and bellhousing.

 

You'll need a manual trans torque arm mount too. One from a T5 thirdgen or a fourthgen will work just fine.

If you have an older 3rd gen you need to get a digital->mechanical speedo converter to make the digital signal of the T56 match what the speedo is looking for. Aboiut $250 or so I think. If it's an ewer thirdgen (90-92 or so) that has an electric speedo, you can get an $80 SGI-5 converter box.

It may be opssible to pull speedo gears and such out of a T5 tailshaft and stuff them into a T56... but I dont know about that.

The worst part of the swap is hanging the pedals and mounting the master cyl on the firewall. I'm gonna tlel you to disregard that stupid U-bolt altogether and just use two individual bolts.

 

Just the mount? What about the torque arm? Can I use the one from the 700r4 on the T56?

 

Stock the torque arm on a 3rd gen mounts to the trans. Crossmember from the 700r4 and T5 are the same but the T56 needs a shorter one. Hold on, out in the garage, I have a side by side T5 and T56, I'll go take a pic for you

 

As you can see the T56 is quite a bit longer compared to a T5 (which is the same length as a 700r4), so if you're putting one into a 3rd gen you need the aftermarket crossmember and TQ arm needs to be shortened slightly. Personally I would just get a Spohn Tq arm/Crossmember assembly. Had one for the T5, they are beastly strong.

Edit: Sorry for the blur pic, my Crapberry doesn't take wonderful pics, and I don't have a dig cam (need to get one of those things someday lol)

 

Wow, the T56 makes the T5 look like a baby!

 

In size and in weight, the T56 weighs in around 140 lbs dry where as the T5 is maybe pushing 85 to 100 lbs max.

T5's are just dinky lol

 

do they by any chance have a such thing as a "T5 Covnersion Kit"

 

Yeah, I've got one in my garage, a 92 Camaro RS stick that is being parted lol

 

Here is my T56 cost so far:
Transmission: $1400
Flywheel: $400 (Includes balance because my motor is external balance)
Clutch: $300 (some NAPA one just to get my by)
93-97 Camaro Hydraulics: $250 (wanted the steel braided line)

This does not apply to 3rd gen owners doing a swap. My 92 is starting to rust out and I'm in the midst of a transfer to an 84 Monte
Clutch Pedal Fab: $250

My total cost so far is around $2600 and I still need to have the DS shortened. However I set my budget at $3000 and it's becoming close.

A peek at what's gonna turn this T56 though:

 

Yikes, thats expensive. Glad mine was a lot cheaper.

 

Lol, yeah... the flywheel is center force, the trans came with every bolt, sensor, and shifter with a guarantee, the pedals are custom, and the slave/master are from a dealership. Just spending a little extra that otherwise I would spend on aspirin for the headaches. Since the trans is from a 95 Camaro, the torque rating is 450 lb/ft. But I really wanted that .5:1 OD

That's one thing you have to watch out for when using factory T56s. Different torque ratings and gear ratios all over the place.
------------------------ Torque--------Gear Ratios---------
GM Aftermarket: ________400_____2.97;2.07;1.43;1.00;0.80;0.62
5.0 Mustang Aftermarket: 400_____2.97;2.07;1.43;1.00;0.80;0.62
93 - 98 GM F-Body: _____450_____2.66;1.78;1.30;1.00;0.74;0.50
99 GM F-Body: _________450_____2.66;1.78;1.30;1.00;0.74;0.50
4.6L Mustang: __________400_____2.97;2.07;1.43;1.00;0.80;0.62
2003+ Viper: ___________550_____2.66;1.78;1.30;1.00;0.74;0.50

As for expensive, yes and no. My motor racked up a $9,000 bill in the end, it may not look it on the outside, but it started as a bare block and everything were parts I personally picked. That's just the way I am. My wallet hates me for it.

 

What year is your t56? I thought the LT1 t56 was the same size as the 700r4. what was your t56 out of?

 

How much is the I actually have about 4000 right now and I can't decide whether to rebuild the 700r4 I have right now or to swap it out for a t56. I was wondering if you guys could give me some info on what would be the most cost effective. And best for just street racing. Thanks

 

95 Camaro, and nope, T56 was always bigger.

As for cost effective: rebuilding the 700r4 hands down. I have a rough estimate of what I spent on my swap so far a couple posts up. Having fun on the street "street racing" I enjoy my manuals because you can pick and choose the gears and shifts. Autos keep track times more consistent.

