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Hey all, just thought i'd finally get around to posting about my t5 swap I did back in February-April. I bought an entire Manual Swap kit for $600 off Facebook Marketplace in January. Came with everything I needed. The whole kit was pulled from a 1987 Z28 car. Attaching pictures below. I started the swap on February 22nd, and finished on April 12th. I did the swap all in for about ~$1200-$1300. Will be posting the steps I took here in this thread.
Picture of the Swap kit + new parts I ordered in addition A closer shot of the t5 itself. A Non World Class unit
First step was obviously pulling the transmission. Backed the car into the garage, placed it on jack stands, and got to work. I dropped the trans pan, drained the fluid, and took a few pics. Apparently my "freshly rebuilt" 700r4 had been obviously gone through. There was a butt splice on one of the wires in the pan. This 700r4 never worked correctly, always overheated, and lost 4th gear after a short drive.
I then removed the driveshaft & torque arm, removed the inspection cover, unbolted the torque converter bolts, and removed the TV Cable from the Carburetor. I took a break to eat dinner with some friends and came back later that night to remove the transmission itself. It was only secured by the bottom four bolts in the bellhousing, no bolts in the two upper locations. For some reason, the crossmember was notched about a half inch back to accommodate the lower mounting point on this transmission. I speculate that the drivetrain in this chassis came straight from a squarebody silverado, and just dumped in here. No changes made, except for notching the crossmember to make the transmission fit. Furthermore, the transmission cooler lines were JB welded to the transmission, so I had to cut them off with a sawzall. Fantastic. Anyways.
The transmission was out by 9pm the same night I started the swap. Time to do the actual work. Transmission immediately post removal New torque converter with a build date of Jan 2023. It was never right. Notice the color difference between the tailshaft housing and transmission, as if this transmission wasn't originally meant for a Camaro.
I also found out with this transmission removal as to why I was puking transmission fluid every time the vehicle would reach operating temperature. The TV cable was broken at the transmission side, allowing the pressurized fluid to just leak out. In the moment, I was glad that I was rid of this terrible 700r4 for good. Honestly though? I still am.
... In the moment, I was glad that I was rid of this terrible 700r4 for good. Honestly though? I still am.
An ordinary 700R4 is a better transmission than that NWC T5, but to each their own and kudos on a successful swap. When it's time to open up that T5 for repairs do yourself a favor and just drop it off at the scrapyard, then find a WC T5. I spent about $3k on two NWC rebuilds years ago and got maybe 15k miles out of it before more trouble. Found a NOS WC T5 for same price as rebuild and gave that old junker to the scrapyard. Hopefully whatever it gets recycled into doesn't haunt anyone any more. Maybe I should have just melted it down and re-formed it into a spitoon so I could treat it how it treated me all those years.
While the 700 may be better (more durable?)....I think you'll be stoked the first time you engage the clutch, roll on the throttle, and then shift into 2nd gear. Keep the swap pics coming!
Congrats on the swap, I helped my friend do one last year so much more fun to drive. If you treat them right it should last a while. I have well over a decade on my WC T5 with a 350 build and no issues so far. Don't forget the reinforcement plate on the firewall for the master cylinder.
Congrats! Don't pay any attention to the haters on the NWC vs WC, once you have a manual car it's easy enough to swap transmissions down the road. I've been running a junkyard NWC t-5 for years now and it does the job just fine (even behind a 405hp/405tq small block).
I helped my friend do one last year so much more fun to drive.
Originally Posted by RedLeader289
once you have a manual car it's easy enough to swap transmissions down the road
Those are the two most important points. It's more fun, the configuration is set and ready for any manual trans upgrade, later, if necessary or desirable.
Those are the two most important points. It's more fun, the configuration is set and ready for any manual trans upgrade, later, if necessary or desirable.
I got a good deal on a world class t5 fresh rebuild well over 10 years ago thinking I'll shove it in then in a couple years when it breaks I'll upgrade still going strong behind my 350
Awesome swap. These cars are so much more fun as a stick, but so is every vehicle!! I swapped my car years ago. I put an 83 t5 behind a 305 and it did well, then swapped in a zz4. With cautious abuse I got many years out of the t5, even w 275s in the rear. Then I swapped in a 450hp 350. I put 300 miles on it and decided to do a t56 swap. I knew that I was pushing it w the t5, so it came out. It was still shifting well and when I drained it there wasn't and "glitter" in the fluid.
So, enjoy your t5, do burnouts w it! Just be somewhat cautious and it should be just fine. Haters totally give it a bad rap.
I ran one behind a 400 for years, drag tracked the wee out of it...flat foot shifted every gear, every pass. In all that time, I broke one, 3-4 shift fork, which cost me a whopping $12.00. Worth it.
IMO, shifting it really FAST, was the key to it lasting, b/c it prevented much RPM flare during the clutch-in phase of each shift, thus less "hit" on clutch out. Shifting really FAST, probably contributed to the fork breaking, but for as many shifts as I did with that thing (before and after replacing that fork), it was NBD to me.
