Hey guys,

I'm just about to start my WC-T5 swap into my 88 5.7 Iroc. I've finally accumulated all of the necessary parts (and knowledge from reading every other swap thread) and will be starting this upcoming Friday. I plan on documenting it thoroughly with pictures.

I picked up the 88' T5 with (supposed) 50,000 miles on it for 400 bucks along with pedals, flywheel, and the clutch master cylinder. The transmission seems pretty solid, the case is clean, there is no input shaft play, and the seal on the output shaft is in good condition.

I cleaned up the pedals today and painted them with black Rustoleum just so they look a little better. the flywheel surface seems to be in good condition The only thing I'm a little concerned about is that the shifter on it isnt stock...its much shorter, has a weird angle to it, and doesnt have a threaded handle, but oh well, it goes into each gear fine and we'll see what happens.

Other than that, the guy i bought it from recommended an aluminum slave cylinder because the plastic ones can break (i've never heard that before but why not take the advice) so i picked one of those up. I also just bought a stock replacement clutch from napa as well. (assuming it will be fine behind my stock tpi motor)

Now, if anyone is thinking about saying that the T5 is no good behind a 5.7, i hear you, but i'm honestly not a hard driver in an sense of the word. this is my daily driver, not a track car. Also, i think this will be a more fun option than having my very slippy 700r4 rebuilt. (Famous last words)

Anyways, for anyone who wants to follow, I'll start posting pics as soon as I start tearing the car apart on Friday, hopefully i wont be glued to this forum begging for answers to questions all week...lol

 

88' WC-T5

New stock replacement clutch

Bell housing and the solo cup given to me with all the bolts i needed...ha

 

You forgot shifter pics.

S-10 shifters had a sharp forward, then rearwards angle to them.

 

ah yes, how silly of me

here we go, its just a single backwards angle...

 

Ok, just did some last minute prep for tomorrow morning,
-made sure that the torque arm bracket and torque arm match
-had to drill out one of the transmission mount bolts in the tranny that was broken off in the casing by the previous owner
-made sure the reverse light switch works
-cleaned garage to make room (by far the most time consuming)

hope its warm tomorrow....

 

so i just got done for the day, got the automatic out, the console out and the pedals out, i would have continued except that i have the wrong flywheel......

the bolt holes on the flywheel i have have a wider pattern than on my crank, even the alignment pin is farther towards the center than on the flywheel.

so i'm gonna attempt to get the correct one tomorrow...which is sunday...

anyways heres what happened:

the "lift"

the chocks

what i found to be the best way to hold the flex plate when removing the torque converter


we'll see what tomorrow brings

 

what shifter is that?

 

i have no idea which shifter it is haha, i didn't pay attention to it when i picked it up ...=P

 

maybe you have a defective flywheel? unless its a issue of the 1pc/2pc rear mains. When i did the TKO swap in my 86 years back, i ended up the with wrong flywheel, thought the engine was going to have a 1pc rear main, and i had a 2 pc, then i got the right flywheel, and it was a defect and the holes were drilled wrong, lol. Had the company send me another and i was good to go. lost like 2 weeks on that little problem.

I like your blocks, lol. I wish i had my 92 up a bit higher than i have it now. Been doing my t5 swap and getting the car up another 6" would have made life so much easier.

 

haha, getting an incorrectly drilled flywheel would probably drive me up the wall! just waiting 3 days for one from summit is already killing me with suspense.

but yes, i'm assuming that the flywheel i have is for a 2 piece rear main, the car is obviously a 1 piece.

the blocks were my only option really haha, 10 bucks or whatever for the blocks, you can never have too many! there was plenty of space but my jack needed a 4x6 piece of wood to pull out the auto, which was a sketchy balance at best haha,

today i at least got the pedals in though!

 

Nice project!

That looks like a stock shifter with the stick cut?

 

who knows about the shifter, haha! ill make it work

seeing this today made not having the flywheel not hurt so much:

 

hey guys!

did anyone have to get a different starter or modify theirs to make the bellhousing fit???

 

L98 and LB9 starters are different.

Follow the info here for the T56 and you'll be good:

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/tran...-t56-swap.html

 

thanks for the help on the starters, i just finished up and put everything in today! except for the slave cylinder onto the end of the hydraulic line, which leaked upon the first attempt, i'll take another whack at that tomorrow.

so, today I:
-replaced RMS
-changed starter
-installed transmission
-everything else except the slave cylinder and console inside

summit is awesome!


impossible to find

auto vs manual starter

no RMS

new rear oil seal

flywheel


almost there!

DONE!

 

you might wanna get a hydrolic throwout bearing and ditch that power slave/fork combo. Its out dated. If you already have the trans in then forget it<it will work., but if its already out id get one, i think summit sells them for about 200

 

sorry guys, too busy enjoying the car to mention that im done...haha!

just need the speedometer hookup and the console piece, otherwise perfect! to much fun.

thanks for the help!

 

^^ I'm with this guy.

-- Joe

 

Nothing wrong with the external slave design. It is a pretty simple design and works fine.

 

Unless you want an aftermarket bell housing, long tube headers, different thickness flywheel (screws up geometry), or a higher static pressure plate.

But for a stock car, sure, the slave is fine.

-- Joe

 

Did you install a pilot bearing/bushing in the crank? From the pics it looks like you didn't. Without it you will soon be pulling that tranny out for a rebuild when the mainshaft bearings go south.

 

Looks like a bushing to me.

 

Don't forget a T56 with push clutch that matches the length of a 700-R4.

 

I would not be crawling under a car supported by cinder blocks. Just check out this link.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/s...ht=jack+stands

 

anyone have a list of parts needed to do this swap?