As for what you should do, manual or auto, it's just a matter of what turns your gears lol

I would have had a larger headache going to auto because I built my motor for a stick. You going from auto to stick, It's work for sure, literally spent the last 2 days in the garage. However, I'm also making a car that never had a manual option (Special 84 Montes made and sold in Mexico had an option for it though) a manual with hydraulic linkage.

You can expect the car to be down for maybe a week or 2 after gathering all the parts first. Less time if you work constantly, only stopping for food, rest and bathroom

 

Ok please forgive me for what is most likely a dumb question but: do i need the brake master cylinder? or can i use the master thats in the car now?

 

You use the same brake master cylinder thats in there now. Installing the master for the clutch has nothing to do with the brake master. You can see where I had to cut for the clutch master here and then how it looks when installed.

 

A picture is worth a thousand words,...
Thank you for these pics!! They help a lot!!

 

I WOULD GET AN LT1 WITH A MANUAL FROM A 4TH GEN CAMARO OR FIREBIRD,AT A WRECKING YARD,AROUND 2,500 BUCKS AND 300 HP.IT TAKES ABUOT A LONG WEEKEND TO INSTALL. DONT FORGET THE PEDALS AND COMPUTER!!!

 

this is all really helpful, I've been wanting a t56 in my '89 iroc. i found one on craigslist around here for about 500 bucks...thought it was pretty cheap. might go get it

 

Theres a lot of weird info in here...

Why do you guys think you need a new driveshaft and torque arm? You don't. Go to hawks or UMI or BMR and look for a "T56 conversion torque arm" or a "T56 conversion driveshaft" and you wont see one. If you get a conversion crossmember and use stock-location engine mounts, you can reuse your torque arm and driveshaft NO PROBLEM.

You can even see in the comparison picture above how the T5 input shaft is longer than the T56 input shaft, and the amount is longer is pretty close to the amount the T56 tailshaft are sticks past the T5 tailshaft housing. These transmissions do NOT use the same bellhousing, so using the bellhousing flange as a way to compare location in the car will not give you an accurate idea.

There is a variant of the T56, called the "retrofit T56", and it does require a shorter driveshaft because it's set up differently to fit on the stock crossmember. Furthermore, to cut the hole for the T56 shifter, you have to come back about 2 inches farther than stock. If the T56 tailshaft was 2 inches fartehr back than the T5 when installed, you'd need to cut the shifter hole 4 inches farther back than stock, because you can see in the above picture the T56 shifter plate goes to the back of the tailhousing, while the T5 is 2 inches before the end of hte tailhousing.

When installed in the car, the tailshafts of both transmissions are in exactly the same place, that's why people prefer to use factory application T56's instead of the "retrofit T56's" that are available. And thats why you dont find 3rd gen-T56 specific torque arms. That's why you can use a 4th gen drive shaft in a third gen, because the driveshafts are the same length, the only difference is the transmission mount/crossmember location on the car. 4th gens have it 2 inches farther back.

 

Best mod ever did was auto-manual swap t56

 

Plus one on that.

Thats a good straight on pic. I used a different pic that worked out just as well for me.

A good note is that the master cylinder location isn't all that important. You can be off by a little bit and because the arm swings on a ball swivel it'll absorb any arc in the motion range so long as its not extremely off.

You could almost make a template out of that.

I think my MS is mounted slightly higher than this pic, but it works just the same.

 

Brake master cylinder is not the clutch master cylinder. Same purpose, different design.

Rock-auto has a great deal on a pre-bled LT1 master/slave setup for LT1s. So if you are doing a LT1 T56 swap and don't have these two items buy this part to make your life easier.: http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/rafr...parttype=10290

 

You guys do a great job of getting to the point, I cant wait to begin my swap!

 

I am doing the t5 swap myself and am almost done. I went to put my starter cone up into the bellhousing and it won't quite fit. I got the starter out of a 91 Formula auto tranny car and its fairly new. I thought all the starters were interchangeable between manuals and autos.