klumb15

the 700R4 tranny just doesn't impress me, IMO they are junk, what is a better tranny for a 90 camaro with a 350 crate motor in it? a buddy of mine is trying a turbo 350 in his but the fabricating isn't going too good...What is your guy's opinion on a better tranny? thanx

trackbird

Swap in a T56. That is the best answer.

klumb15

can you give me a link to that...i can't seem to find one

klumb15

never mind i found a couple...are they all manuals? cause my car is an automatic, but i was thinking about switching it over to a manual...Does anybody know how much work this is, or if its worth it? is there any really good automatic tranny's for my application?

trackbird

You need the 6 speed from an LT1 car, the hydraulics, a flywheel, clutch, shifter, crossmember, and a console trim plate. I did one a few years ago.

There are a few guys on the board that have done the swap. Put up a post and see what you can find out.

Kevin

TheGreatJ

700-R4 to T56 isn't a very difficult swap, but like anything it has it's annoyances. You'll have to drill holes in the firewall for the clutch hydros, and you'll have to figure out a way to make the speedo work. Run a search for "T56 swap" here and in the tranny section of thirdgen.org. You'll find plenty of information.


FWIW I think it's the best street-car trans in history.

aklim

In what way "doesn't impress me"? and "They are Junk"? What are you trying to accomplish that it isn't allowing you to do? What is the primary function of the car. What will you do with it, drag race or auto-X? What rear end gears do you want to end up with finally.

klumb15

well id ont' actually have the camaro yet, but i've test drove a few of them, and the one i think i'm gettin ghas a 350 crate engine in it with a 700R4 auto with a shift kit in it, and the ones i've drove weren't too bad, but I think the one with a 350 was different, like it couldn't take the power or something...and all my friends in this town are constantly redoing there trannys which are 700R4's...the rear gears that are in it, i dunno, prolly stock, and I would mostly use this car for summer use, on the street, and race people at nights and stuff to keep the cash flow going a bit

aklim

You could do the T56 swap. They are stronger out of the box so it can take more of a beating and not require fixing. There will be issues that you have to address when you go that route. Will be some fabrication or scavenging or parts, etc. I put a C4 tranny where there used to be a C3 so I do know that it can be a pain.

If your friends get the 700R4 rebuilt at the local tranny shop, do realize that all they are getting is a rebuild back to stock. I babied my freshly rebuilt GM tranny for 6 months behind my 383 before it died. After that, I had the people at www.rosslertrans.com rebuild by tranny and it lasted for 3.5 years with me beating on it several times a day. That car was driven all year round except when there was more than 2 inches of snow. Those people are recommeded and used by Lingenfelter for his trannys so I doubt that they would make that bad a product. You remove your tranny and ship it to them and they rebuild it better than it was before. You get to tell them where you want the shift point at and also if you want it to shift hard all the time, hard at wot and softer at anything else or just plain soft all the time.

If that is what you are going to do, why not modify the tranny? Rossler will make it stronger than it was, shift at 6000 rpm, etc. At the quarter mile, you will be more consistant. If you plan to do a lot of autocross, go with a stick. It is more conveinent for the city to be in auto.

klumb15

good point, if I buy this car i'll have to look into that...how much would somethign like that cost if I sent the tranny in to be customly rebuilt?

aklim

Give them a call but I believe it is around $1500. At the time I checked it was less than my local rebuilders wanted. When it finally broke, all I needed was to change the sun shell gear and just as a precaution, I changed the clutch packs. They added more and better packs and also modified the sun shell gear to take more stress.

aklim

Another thing to note, the T56 looks pretty cheap now but if I were taking one out of a JY, I would want to have a professional check it out to make sure it is in good condition, aka rebuilt so, unless you want to take the risk or know the tranny conditon, that also adds to the cost of the T56. I helped someone with this before and the JY said it was fine and after install, one of the middle gears seemed to be grinding.