Bengtson95

hey guys its been a while, got a 95 z28 just hit 70k miles, on my second 4l60e, 1st had only 3rd gear now this one only has 1st and 2nd, bought the tranny off craigslist installed it, worked one day then lost 3rd and 4th, thanks craigslist jerk! after that i did several burnouts and basically beat up the already **** tranny more it was fun, felt quite fast after driving in 3rd for months HAHA.


to the point, found a 96 trans am 6spd with 85k, probly more like 120k (broken speedo) running and driving car, just rough, for 2500 bucks, not a bad deal considering im buying mainly for the transmission swap and all parts needed, luckily it runs and drives so i can test tranny, just have some questions for you experts!

1:anything i should look/feel for in the trans when driving thats not so obvious?

2:can/should i swap the whole pcm to my car? will i run into issues or is it easier just to wire my pcm.

3:is it a good price? lol i mean it runs and drives. thinking POSSIBLY i can keep the engine and throw it on a stand and slowly rebuild it into a fu**ing powerhouse. not sure.

4:anything on the TA i should swap into my camaro? thinking door panels/ speakers cause all mine are shot.

5:i now will have 2 messed up 4l60es, r they worth anything? someone offered me 60 bucks, for that price id just buy a rebuild kit or just tear it apart to look inside lol.

6:ANYTHING else you guys think i should know. pretty confident with myself after doing my first tranny swap in a day when i got the other 4l60e, obviously this is much more intricate but i think i can do it.

---just for some more info, if anyone is in the ft hood area, i have acesss to sprockets, a do it yourself shop that supplies tools and a lift and a couple fairly knowledgeable employees walking around to assist you. pretty damn awesome place, but a lift bay is $7 an hour so after a few days thats a pretty large bill. so im trying to do alot of prep work on both cars before going there, both however need to stay driveable as i dont have a trailer. so any tips on that would be great. just looking for some assistance! ill be doing the swap next month as ill be going away for some training in the mojave desert in feb not looking forward to that, so even if im not replying i will be reviewing and reading and rereading all the posts so i can be prepared for this. plus i think it will b pretty cool to be able to say, yeah i got tired of the automatic so i swaped a 6pd in it, no big deal lol. ppl already look at me like im crazy when i say im gonna do it. but hey, reply all you guys want, whatever you think i need to know!
THANKS GUYS!

Badazz 97 TA

iTrader: (18)

Keep the obd1 pcm and wiring. Easier for tuning. Swap the t56 trans and all the required parts and call it a day. Part out the trans am and bring in the $$$ for more mods for the '95

I did a t56 swap on my car. Took me a weekend to do.

Bengtson95

okay sounds good, havent taken a look at the pcm didnt know if it was a simple plug and play thing, did you run into any issues while doing the swap? anything i should take special note in doing?

Badazz 97 TA

iTrader: (18)

It's plug and play with a t56. You shouldn't have to change a thing. I did a obd2 to obd1 swap on mine and have had no issues. Using a obd2 trans and a t56 wiring harness. For you. I would buy a t56 obd1 wiring harness. It will make life easier. You can find them pretty cheap on eBay.

It's all pretty straight forward as long as you are prepared with all the parts. You can do the pedals in your driveway to save time on a lift. You don't need the car in the air for that and you can still drive around with t56 pedals on your auto. I did it with mine for a week before i did my swap. Lol

Other than that it's as easy as swapping transmissions. I recommend a hole saw drill bit for the firewall to make a nice circle hole for the master cylinder. And a pair of tin snips for the shifter hole. There is a good write up if you search google.

Bengtson95

okay so ill look into obd1 t56, save time, so thats just plug and play right? i can turn a wrench pretty good but electrical is my cryptonite lol and yes i have that great writeup on the swap bookmarked already im excited, should be a good experiance, also heard the pedals can b a bitch so ill do that in the driveway, well actually dont think so cause id still have to drive both cars over to the shop! lol

Badazz 97 TA

iTrader: (18)

Not a obd1 t56 trans. A obd1 engine/manual wiring harness. If you go with a stock harness it's all just plug and play. Take out the old and plug in the new one.

Pedals weren't too bad. It took me about 2 hours of messing around to get it done.

Bengtson95

okay sweet then everything will work electrically, reverse lights clutch pedal on startup and whatever else there is?

