In the next month or two I'm going to be replacing the engine in my 86 z28 (currently a stock 305 with vin H). The engine I've mostly settled on is a 350 with 350 hp from cmengines.com (they are local for me). It's a little more expensive than some of the other crate engines I've seen online, but it's local and more complete. Their complete engine comes with everything from oil pan to intake, including a balancer, plugs, and all. They also do the full break in period on the dyno for me so I don't have to worry about breaking the engine in correctly. Their warranty is shorter than some other crate engine manufacturers Ive seen, that is the main downside. Their warranty is only 12 month 12k miles.

They told me my T5 and rear end will be fine for this engine but I'm debating going to a T56 for a stronger transmission and the 6th gear for better cruising.

The problem is I don't know enough about this stuff yet to truely decide which is better. I'm using my car as a learning project while I do all of this stuff.

I read through the stickied T56 swap thread, but that was swapping a 700r4 to a T56. And it looked really complicated. A lot of stuff that I currently have no clue about. Would swapping a T5 to T56 be as complicated since mine is already a manual?

My transmission was supposedly rebuilt shortly before I bought the car (haven't verified this yet) and I haven't put but maybe 5k miles on it since I bought it. Would I be better off just putting a stronger clutch on mine and staying with the T5 if it has been rebuilt? I don't really want to spend 2000+ on a T56 if it's not going to gain me any large benefits over my T5.

 

Well, if you dont hammer down, that T5 will live for a little while. You have the slightly weaker non WC version if it is the original tranny. I swapped in a T5 in my car to find it was bad and not rebuildable. I went ahead and got a T56 and LT1. Work wise it is not much to go from a T5 to T56, just expensive.

My opinion is if it works, run it till it blows and save the cash for a T56 swap.

 

Was just reading some more in the stickied thread for everything we know about the T5. It says the T5 that was stock for my year (assuming it is stock, but I have no reason to believe it is not) is only rated for 280ft/lbs of torque. A "WC" T5 from an 87 to 92 is still only rated for 300ft/lbs.

The engine I'm looking at peaks at around 390ft/lbs...

I'll admit I'm not very experienced at engines and drive trains yet obviously, but to me it seems like if I put 390 ft/lbs of torque on a tranny that's rated for only 280, it's going to strip out the gearing very fast. I'd have to be shifting at around 3k RPM and missing out on half my hp to avoid going over the rated ft/lbs of torque.

What is a T56 rated for?

How long do you think it will take me to strip out the gears in my T5 if we assume they are currently in good condition? Will it be like if I get down on it hard one time it's going to immediately strip them, or will it take a little more wear over a period of time?

Can I rebuild my T5 with hardened gears or something that can withstand more torque?

EDIT: well reading further into that thread it looks like this is somewhat of a common question. And apparently hitting it hard or power shifting looks like it can break it straight out, not just wear it down over time. This really puts a crimp in my plans lol, Would rather not purposesly leave the T5 in the car with a powerful engine knowing it's just a matter of time before it breaks on me, but at the same time it will be a bit longer before I can afford to do the Tranny and Engine at the same time

 

Well, play nice with the T5 and it should get you by until you can get a T56. Most likley with that kind of power it wont make it that long.

 

A Tremec 5 speed is another option... don't know about cost vs T56, but the Tremec 5 speeds can handle the power of that engine.... Just another option to look into...

I think they make a TKO 500 and 600, the 600 costs more cuz it holds more power...

Rafael

 

Well one website I found says 4700 dollars for a conversion kit to put a Tremec TKO 500 thats rated for 500ft/lbs of torque into a third gen.

That's way more than I'd be wanting to spend on this. Are there any options that would be almost direct bolt swaps?

I saw some remanufactured T56 6 speed Corvette trans on ebay in the 1500 to 2500 price range. Would these fit? I'm guessing they would require a lot of other things to make them work that they would cost just as much.

 

Your best bet is to find a 94 to 97 LT1 T56 tranny and swap that in. It is almost a direct bolt in. There are plenty of htreads on here to make it happen. You can find a used LT1 T56 with shifter, pedals, hydraulics, and belhousing for around $1500. Then you just need to cut the shifter hole back a few inches and get a custom tranny mount. If you have a 1 pcs RMS block, you need a custom flywheel that is pricy and probably should put a new clutch in it. Figure somewhere around $2500 on the high side to make it happen. (it will probably cost less)

 

The T56-in-a-thirdgen swap is about as easy as a custom trans swap can get. Going from a factory T5 car, you don't have to worry about modifying the pedals or the firewall since they're already set up for clutch hydraulics. You just adapt the newer style (longer, braided stainless) pressure hose to your old clutch hydraulics and you're good to go. You'll need a crossmember that's made specifically for this swap, but there are two or three places you can buy that online. It pretty much all bolts right in, except you'll need to enlarge the shifter opening in the floor slightly. Making the speedo work is the only real hurdle.

