Hi All,

Back on another adventure with the camaro this winter and I wanted to share some information since I appear to be the only one doing this at the moment with a full interior. As the title suggests, I am doing the AR5 swap into my car after completing the LS/4L60E swap 2 years ago in this thread LS 4.8/4L60E swap. This is the poor mans T56 since I got this trans from the junkyard for $250 but they are a little hard to find. These transmissions are rumored to hold up well to mild builds as long as you aren't clutch dumping. Alot of the videos I have seen is 3rd almost always is the first thing to go but for $250 its worth it to get into a somewhat stronger transmission than the T5. First things first, you can get 2 different styles: Colorado with the slip yoke and the solstice with the flanged yoke on it. I got a Colorado transmission since it has the slip yoke on and it would be easier to match up to the drive shaft. However you will see in pictures that the shifter position that where the normal T5 shifter would be where the solstice version would probably fix this. The kit that I used for adapting the AR5 to the LS is made by FABbot. It uses the existing bellhousing from the 4l60E and uses an adapter plate to mount to the transmission. It uses stock colorado slave cylinder which should work great with the stock master cylinder that comes on these cars. Also uses stock LS flywheel and clutch so no fancy parts needed here.
[img alt="Adapter Kit
"]https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.thirdgen.org-vbulletin/1421x640/screenshot_2024_12_08_195331_7cc468badf5756bab5178b6a040530e87cac33ba.png[/img]
Adapter Kit

The remote bleeder kit is pretty much neccessary since the slave gets rotated around and you will not have access to loosen it to bleed your clutch.

Transmission with bellhousing installed
Fab bot also sells the GM o-ring to -3AN fittings so you can create a clutch line but I just bought the whole line from them (about 36") that has the o-ring fitting to go into the slave and go into the master.
Next thing up was the trans crossmember. In another post it looked like someone modified the stock crossmember and used a heim joint but I wanted everything to be as factory as possible so I started measuring and eyeing up what could work. I took a look at UMIs torque arm relocation kits since this trans obviously does not have the crossmember mount that is required for the stock torque arm. I got the cross member for a TH400 think it was good but it was no where close enough so I had to weld a bracket on the front side. Looking back at it, the crossmember for the 700R4 would have looked like it lined up better but I got what I got and already started modifying it.


You can see in this picture that the mount is actually in front of the cross member. I ended up welding a square tube piece on the front side to get it to mount. I will upload pictures later.
Next comes the tunnel modification. This car was originally an auto car so there are some brackets that you need to drill the spot welds out and cut the bracket to get it to fit.

Need to drill out the spot welds for the auto shifter mount.

You can see through the shifter grommet hole the top left corner of the shifter mount. That is where I started cutting with the body saw and making small cuts.

Opening is almost complete and you can see the shifter mount.

Shifter temporarily installed to see fitment with plastics.
So after I cut out the rest of the body, I put the center console partially back together to see how the plastics would line up and as you can see you will definitely be losing your cigarette tray doing this swap. I am going to see if I can modify the stock shifter to get it more into a rear location because in the 1, 3, and 5 gears it will be almost into the dash.

Shifter in relation to auto shifter bezel

Shifter location.
Also looking at this today getting the crossmember installed for the final time, the stock driveshaft will not fit and will need to be shortened at least 2". Next on the list is to get a hold of a manual pedal set and get that installed. I will post more pictures tomorrow. Let me know if any of you have questions.

Drew

 

I'd fab up something like this.

 

Fabot makes a remote shifter- about 419 IIRC. Should move it back another 5.4".

 

I saw that and it is definitely tempting. I am not sure if I want to sped $420 for on a junkyard transmission though.

 

Hi All,

Wanted to give an update. Transmission is in and works good. Need to working on tuning with the different transmission but with all of the snow that we got, it probably won't happen for a bit. I'll post a link to the video of it driving around the block.


Transmission up and mounted

Y-Pipe in you can see still is the lowest point. I do want to re-do that to prevent scraping.

More angles.

With driveshaft in. Had to shorten the stock driveshaft by about 1/2" to allow it to be put in. Local shop did it for around $120.

 

Awesome news! Thanks for the follow-up and not leaving the thread to die on the vine.

You must not be in my area- driest winter on record with less than 1" snow/any precip since December.

 

Why'd you chose this trans over a chev truck NV3500? Not implying that you made a bad choice, just wondering the thought/factors?

 

Link to video

 

Tom,

My buddy had a NV3500 in his LS swapped C10 and we did consider that but after looking at the shifter placement it was not as far back so it would be in the dash.

 

Good point about the shifter. Thx. I like the outside-the-box thinking!

 

I wouldn't sweat it on a manual trans from a low-horsepower truck that likely never saw hooning in its lifetime.

Edit: Nevermind, you were talking about spending ANOTHER $420 for the shifter.

Pat

 

You are right; I also have not found it.


 

Hey all,

Just wanted to update you all where I am at. Working on the shifter right now and since it sits so much further than a T5. These are just trials to figure out location so it is not the final product yet. I figured you needed about a 4" to 5" offset from the original shifter to get it centered in the plastic cutout. I ended up cutting 1" x 1" square stock and used the pinch bolt method to hold it to the stub of the original AR5 shifter. I was worried that it would want to fall out of gear when placed in each one but it actually stays good. Also feels good to run it through the gears. I am waiting on more supplies to make the final version next.

Need about a 4" offset from location where it comes through tunnel

Location of shifter without plate removed

 

looks great! keep us posted. I just picked up a 87 GTA, was originally a 305/T5 car, I'd like to use my 6.0 and AR5 but debating on the fitment of the AR5