Got my hands on a convertible 89 Iroc z in Sydney somehow and am looking to swap it to a manual transmission, looking across posts they suggest using the original transmission while other sites say i need a different driveshaft (this is for other cars, I didn't find anything mentioning a different driveshaft for third gens). Buying a original transmission in Australia will cost an arm and a leg so I am wondering if anyone knows other transmissions I can swap in or other cars that share the same transmission.

I am also very new to working on cars so I am sorry if anything is painfully obvious that I don't know

Edit: Forgot to mention the car has been RHD converted but I don't know if that even changes anything

 

The "original transmission" for that car would have been a Borg-Warner T-5. This product was purchased by several vehicle manufacturers and used in numerous vehicles. However, each vehicle it was used in, imposed different requirements; for instance, in cars like ours, the transmission had to be rotated toward the driver's side (left) to clear the floor pan where the gas pedal goes and had to have the torque arm mount cast into the extension housing; in the S-10 type trucks it was mounted straight-up but the shifter was located much farther forward (would come up literally under the dash in our cars); and so on. Frod used it in the Mustang, and those were different yet again; bolt patterns, length, spline count, etc. are all incompatible. Your best bet is to look for a stick 84-92 V8 Camaro or Firebird (no other model of car will work, and a 6-cyl setup won't work; HAS TO BE 84-92 V8 Camaro/Firebird) that's been wrecked, and get every part you'll need out of it; pedals, bell housing, hydraulics, shifter, torque arm mount, console, etc. with both cars sitting side by side, and not throwing ANYTHING away until the project is complete. A Firebird console won't work in a Camaro so that narrows it down even further. Trying to piece that together one bit at a time is going to be excruciating. It would be near impossible to go to the junkyard and pull it all out of a car, even if you could find one; ONE MISSING PIECE (like, if somebody else came into the yard needing that part and bought it before you got to it) is all it would take to disable the whole project.

Of all the things that are an actual challenge about installing one in an originally automatic car, the drive shaft is an utterly trivial concern. But for what it's worth, auto and stick cars used the same drive shaft. If you come up with an original V8 T-5, you won't have to change that.

The T-5 is a small, weeeeeeek transmission. It was never really intended as a "performance" piece. It is easily destroyed by enthusiastic use. People here are constantly looking for ways to get rid of it. A popular upgrade is the T-56, specifically as used in 93-97 Camaro & Firebird V8 cars, particularly 94-up (the 93 is kind of inferior). It's a MUCH better and stronger transmission all-around, besides just having 6 gears instead of 5. But it's not quite a bolt-in; and as those cars also become antiques, finding one that hasn't been rawhided to death, even here in the States, is getting harder all the time. And again, the best way to get one, is to acquire A WHOLE CAR that you can park in your garage next to your IROC, so that you have access to EVERY SINGLE PART in one place. Again, trying to piece it together either from cars you find in the junkyard or on the open market, is a fool's errand even in the States. Very difficult to successfully execute.

In case you can't tell, my advice is to leave that alone and enjoy the car as-is. At the level of question you're asking you're nowhere near ready for such a project. Read and study, learn what's involved and how to get it, and pay attention to what you see on this forum, and you might become capable of it eventually; but for the time being, it's a mountain above your climbing skills.

 

Solid advice above.

 

Honestly, T56 Magnum. Wide ratio 2.9x 1st and 0.6x sixth. Need "LS1 T56 to SBC" bellhousing.

Or Monaro 6 speed. Camaro shifter and offset shift lever to correct that.

Move the torque arm to a crossmember mounted. Shorten driveline.

Speedometer is solved by reading threads here.

 

I agree that it will be a difficult task to get the parts to do this swap w stock parts. The fact that it's a right side drive conversion makes it a little more difficult. I agree the aftermarket 5 (tkx) or 6 speed (magnum f t56) will be the better move. Regardless of what trans you use, you will need to mount hydraulics for the clutch. Assuming you have a stock brake booster/auto pedal that is on the RT side then all you need to do is get the manual setup. Mclovin on this forum makes a jig to locate the clutch master hole in the fire wall. Again, that's assuming you have stock parts. Getting a set of used pedals and a kit from American powertrain will likely be your best bet. You will need to get longer hydro lines to get the release bearing working but that's not a big deal.

The rest of the drivetrain is easy w the proper parts. You'll need to do your homework though.