Im trying to gt a price estimate of everything I need to put a T56 in my car. Im accounting in for everything I would need. Heres everything I can think of so far, please let me know if I have forgotten anything.

T56 Transmission (93-97 F-Body, 94-97 preferred)
Transmission bellhousing
Clutch fork
Clutch disc
Pressure plate
Custom Crosssmember ($100 from spohn)
Clutch pedal assembly (can get cheap from local junkyard)
Clutch master cylinder (junkyard)
Hydraulic clutch line (junkyard)
Clutch slave cylinder (junkyard)
Shifter
Center console plate and shift boot (junkyard)
Cut hole in trans tunnel (free)

Heres what I'm not exactly sure about, but I think it will work:

83-85 F-Body T5 flywheel, machined for external balance (400)

I need the 83-85 flywheel because its designed for a 2 piece rear main seal. Im not sure because 1.) I haven't found a local machine shop that will counterbalance a flywheel yet, and 2.) I don't know if a T56 pressure plate/clutch disc will work with a T5 flywheel. Would it be easier just to use an LT1 flywheel, and get it machined for a 2pc rear main seal engine, as well as external balance?

Centerforce makes a flywheel that I think would work, but I am not sure. Its a 153 tooth, 12.835" 400 flywheel. However, it is $351.95...

 

it would be pretty hard to machine an LT1 flywheel for a 2pc main crank due to the different bolt circle diameters. you'd have to weld up the old holes and redrill new ones perfectly aligned. not sure on your other options for this

as far as cost, this is what i did: bought a wrecked '94 formula with good engine, sold everything except the trans, flywheel and rear end. ended up costing me only $200 for those. $25 to resurface flywheel, $400 for mcleod clutch/LT4 pressure plate, $400 for spohn xmember and torqe arm

 

You will need to order a 2-piece flywheel for a T-56. Found at Summit for 369.95 Part #CTF-700107. This is a steel flywheel made by Centerforce.

If you wish for an aluminium flywheel you'll need one made by Fidanza. You can buy it here. This will be more expensive.

The eaisest way would be to purchase one of these flywheels.

Heres the cost for my 82 TA. But if you already have a 700R-4 you will not need a driveshaft. It would be eaiser and cheaper to purchase a tranny and all needed materials as a package, otherwise you will be nickel and dimed to death.

Try to get everything off the donor car if you go to the junkyard. Places online with T-56 conversion packages are speedautomotive.com and thirdgenresource.com.

Parts Needed From Where Cost Total

T-56(box, bellhousing, flywheel, cultch, pressure plate) speedautomotive.com $1,555.00 $2,084.89
Roller pilot bearing Summit/Jegs $13.95
Rear main seal Summit/Jegs $20.95

Spohn Crossmember Spohn $100.00
Fourth gen pedal assembly speedautomotive.com included
T56 master/slave cylinder assembly speedautomotive.com included
Vehicle speed sensor included included
Centerforce Flywheel 700107 Summit $369.99
Steel Driveshaft Hawks Thirdgen Parts $25.00

 

Heres something eaiser to read

 

I put in a new clutch and PP since I had the tranny out. Didn't want to put a used one in that was glazed and burnt. About another $400 for that. McLeod disk with LT4 pressure plate.

You also need the lower shift boot, and the appropriate brake and clutch switches, the pigtails for the clutch switch, the backup light switch, the vss switch and some conversion for the speedo, 4 qts atf, tranny mount (most likely blown already), and possibly a new starter.

 

what Center console plate and shift boot do you use? i'm thinking on doing this to my 82 Z/28

 

I went with the aftermarket T56. I didn't want to have a box someone else beat with that much invested. If I had to do it over again I don't know that I would go through it. Whoever said this is supposed to fit in a third gen f car is nuts. Other then the mount to the bell housing I had to deal with everything else. The shifter don't fit, it hits the console. The crossmember, torque arm & driveshaft all have to be changed. (Spohn saved me there)
It's in now and I love it but I'm out about $3000. If anyone asked me, I'd tell them for durability get a tremec 5 spd. If 6 speeds is just too much cool factor to pass up, call Steve Spohn and have him send you one of each for the aftermarket T56 including the trans and do it right.

 

Well, I can offer some insight on that. I'm currently running an LT-1 flywheel on a '78 (I think it is, but in any case it's a 2 piece rear main) 4-bolt main 350 block. I got the flywheel with my T-56 (OEM type unit, but brand new, never installed in a car) along with the bellhousing and clutch fork. The flywheel had already been redrilled for the 2 piece rear main and all I had to do was resurface it. I believe the center hole for the crank is larger for the 2 piece, and the bolt holes are farter away from the center of the flywheel for the 2 piece. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong please! In any case I've got my whole setup installed and I love it, it works great with the LT-1 flywheel redrilled, and the whole rig cost me $1,000 (managed to get it shipped free too ) Anyway, talk to some machine shops about redrilling a LT-1 flywheel I know it can be done, and it's gotta be cheaper than the Centerforce flywheel!

