I have the opportunity to buy a freshly rebuild 6-speed from a buddy for a sweet price...what else will I need to install it in my Skylark and will I need to make modifications to the trans tunnel? The bellhousing it has was for an 82-92 camaro, is this usable?
The question is not SHOULD you, its CAN you? Make sure you do your research before hand, because it will either make or break the swap. 6 speed with a bell housing for a 82-92 camaro? That doesnt sound right.... Its either a 5 speed, or the incredibly rare ZF from the limited edition late 90s firehawk. However, the bellhousing from the LT1 6 speeds available in 93-97 will bolt up to any SBC (or BBC) from any earlier years. Make sure you know what youre getting... The LT1 6 speeds were good for 450 ft lbs, except for the 93 versions, which were good for about 350-400ftlbs. If you plan to do any modifications to your buick, that means you will quickly pass that number. The trans will handle quite a bit more torque, but you dont really know for how long. If the rebuild is to viper spec, that torque rating is almost doubled. Roughly all that is true for a LS1 trans as well. After you have all that sorted out, you have to worry about actually attaching it to the buick. Unless you have the aftermarket T56, i havent been able to find a way to do it yet or any one else that has done it for that matter. But if there was a way, weir hotrod products, or APC (atc maybe?) would have the annswer. Let me know if you figure it out.
i just realized youre running a 355 SBC.... Thats a whole new ball game when it comes to 6 speed. So now its very doable, it just depends on which engine you have pre 86 or 86+. I have one behind my 355 in my firebird.
I've since done some research and have gone ahead and bought it. It's out of a 97 Z28 and includes the LT1 bellhousing, clutch & pressure plate and a B&M Ripper shifter. My engine is pre 86. I need to get a flywheel, and the hydraulic slave/master cylinder set up. Is there a company that makes an aftermarket crossmember for this trans in an A-body?
no, you just move it 2 inches (approximately) back. Mount it up, and when its in plae, just drill some holes ad bolt it in.
That makes it a little easier. But I've read elsewhere that you have to lower the trans mount by an inch....
No dont do it that way.... The people who posted that, did it while mounting the trans. If you read all the way through you'll notice they either; 1) Dont drive the car for the duration of the article 2) They have pinion angle issues once the trans is in there. Some have been brave enough to drive even with the incorrect pinion angle, but at any kind of speed its bad for the car. The correct way is to cut up your trans tunnel and make a new one around the trans. Search TKO on this site. A few guys have done this, and you can see what kind of fab work is needed. Let me know how this works out for you, im interested to see what you do for the speedo and the shifter. Also, if you run into any issues with headers. Cheers. :3gears:
I was figuring on having to cut the trans tunnel regardless...I didn't realize that lowering the mount was to prevent having to due that. Plus my car is lowered front & rear by 1.5" so the pinion angle is different anyway. I'm pretty sure I'll have to fab the shifter in some way to move it forward some, especially since I'm still running a bench seat. As for the speedo, well I have no idea but that's the least of my concerns anyway. Let's hope I don't run into clearance issues with the headers since they're brand new ceramic coated...although I haven't read anywhere of that being an issue.
I think lowering a car will have negligle pinion differences, but the trans will change it by quite a bit. You may have to measure it (Which i dont know how to do) to make sure its within spec. I still think bench seat will cause an issue, but my solution would be to get a shifter with a removable handle. They usually are bolted on with 2 fasteners. Then you get a stock A-body flat shifter handle, drill two new holes, and secure it to the t56 shifter. Even so, i think the stock shifters were pretty close to the seat in 4th, move that back 2 inches, and you cant shift into all gears.... Lose the bench seat, its not very "pro touring" . Depending on what you want to run as a speedo, you can either get a converter for the electronic speedo in the T56 to a mech. speedo. Or spend the money on a new gauge set. Comes out to about the same. As for cutting the trans tunnel, i read somewhere the easiest way is to cut the template of the tunnel out as ONE PEICE, and to RAISE it vertically, exactly 2 inches. This makes it look like the trans tunnel is original and you will only need to cut out a hole big enough for the shifter. You can reduce that 2" requirement a little, if you grind off one of the ears on the T56. There is one at the top on the passenger side of the trans, that (as far as i can tell) has no function....
I heard about grinding off the ear on the top of the trans for added clearance. I'll probably end up cutting the entire tunnel and raising the entire thing as you said. As for the bench not being pro-touring, I know, but it's in perfect shape and I'm on a budget so it'll have to do for now. Believe me, I will definitely be getting rid of it as soon as I can. I have a Ripper shifter & a stock shifter so I'll fab something for now. Some day I'll go with full aftermarket gauges, in the meantime, I'll probably be faking it the best I can! Obviously I need to get my driveshaft shortened...what did you use for a yoke?