Also, the T56 is rated at 450ftlb from the factory. Some folks say it's underrated...I've seen them handle 700+rwhp on stock guts (only the shift forks upgraded) in LT1 cars

 

So is this T56 the same as a T56 from a 4th gen camaro?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1997-...item4aa2348521

I see a lot of T56 Corvette transmissions for sale places, but haven't seen any that say they were pulled from a Camaro.

NVM, found another that says camaro from the same seller

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1994-...item4aa23be159

Sometimes I hate ebays search, the second one came up when searing for T-56, but not when searching for t56... *boggle*

 

I cant see the link here at work, but the T56 from a LT1 4th gen is good. The years to look for are the 93 to 97. They are the easiest to swap. I have heard you can swap a later T56 (from an LSx car) but they require custom stuff to make them work due to a longer input shaft.

 

No, its not the same.( the one in the pic is not for a vette, but is a T-56) The T-56 for the vette's are more like transaxel's, due to its relocated design. It will not fit so stop looking at vette stuff. There are more than 3 types( 93-97,98-2002 GM excluding vette's and GTO's, Viper's and some Mustang's) of common production T-56's out there ,all of which can be used with some mod's. Which one you use will determine what course of action is needed, For instance: if you use the 93-97 t-56 then you will need to convert the "pull "style slave to the" push" style. If you go with the LS1 type(98-2002) then a different bellhousing is needed. There are some other things to be concerned with, but all is do-able. Just decide which one?

 

Whichever one is easiest to get into a 3rd gen and the cheapest is the one I choose lol

If the 93-97 is almost direct bolt in with just some cutting out of the shifter hole and can use my pedals and stuff then that seems easiest. I don't what is involved with changing the pull to push you are talking about?

As for the speedo, I would not mind switching to a digital speedo while going through all of this trouble, can I use a digital cluster from an 87-99 for this, or is it still going to need some type of converter with that? I read something about the number of pulses being different, but I assume they make some type of converter that can convert the signal properly?

 

The pull-to-push conversion he's talking about is a kit that some company sells that allows you to use an LS1-style clutch hydraulic system, and thusly retain your factory clutch and flywheel. It's totally NOT worth the trouble if you can find a complete trans with flywheel and clutch from an LT1 ('93-'97) F-body. Your '86 engine should have a 1-piece rear main seal so the LT1 flywheel will bolt right up and work fine.

Dakota Digital makes a box called the SGI-5 that can convert the T56 pulserate down to something usable for you, if you even need that. It's just gonna depend on what speedo you end up running.

 

I've been trying to search over the weekend and find the answer to this but my searching skills must suck.

Can anyone give me a list of the parts I'll need to do a T5 to T56 swap? I found a list for going from 700R4 to T56, but I don't know which parts I wouldn't need since I already have a T5 and some of the manual parts.

The reason I need a list is I might buy a remanufactured T56 and then just get the other parts I need to do the swap seperately. Unless I got a T56 from a car that I could drive and make sure the transmission was in good shape, I'd have to rebuild it anyway to be comfortable with it, so may as well just get a reman and take the guess work out of it. At least with a reman I can get a warranty and all.

Specifically this is one of the reman units I'm considering, unless I can find something local to avoid shipping:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...K%3AMEWAX%3AIT

And I may still end up going with a used swap kit if I can find one for a good price that would be cheaper to buy and rebuild than going the reman route.

 

For a 93-97 LT1 T56 swap into an original T5 thirdgen:

different:
flywheel
clutch assy.
clutch TO brg.
clutch fork / pivot
bellhousing / dust shield
crossmember
shifter
floor opening for shifter
VSS pigtail (or for cable speedo, get tailhousing modded)
hydraulics (slight mods can interchange some parts & the LT1 hyd. work on the T5. LT1 hyd. line length *required*)
pedals (slight difference in travel of the clutch pedal)
pressure plate bolts
exhaust hangers


same:
pilot bushing/bearing
some third-gen tq. arm bushing
driveshaft / slip yoke (if 93-97 LT1 T56 is used)
reverse lights pigtail & switch
trans. mount
clutch alignment tool
starter (be careful; L98 starters don't fit; LB9 starters do fit the T56 bellhousing)
flywheel bolts

That's all I feel like remembering. I think I'll refer back to this in the future.

 

I've been trying to do more research about the Tremec TKOs and I'm not so sure it's going to be as expensive as I originally though. I've found a GM Kit on a couple sites ranging from 2200 to 2700, for a new TKO 600. Supposingly I can use my stock clutch, bellhousing, hydraulics, and everything.

