all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

Hello Everyone. I'm starting the slow process of rebuilding an LS T56 (mostly slow, because I'll be away at school for a while). I took the tail shaft housing off to look in and know the input shaft gear is almost literally gone. Everything else I can see at this point seems ok (can't see much up front though).
My theory is that the previous owner didn't drive the car too far after they broke the input shaft gear...since the car couldn't move. Because of this I'm hoping all the other gears have basically been spared from shrapnel harming them, but time will tell. While the tranny is out im definatly going to be putting a stage II rebuild kit in it, plus replacing the damaged parts.

My initial question until i can get it more apart to assess the damage is: would you recommend i get all new bearings or would it be safe just to inspect them and see how they look individually?
For fun, heres a couple pics of the progress, and what i found on the magnets...

Jeremy@RPMTransmissions

iTrader: (12)

Yup it definitely looks like an input and cluster gear are destroyed. I would inspect the bearings one by one. If they don't appear to have abnormal wear, blued or loose cages I would run them. The input and pocket bearing I would bet are smoked sense the input is smoked.

85MikeTPI

iTrader: (9)

It depends on how long the car was driven with damage (probably not long with no input shaft gear teeth), how your budget is, and how much you worry about parts failing. Since it looks like you're rebuilding yourself, you can probably get by with inspecting them. The bearings do act as little pumps/filters in the T56 and metal will eat them up. At least in your case, the metal chunks appear to be larger than any bearing openings..

all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

Thanks guys for the response, its good to know that i may not necessarily need an entire bearing kit. Im not doing a 'budget' rebuild, but if i dont have to spend $160 or so, that can go into a different part of the car (fuel injection, turbo..)

With that being said i was also curious about shifters. Ive done a couple searches here, but havnt found out what the differeance is between a nice hurst or other brand shifter and say like a $30 ebay shifter or stock unit? Whatever shifter i get im going to have to cut/splice/weld it up to have it in the right position.

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

If you dont have the proper tools, you may do just as much damage to any new bearings trying to install them. But, If you have a press, puller and bearing separator then why not replace them? They are a bit of a PITA and youll have to reshim, but I just did it on my t56 an it really wasnt too bad. The guys that replied before me are the experts for sure....but thats just my 2 cents.

armyboyatc

iTrader: (29)

I have the Pro 5.0 and love it. Another good one is the MGW. I have no experience with that shifter, I have just heard how good it is. With ebay you get what you pay for. A sloppy shifter = missed shifts and missed shifts can = broken parts. Get a good positive shifter and never look back. If you like, when I get home in a few weeks I will let you try my Pro 5.0 out. Only cause you're a 6 speed guy. We seem to be a dying breed.

What part of swfl are you in?

all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

Thanks guys for the responses. I have all the tools, pullers, 20 ton press etc...so doing the job right isnt an issue. I guess im going to take the tranny apart more next week when i go back home from school. I think im going to inspect the bearings really closely and just replace them if theres even question of it being damaged or showing signs of wear.

Oh yea, i guess i didnt mention this on the thread, but the 6spd is going into my 1970 plymouth duster. Right now it has a 4 speed with a stock hurst shifter on it, so i think any shifter is going to shift smoother, and more positively than that thing. Ill have to do some more research on what shifter to go with when i get closer to that point.

armyboyatc, i live in cape coral but im going to school at usf in tampa; i havnt seen too many people on here south of tampa...

thesource

iTrader: (60)

You should have just looked around for a Viper unit.

dwnshft82

iTrader: (2)

that is cool you are rebuilding it your self i always wanted to try one for my self best of luck

armyboyatc

iTrader: (29)

yeah I noticed that too. Idk why. There is a site SWFLracing.com that has a few people but mostly its imports and mustangs. They just havent seen the light yet I dont think. Well like I said, if you wanna test it out in a few weeks I will be there. Im workin on gettin a faceplated transmission. It will be notchy for sure with that trans unless youre at wide open throttle!

all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

I tried looking for a viper t56 everywhere (ebay, viper forums...) i just couldnt find one for the right price. Assuming i just need an input and maybe counter shaft this tranny will be a lot cheaper than what ive been able to come across for viper t56's. Finally, the car is going to be on the street 98% of its life, and i will never power shift it, so i think a fresh rebuild with the stage II kit will be more than enough for anything ill be throwing at it.