-Paul

P.S. I didn't have to modify my shifter plate at all and I'm also running a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch and love it so far!

 

I bought everything I needed except the signal conversin box, crossmember, and the pigtails from transam creations. They usually don't sell them seperate from the engines, but when I called them they had a 97 SS that had an engine fire, and the engine was gone. So they just sold me a changeover kit for 1300. Heres their website transamcreationsusa.com

 

the link didn't work. Could the site be www.tacreationsusa.com?

 

Hehe...yup that would be the link. I was eating crap when I wrote that post.

 

Total for my car was just a shade under 2300. I should clarify that you could do this for just under 1700 very easily. My break down goes like this:

Tranny, Stock Shifter, 93-97 tranny crossmember, Pedals, Hydraulics, Flywheel, Clutch, Pressure Plate, Bellhousing, all bolts and harware -------------1500 speedautomotive.com

Adjustable Torque Arm ---- 400 Spohn.net

Pro 5.0 shifter with MBA ****-----179 Thuderracing.com

Pigtails for VSS, Reverse Lights, and Reverse lockout---50ish from a nameless source who can get decent prices on Delco stuff

Dakota SGI-8 -----79 dakota digital

Resurface of Flywheel-----25 NAPA Machine Shop

Thats about it as best as I can remember. Now for ways to do this on the cheap.

Still buy from SpeedAutomotive. com There's 1500. Resurface flywheel still 25. Stock torque Arm free. Spohn crossmember only 100. Only need VSS pigtail 15-25 unless you have a 5 speed then its free. Re-Program your Chip to make the Speedo Adjustment (thats what I ended up doing after what looks to be a faulty SGI-8) Free unless you arent programming your own chips. So there you go like 1650 ish to have the benefits of double overdrive, and a very strong gear box. I had NO issues whatsoever changing my Auto tranny to the 6 speed. The install was very straight forward. If you take your time the install can be made seemless. I get a kick to this day to watch valets struggle with reverse. Anyways HTH

CB

 

Not going to reply with my cost because I'm not done installing mine yet.

I am going to say however that the 85-down 153 tooth flywheel is not quite the choice for you. One way to use it is to use a McLeod throwout bearing. The one they list for a 93-97 T56 will work, however, they did not represent the issues of the swap on the phone accurately to me. What you're looking at is shimming the trans. off the bellhousing or the bellhousing from the block, in order to have enough space to fit their throwout bearing and the thirdgen clutch.

There is another pressure plate / disk / flywheel combo that works, however I feel that making note of those parts would support McLeod and I was not told the truth, therefore I am not going to support them. But I will say that they offer a 153 tooth non-T56 wheel that is balanced for a 400, and I believe other companies do as well.

The trans going into my car was from a 1995 Z28. It later saw use with mechanical linkage. I am going to be refining that mechanical linkage because my bellhousing is already modified, and for me financially at this point, this option is best.

If I was in your shoes, I'd spring for the flywheel. You can get a balance plate that is bolted in between the flywheel and the crank. The LT1 T56 hydraulics and clutches are a known quantity and work quite well.

the aforementioned balance plate:

 

Well this post is a couple months old, but I have a question. You say that your flywheel was redrilled for the 2 piece style crank. Did it appear that they had to fill any holes or does it still have both sets. I have thought about doing this, but have been afraid that some of the holes will partially line up making oblong holes. Let me know because my auto went out and so I need to get the six speed in as cheap and soon as possible.

Ben

 

Glad to see another old post revived haha. To answer your question, yes several of the holes do line up and are oblonged. I was told by the fellow I got the tranny, bellhousing, and flywheel from that it was all set to bolt up to a 2 piece rear main crank and I asked the guy who helped me build the motor if he thought the oblonged holes would be a problem and he didn’t seem to think it would be an issue. So far (I’ve got 1200 miles or so on it) I have had absolutely no problems with the setup, no abnormal vibrations or anything, so I’m guessing that the oblonged holes are not going to cause a problem (the holes really are only stressed from rotational torque, not movement from side to side…if that makes sense). Make sure that you use high quality flywheel bolts (I used ARP) and you’ll probably need to get the LT-1 T-56 pressure plate bolts from GM (I had to since they’re different than standard pressure plate bolts). In any case I haven’t had any trouble with the oblonged holes, although I did worry about it. Oh and one other thing along with the oblonged holes the center hole in the flywheel will have to be enlarged as well to fit the snout on the 2 piece rear main crank, so the old holes for the one piece style crank will be partially cut into and the flywheel can’t be used on a one piece style crank again. I hope this helps, but if anything is confusing or you have more questions please let me know, I’ve also got pictures of the flywheel and clutch being installed and things like that if you’d like. Good Luck!


-Paul

 

I replied to your email.

Ben