Anyone experienced with doing a TKO 600 swap that can fill me in on what else may be needed not included with the kit that they fail to tell you? I would probably still buy a new compatible clutch even if my stock clutch would work just to get a stronger clutch.

Example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/TREME...Q5fAccessories

Or this is another one that is more expensive but claims a 5 year warranty.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Keisl...Q5fAccessories


The TKO 600's are rated for more torque than I would ever have on it, so I wouldn't have to worry as much about the engine torque tearing up the transmission.

Another question on the TKO 600s, they come with the option of a .82 5th gear or .64, which is better? I understand the .64 would be better for crusing and gas mileage, but what is the advantage to the .82 for them to even offer it?

 

i would go t56, i did a few years ago and love it. my car dyno'ed a touch under 400 rear wheel torque and the only problem i have had is what appears to be synchro's going out in 1st gear (after almost 4 years and some hard driving at times). its really not hard and i could give you more info on it if you want. i went with 4th gen pedals also, and a spec clutch and flywheel.

 

Well the only reasons I'm still considering something other than the T56 is because I want the most direct bolt in I can get. Apparently the TKO 600 is closer to a direct bolt in than the T56. I don't really want to have to change all of my hydraulics and pedals and everything if I can avoid it. If there was a way to simply have my T5 rebuilt to stand up to the torque I would do that for simplicities sake right now.

I can't really afford to pay someone else to do this install for me, but all these swaps seem a little overwhelming for someone like me using their car as a project to learn on.

So many little things that when people talking about the install or swap they just rattle out because it's common knowledge to someone who works on it but is complete greek to me lol. Like that list of parts for the T56 swap in the post above, I don't know what half that stuff is or where I would even look for it.

 

reading helps a lot - it took me months to get mone right, and it sat for 2 weeks i think to be able to even finish it. it took me a day just to get my old trans out with the torque arm and other small stuff - to get it to drive its 1st few miles before breaking it took about 4 days of work - spread out over 2 weeks. you learn by reading - but nothing replaces hands on knowledge

ask questions, ill answer them when i can get on here

 

I unfortunately don't have much patience to sit on my hands for months I'm more of the dive into head first kind of person. I'm just being reasonable by looking for the easiest direct bolt I can find. Biggest problem I have right now is I don't have a shop to work the car full time in. Otherwise I'd already have my transmission and engine pulled out to study and figure out how everything works and get an idea of what is what and goes where.

The shop problem, and saving up a little more money are the only reasons I haven't already ordered something for this. I'm debating doing the engine or transmission first still because I know the new engine will tear up my tranny, but at the same time it seems pointless to replace my tranny without replacing the engine at the same time

 

replacing the tranny by itself is relatively easy. definatly would be better to do both at the same time. A transmission can sit longer then an engine (usually) and not have any concerns. I would buy the trans first then worry about the engine later - installing it is up to you

 

Ok more questions... and still undecided.

I've found a T56 setup (including the pedals and everything) local to me but it's 2200 dollars. So I still have quite a few things to buy / replace at that price before it works (new clutch, cross member, etc). And I'd also probably want to have it rebuilt since it's a used one.

No one ever really answered me about the TK0 600 that I linked above with a GM starter kit. That thing is brand new with a warranty and everything for only 2425 including shipping. Thats not much extra to get something with a warranty. But I don't know what all is involved in getting that one into my car, does that kit have everything I would need or are there still other things that I would need?

Also, in this thread alone among other places people have said that I have to replace my pedals / hydraulics if going to a T56, and others have said that I don't have to. Which is it?

 

I believe the TKO 600 will require a new Ford slip yoke; not sure on the driveshaft length. This is a good thing strength-wise if you're going to run slicks. An LT1 T56 won't require those changes.

There's a slight change in the clutch pedal stud location for the master cylinder. Third gen pedals have too much travel for 4th gen hydraulics. You can deal with this by making the master adjustable or going to 4th gen pedals.

2200 is a bit much, lest you have a good pedigree of the donor car.

 

for $2200 you can buy a new t56, but it doesnt come with a belhousing, clutch or flywheel. a used flywheel can be resurfaced and used again, so that price isnt too bad actually. thats about what i paid for mine about 4 years ago. as for the t 600, i dont know the answer to that. i think it bolts in place of your factory trans, but would need to compare mearurements to make sure. remember the factory trans is tilted approx 15 degrees, it doesnt sit straight up.

 

Well I did some more checking, apparently that T56 setup for 2200 is including "everything" I need to install it in my third gen. They say it has all the adapters, wiring pigtails, cross member, even a new aftermarket manual console trim piece.

So the price is a little better than I thought, I'd still want to get a new clutch, and possible have the transmission rebuilt depending on how many miles are on it though. And I'm waiting for a reply back to see what cross member they are using because I'd like to eventually use a Spohn with the torque arm modified.