jmauld

iTrader: (3)

I've been searching for parts to do a Gen III/IV v8 swap in my car. I know that the T56 is the RIGHT answer when looking for a manual transmission, but I've been looking for a few months now and haven't seen one pop up locally. Well, not one that I would purchase, considering the asking price and the condition (ie, someone was asking $1700 for one that needed a new first gear) I'm guessing that I'm not the only one that is hesitant to pay that much money for a used T56 that needs repair?

For those that have used something other than the 4th gen T56, can you post what you used and maybe a link to what was involved in getting it to work?

How difficult is it to make the T56 from the 3rd gen camaro work?

What about any of the newer mustang transmissions?

I know the T5 is considered junk when mated to a LS1, but what if you're planning on limiting your project to a 300whp 5.3L engine in a 2800lb car that will not see any time at the dragstrip?

Pop N Wood

iTrader: (1)

$2500 will buy you a new T56, so yes, $1700 for a damaged T56 is absurd.

http://www.ddperformance.com/T-56%20Transmissions.htm

T56's are expensive to rebuild (figure $1500), so if you do buy a new one you had better make sure it is good. FWIW, the newer T56's are suppose to be a lot more bullet proof than the older F car units. The people who sell them claim they have never gotten a newer one back, whereas some people claim the F car ones it is just a matter of when they will need rebuilding.

A T5 might hold up to only 300 HP. They are physically shorter than a t56. The site below has ton of good info, dimensions and even conversion info for all types of tranmissions. $2K will get you a new TKO

http://www.5speedtransmissions.com/

Rodder

iTrader: (2)

Cost me $377 in labor and $1245 in parts to get my Ebay T56 fixed last year. All of my gear sets 1-4 were destroyed, which was $626 of the parts. The SOB who sold it to me said he drove it around and it worked fine--kinda hard to believe when it turned out that ALL of the 1/2 slider keys were broken/missing. He also agreed to cover the cost of the gear sets, and then never sent a dime.

Anyway, to reiterate, if you buy a used T56 from an F-body, PLAN on getting it rebuilt. Torque isn't what kills these transmissions--powershifting is what kills them. And aftermarket shifters with stops won't help that one bit as the damage is happening mid-shift instead of at the end of a shift. It'll cost you about $1000 parts+labor to get a perfectly-good stock T56 rebuilt with upgraded parts that can take harder shifting.

I don't know if the GM aftermarket or GTO T56s are any better than the F-body ones.

TransAm Mania

iTrader: (7)

I found my t-56 at Cleavland Auto Parts with 15K miles on it. It came out of 05 GTO with the bell housing for $2,000.

SurlyJoe

What car are you swapping into? I went with a tko-600. A bit more money but rated for 600ft-lbs.

jmauld

iTrader: (3)

It's going into a 240sx. I talked to someone at 5speedtransmissions.com and I think I'm leaning towards the tko-600 if I can't find a suitable T56. There's a slim chance that I may go with the T5, but the point was brought up that while I may be happy with 300whp at first, I might end up with the power bug and want more power. The T5 would likely become a problem at that point.

On a side note, it seems like those shops can mate just about any Ford/GM/Tremec transmission to these engines.

SMAX

iTrader: (11)

I was considering the tko600 until I did found quite a few posts on several message boards talking about how they won't shift over 5500 rpms without replacing some internals.