After thursday i have a pretty clear schedule, so im going home to tear the transmission apart a bit more and asses the damage. I still have to make the extended puller for the 5/6 gear, would anyone know how long it needs to be approximatly? Thanks...

all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

Hey everyone. I got the trans taken appart yesturday without many issues. The biggest issue was the 3 jaw puller. stay AWAY from harbor feights pullers, the threads on the shaft and the body of the puller were so far off it would just skip if you put any weight on it, biggest waste of my time. Other than that everything went smoothly. I took around 80 pictures to make sure that i dont get lost reassembling it later. Everything looks to be in good condition except for the input and counter shaft, which is what i expected. The synchros dont seem to show too much wear, and the bearings look ok too.
One concern i do have though is the 5/6th gear, i could pull it off by hand. Ive heard that other people could do this on their dissassembly as well, but should it be a concern? Heres a few pics of the main shaft, id like to hear anyones oppinion on this, thanks!

UMD_Jesse

iTrader: (6)

I cant remember exactly but if the 5/6 gear is that little two gear cluster that slides on the back end of the mainshaft, then yes, it came right off of mine as well. Actually if memory serves most of the gears slide on/off pretty easily. The synchros are the only things that are really stuck on there.

85MikeTPI

iTrader: (9)

You'll need a new mainshaft and probably 5-6 cluster. You can see where the cluster has started to twist on the mainshaft splines. Add in the countershaft, and input shaft, and you're into this unit pretty deep.. All the bearings and blocker rings should be replaced since it's had so much metal through it.

ALPz28

iTrader: (8)

I'm trying to do a rebuild on a t56 myself just to learn how but wanted a list of the tools I will need. If anyone can help me out I would appreciate it.

all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

Do a search on here, there's a lot of good write ups. From my experiences, it's pretty easy to at least take a t56 apart.
You'll need a good set of 3 jaw pullers don't get harbor freights, they're crap. I bought northern tools 6" 3 jaws for $15ish you'll need some 1/8" x 1/2" or so strap steel to extend the jaws to be long enough for 5/6 gear.
You'll also need two types of snap ring pullers (one for the rings w/ the eyes, one for the huge ones w/ only a flat to place the pliers on). Finally, you'll need a good torx #40 bit and a couple metric sockets.
If your doing it all yourself you'll also need a press to get the bearings and gears off. I have a 20 ton press, but I think I've heard a 12 ton is the smallest that can be used due to it's vertical size. Good luck, I'm half way done with it all.
I'm going home after my dynamics exam Friday to take the synchros apart and see if I need new blocker rings and such. I've decided to rebuild the tranny basically back to stock reusing the main shaft for now, Ill worry about it when it goes, it should still have a few good miles on it.

all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

...Well after my exam Friday i drove home and started to take the synchro assemlies apart to see what the damage was. Once i got the gears removed from the main shaft i realized that this isnt the first time that the transmission has been rebuilt. These markings orienting the synchro assemblies were already there:

I think this stuff looks brand new as well, don't you?

Finally i found a knick in 2nd gear, so i guess ill need a new one of those too..

I got a used viper input, and all new cluster gear, bearing kit etc from thesource..i cant wait to put it all together (after i get a new 2nd gear ugh..)

jeepers_88

iTrader: (13)

Wow, cool to see youre tackling this yourself. Ive been thinking Ill probably be digging into mine before long, have to see how long it lasts once my fab 9 comes in. Im in the cape too, if you havent heard, theres going to be a meet at Stevie Tomatoes on Pine Island and Skyline this thursday the 24th if your interested, even if your car is down, still be cool to meet some people.

all-AM-muscle

iTrader: (3)

Hey Jeepers_88, Is that meet weekly at stevies? Ive gone to the fosters car show on wednesdays a lot, but never stevies. My cars not down, its my daily driver up here, because of that ill have to wait for summer to swap the trans in..Rite now im up in tampa at USF studying civil engineering. I probably wont have enough free time between exams and stuff to head down there until spring break the 14thish.

jeepers_88

iTrader: (13)

It's going to be the first of what we hope to be many. There's a thread going on in the Florida members section so you can follow it a little more