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Cliff notes: It needs some tweaking to make it work -- have to cut the transmission tunnel even if you already have a manual, and the transmission support brace needs modifying.
So I decided to swap an Aisin AR5 transmission from a Chevy Colorado into my 1982 Camaro that has a 5.3. Original T10 in the car, worked fine but converted to hydraulics and had issues (twice!) with the throwout bearing going Tango Uniform. Guy I work with, Chris, (a mechanic who has done a few LS swaps in thirdgens) got a bug in my ear about the Aisin AR5 5-speeds from Colorados/Canyons among other things. Drifters have been using them in LS cars as well as with 2-Jay-Z or whatever turbo Japanese stuff. Used transmissions are CHEAP! Super cheap! Can be found in the $500 range.
So when the latest throwout bearing went out, I decided I didn't want to put the T10 back in. Nothing wrong with it, just wanted something more modern that wasn't a $$$$ T56 or even the new $$$$ 5-speed TKO.
There's a guy who put an AR5 into his LS Monte Carlo, so I used that as kind of a guide. These were available in the Colorado/Canyon and Sky/Solstice (although the shifters are different in the latter, so not sure how they would work in a thirdgen). GM rated them only at 240 ft-lbs of torque, but the Monte Carlo guy theorized that GM gave them that rating because that was the max stock torque output for the turbo Sky/Solstice. Also I have to think there have been people with turbo Solstices and Skys who have turned up the boost beyond 240 ft-lbs and the transmissions have been holding up.
Found a local yard that had an 11,000-mile (yes, 11,000 miles) AR5 from a Colorado for $600 and bought that. FABbot that makes a conversion kit (Bell, adapter, slave, clutch, flywheel) for mating these transmissions to LS engines, and I ordered that. FABbot also has a few stages of different clutches depending on horsepower, so my vibe is they think an AR5 should hold up if the motor isn't too crazy with horsepower. My 5.3 was 360/353 to the wheels on a dyno.
Told Chris about my plan and brought the car to work when I had all the stuff in order so he could do the install. It went in rather smoothly (easy for me to say since I didn't do any work!). He cut part of the trans tunnel and fabricated a little mount on top of the existing transmission cross brace. The driveshaft had to be shortened, which was sent off to a local place to have that done. Haven't driven in much other than the test loop around work, but the trans seems smoother or at least less notchy than the T10.
How does the shifter line up with the original console?
If you're talking about the plastic, I don't know. Because of the autocross class my car is in, I don't need any interior pieces so I haven't tried to make it fit.
Hey just curious for my own swap, what did you end up doing with the torque arm? I'm considering one of these trans in mine since the t56 is way to expensive, just wasn't sure what you do with the torque arm thanks
Hey just curious for my own swap, what did you end up doing with the torque arm? I'm considering one of these trans in mine since the t56 is way to expensive, just wasn't sure what you do with the torque arm thanks
The torque arm as can be seen in the last picture is mounted on a cross-member, which is how it was with the T10 transmission, too -- wasn't mounted on back of the trans anyway.
Gear ratio is really close to what the T10 had, and I'm basically only concerned about first and second gear. Max speed on an autocross course is 60mph-ish. When I took the car to the drag strip with the L98 and T10, 3.73 gears, it went through the traps in fourth gear with the shift light on.
In the trucks the manuals come with a towing capacity penalty of 1000 lbs. as compared to the automatics so perhaps towing was on their minds with the low torque rating.
In the process you decoupled the torque arm from the transmission. This is desirable for autocross/road racing. As long as the front mount on the crossmember holds up.
Yeah had to have the driveshaft shortened. Also, an update on this:
Originally Posted by slow305
Gear ratio is really close to what the T10 had, and I'm basically only concerned about first and second gear. Max speed on an autocross course is 60mph-ish. When I took the car to the drag strip with the L98 and T10, 3.73 gears, it went through the traps in fourth gear with the shift light on.
I thought the T10 and AR5 had similar 1-2 ratios. At least something I found on the internet said the T10 was similar. Well at least mine wasn't. I was hitting the rev limiter in second gear on a little postage-stamp sized lot during an autocross -- about 56 mph, IIRC (this all happened early last year). It never even sniffed the rev limiter with the T10.
I changed the rear gears from 3.73 to 3.23, and that upped it to 62 mph (verified by SoloStorm GPS -- my speedo doesn't work!). I had my rev limiter set kind of conservatively anyway (6,200) and bumped it up to 6,600 for the last UMI event, so now it's good for 67 mph in second.
Interesting to see there is a passenger car application of this tranny -I have one in a Canyon 2.9,1st and 2nd gear whine like a proper truck transmission -slant of gear teeth is shallow for greater torque handling
There is a NV3500 in my '98 k1500 4.3: it is more of a "truck"(with street ratios,no granny low) transmission than the AR-5,and not as slick shifting as the AR-5. NV is American made though.When Japan got hit by the tsunami in 2011,AR-5 supply was disrupted and limited stick avalibility with Colorado/Canyon