havent done it yet. The trans is in my firebird. It might be more economical for you to have a driveshaft made, rather than shortened. One of the board members mentioned he got a driveshaft made for $160 about 5 years ago. Most places will charge you i the neighbourhood of about 300, but if yolook round you may fnd a shop to do it for you. getting a driveshaft made, includes the yoke in most cases. I beleive the LT1's had 26 spline... If you find a driveshaft shop, they will explain which measurements or sizes you need to specify for them to build you one. As for the shifter, the Pro. 5.0 and the Hurst billet plus both have removable handles and are quality shifters. If you go on a camaro website you may be able to sell yours and get one of those other shifters. try camaroz28.com
So here's what's on the tag: 12561561 L2891 386 020 B 08190 Evidently it's out of a 98 Z28 so it's an LS trans, however, it has had the input shaft and adapter plate from an LT1 trans put in it. It also has an LT1 bellhousing. I do have the original LS input shaft and plate as well as the donor LT trans. Know where I can decipher the tag? <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
what are you tryingg to accomplish? Ive never heard of the LT1 input being in the LS1 trans, not sure why youd want to do that. It may be worth while to check with the seller what he was using that for. the ls1 shaft is longer than the LT1, and would set the trans back further. But in this car that wouldnt matter.
According to the guy I bought it from this was done b/c it was going to be going behind a small block chevy with a 2-piece rear main seal which matches my application. I do know the LS1 trans won't bolt up to the old style blocks but the LT1s will. I believe the LT1 input shaft was done so it would match up with the LT1 bellhousing.
Thats what i have too. The LS1 shaft is longer than the LT1, so yes that makes sense. I guess no one does it cuz its cheaper and less hassle to just have an LT1.... Also, by the Adapter plate, do you mean the "MIDPLATE"?
Yeah, midplate. I guess it would've been easier just to get an LT1 trans but I think he came across the LS1 trans for a good deal and it only has about 30K miles on it and was able to find a cheap LT1 trans for parts. He's also friends with some guys at a trans shop so I think they did the work for next to nothing.
the engine wont care what it is. If the spline count on the input shaft is the same, as far as the engine is concerned, its an LT1 trans. So you need to go with the appropriate clutches, flywheels, and hydraulics.... Unless some how, you still have the hydraulic throwoutbearing hooked up. I would phone up mcleod or some performance trans specialist like that, they can help you in more detail than i can. Its not the hard part. The tough part will be getting it in the car.
Been doing some research on some other sites, looks like Centerline is the only one out there making a flywheel that will adapt the T56 to a 2-piece rear main sbc. It's about $385. Can't find any other options but am going to put a call in to them and probably mcleod as you suggested.
Yea you have two options with this, now that youre at this part i can help you a bit further. You mean CenterFORCE right? You'll need part number 700107 for an internally balanced engine, unless youre running a 400sb crank shaft. With this you can run the hydraulic clutch. Its a good flywheel, and i think Centerforce and 1 other company makes it. Fidanza maybe? McLeod doesnt. I took this route because i found it the easiest. But theres a couple of other ways to bolt up your T56 to an early v8. 5speedtransmissions.com has a few solutions, but it involves putting in an LS1 inputshaft. I dont think you want to deal with this.... As for the hydraulics, it depends if youre running a hydraulic throwout bearing (like the LS1 trans) or the fork (like the LT1 trans). I cant help you with the throwout bearing style, but you have a few options for the other kind of hydraulics. I would recommend you go with the Mcleod master cylinder. This one can be bled remotely (which is a little trickier to do at first), but you may need it for the quick connect hydraulic lines. The reason being, the STOCK Fbody hydraulics have a fixed length for the hydraulic braided line, and i have a feeling its not long enough. it JUST fit in the f-bodies from firewall to slave cylinder, and i have a hunch it has a bit further to travel in the A-body. The other advantage is that these master cylinders have the "drill mod" done to them already. If you dont know what this is, i can explain further, but you need it for a "pro touring car".Just be careful theres a more expensive version of this thing called the ADJUSTABLE, its used to vary the pedal engagement height. Alot of people think the T56 has an engagement height thats too high onthe pedal, so this master remedies that prob. Personally i dont think its too bad. However, if for some reason you find out you CAN run the stock hydraulics, the best price and service i found was from tpi-parts.com (not sure on the spelling exactly, just google it). They sell GM parts, and the quality is good. Next up is a clutch. Us 2 peice guys are screwed for any major performance options, so if you want to run anything more performance oriented than stock, let me know, i have alot of research and ideas gathered over a couple years. However, i ran about 450ish foot lbs through my stock LT1 clutch, and its held up great so far. Powershifts chirp the tires good and all. However, i have a feeling it will wear out in a couple of years. No biggie, discs are cheapish to replace. But if you want a performance clutch, put one in now, so you dont have to hassle with pulling it all out later. Lastly, i will say before you install your trans, REPLACE THE REAR MAIN SEAL WITH A NEW ONE!!!!! Even if it isnt leaking. These things are very prone to leakage, and if it isnt leaking now, it will be soon. Just start off with a fresh slate and have peace of mind. Also dont forget your pilot bushing/bearing! Without it your trans will live a very short life.
