Ville H. Valo

Check out Corey's Page
http://www.cardomain.com/id/sixspeedinstall

Black6SpdTA

Thanks Ville!

Gear ratios:

1- 2.66
2- 1.78
3- 1.30
4- 1.00
5- .74
6- .5

CamaroStylin

thats an awesome price... know where i could find one?

is there a way to use a cable clutch with this tranny? i prefer cable... it's faster shifting (generally) and i like to be able to feel what the tranny is doing as i release the clutch. it gives me better control over the car

Black6SpdTA

Cable clutch? Never heard of one on a T56. Never heard of someone wanting one on a T56. I've never driven a cable style before. I'd like to though, especially after what you just said. Hm.

Price: I just posted a Parts Wanted Ad in the appropriate section on this board. Some guy emailed me and I bought it. Also look on EBay. Junkyards rarely have them and a lot of TGO guys ask way too much but neither would hurt. Good luck.

NOTE: Little tip, put it in your sig. Like a link to your Wanted ad or something. That way anyone that sees you post can click the link and someone that never goes in the wanted section will still know you're looking.

CamaroStylin

youve never driven a cable clutch? my god... you poor man. I hate hydrolic clutches. of course they get the job done, but you CANNOT get into a feeling of being one with the car when you cant feel what's going on with the clutch/tranny. I'm 18 now and ive been learning how to drive sinse i was 12, all on cable clutch driven manual cars. I dont want to sound like an ***, but i'm a real good performance driver and i had a gf when i was 15 and her dad had just bought her a 97 saturn with a 5sp in it. she always let me drive wherever we went, but she told me that her car was the only car in the world that she could drive better than me, and she was right, cause of the clutch. i had never driven one like that and i really hated driving it.

long story short, you can almost always get a better feeling for what your car's doing if you use a cable clutch.

see if you can find a friend with an early 90s car that's 5sp and take it for a spin and let us know how you like it.

how hard was it to actually do the tranny swap? you had a 5sp in there before, so it would be easier for you, but was there anything paricularly hard?

Black6SpdTA

Simple as pie. Straight up swap. Starting an auto is not much different at all. All you have to do compared to me would be drilling a hole for the clutch cylinder, swapping pedal assemblies, and swap consoles. Still---nothing involved.

-Corey

CamaroStylin

so anyone know where to get a T56? for the time being put in my sig that i'm looking for a motor cause I need to buy that first. It'll take some time to get the built, then i can worry about the tranny. I found out today that the T56 has been used sinse like 94, but i thought it came out along with the LS1. i guess i was wrong. is the early T56 the same strength as the newer ones? any modifications internally?

thanks for all this help you guys. it really makes a difference

TheGreatJ

Actually the older (LT1-car) T-56 is stronger than the LS1 version. They have the same torque ratings, but track testing has shown that the older style T-56 will hold up better. Popular opinion is that this was caused by the buyout of Borg-Warner's tranny division by Tremec in '96 or '97 (can't remember exactly.)

The clutch setup is totally different between the 2 versions. The LT1-style trans uses a slave cylinder similar to the T-5's setup, but with a pull-style clutch. The LS1 trans uses a push-style clutch with a slave cylinder that mounts AROUND the input shaft. (Read as: you have to pull the tranny to fix a leaky/weak slave.) The LS1 version also will not bolt up to a regular Chevy block. The LT1 trans will, and this is why 3rd gen swappers almost always use the LT1 style tranny.


I was thinking about the whole "cable clutch" thing, and I only see one way to make it work with the T-56. Use a T-5 flywheel and clutch plate, and find a disc to match that will fit the T-56 spline pattern. You'll have to fab a clutch fork/pivot and a cable bracket, but you can have the cable enter the bellhousing in the stock slave cyl. location and pull the fork instead of pushing it, to accomodate the T-5's push-style clutch. It'll take some work and you'll probably have to put the trans in and take it back out a few times, but I can see it working. You could probably save a lot of effort by using a spare block and doing the fab-work on a bench.

My $.02

CamaroStylin

so if you cant get the LS1 tranny to mount to a standard small block then how do people like corey get it to work?

what are the torque ratings for the T56?

Black6SpdTA

I've got an LT1 tranny. Mating a SBC and LS1 tranny can only be done with a conversion crossmember from Centerforce and AFAIK that thing is mad expensive.

Torque rating: 450ft/lb

TheGreatJ

Use an LT1 style ('93-'97) tranny with the right flywheel and it'll bolt right up to the motor.

Also it takes a lot to make the LS1 trans work. You'll need a custom made adapter plate for the bellhousing, a different input shaft, a custom made crossmember, a custom center console (because the adapter plate will move the tranny back,) a shortened driveshaft, and you'll have to figure out a way to make the clutch work. It's way too much effort, and all for a trans that's WEAKER than the nearly-direct-bolt-in LT1 style trans. The only real benefit is cheaper clutches.

I did a lot of research on this before I swapped the '95 T-56 into my '91 RS 3 years ago. I've been running the **** out of it ever since and it hasn't missed a lick. Not even on the 6-3 downshifts.

Black6SpdTA

Yeah, I didn't even want to mention driveshaft, input shaft, shifter, etc issues...Just too much work. Now, that is unless you've got the funds to swap in an LS1 along with it

Jason, me too bro. I'm a 16 year old punk who's been kicking his car's tail just having a blast....err...as much as I can with the LO3

CamaroStylin

i thought the third and fourth gens used the same driveshaft length, hence the stock drive shaft should bolt up to the T56 without a fuss

TheGreatJ

It will.....if you use an LT1 tranny. I've been using the stock '91 steel shaft behind my T-56 for about 3 years now. Mainly because every time I find a deal on an aluminum shaft I'm broke.....

If you try to make an LS1 trans fit you'll have to put in an adapter plate which will move the trans back 1/2-3/4" and therefore require the use of a shorter driveshaft.

CamaroStylin

ok, well it's plain to see that i'm going to be in the market for a 93-97 camaro/firebird/corvette T-56 tranny then.

thanks for all the help you guys. it has made a HUGE difference.