BackInBlack02

iTrader: (4)

I converted mine too, not as bad as it seems, did it all in my garage at home, no lift. Here's a few points I found.

- Do use hole saw for the hole at the fire wall. I used a Russell clutch line and added a heat sleve, that line is close to headers if you have them.

- To bleed the clutch you'll have to push the plunger slowly on the slave with the line hanging so the slave pushes the air out thru the reservoir. I've asked around and this is the only answer I got and it works.

- Wiring, you will need wires for the reverse light and reverse lock-out that will need to be coming from the ECM. I had them made, SpeedSceneWiring in San Antonio did it for me. I'm sure there's other places that can do it too.

- You will need the ECM re-programmed for the 6sp, but with ODB1 you can get a tune from MadZ28 and flash your ECM with TunerCAt. There are others that can do the same but I've had good results with Ion (MadZ28).

- While you have carpet and seats out its a good time to replace the carpet if you need to and add heat/sound insulator.

Enjoy the 6spd.

warriorcustoms

iTrader: (10)

http://dallas.craigslist.org/sdf/pts/5419087751.html
Heres a cheaper route...

Badazz 97 TA

iTrader: (18)

Shouldnt have to remove the carpet or seats? There was enough room to get to the pedals and the shifter hole without removing either for me. Seems like a lot of unnecessary work IMO.

Bengtson95

i did see that, but i feel like for another 1400ish i could get a whole car...seems logical i guess. plus this car im getting has a new clutch and master slave and suposubly some upgrades to the tranny. but well see about that i guess, plus it runs and drives, how much do you think ill be able to pull in for a lt1 complete engine assembly running, with 85k miles?

warriorcustoms

iTrader: (10)

Partin one out is just a fuxxin Pain!!! IF I remember right the Pic N Pull in Dallas had a Z28 with a T56 last time I went... Theres also a guy on CL in Coalgate OK thats ready to part his T/A & has new parts or the whole car for 2500 obo But there is the foolin with parts & takin a yr or 2 to part it completely!!! Ive got 2 interiors , front & rear bumper covers , side mouldings & a ram air hood that nobody would come & buy so I gave up & will build a Formula or T/A to put the 396 in & install the goodies I have on it then sell or scrap the rest!!! After awhile I get tired of lookin at **** lol

Bengtson95

well im not trying to part out every peice, more like the high ticket items, frame/body/ suspension/ engine and what not, i definetly dont have the time or patience to part out everything, id be happy with getting 1500 back on what i part out, think 1k is a decent price for a running lt1 with 85k on it? i mean i see engines on ebay going for up to 3k....although that does include the trans, im not sure, i mean, im definetly not looking to make money off of it, id b ecstatic to break even but not getting my hopes up of course cause everytime i do they come crashing down lol

warriorcustoms

iTrader: (10)

LoL Your Luck must be like Mine... Get the Cash in hand then Call!!! Oh I Sold that a few weeks ago Just aint had a chance to pull the add... LoL Kinda why it took 3yrs to build My S10!!! I wanted certain parts & wasnt gonna cut corners lol It came out pretty sweet I think anyway
Theres deals to be had its just have cash in hand & go that day or next when Ya find em on CL LoL
I will post up or try to text Ya anything I find!!! I even text a guy that used to have a Warehouse full of stuff in Dallas but Hes bout out of the partin out stuff these days...

warriorcustoms

iTrader: (10)

Ohh and when You do find what Ya need Go 4.10s with a T56 4.30s are nice too!!!

Bengtson95

well i am goin through with this parts car i found actually warrior i reread one of your posts and i am getting the one in coalgate, so i feel like i could make make an acceptable portion of my money back on the swap so i feel like parting out isnt a bad idea, and ill look into the 4.10s and 4.30s i am curious about those. so anyone have anything else to say about the swap as far as tips and stuff? special tools needed? and anything else i should swap from the ta while i got it?

BALLSS

OP

$2500 for a "running" donor car is not bad at all. Generally T56 20 year old F-bodys were not driven by your Mom so the tranny if stock may need some attention. Your note saying the PO said it "had work" is encouraging. The steel 3-4 shift fork and billet keys are pretty common "upgrades" if you find you need to have the tranny worked on for other issues

OEM clutch hydraulics are a self contained MC & slave so if you remove and install them intact, you won't need to bleed them. Bleeding is challenging but can be done if needed though.

you have a OBD1 car and donor car is OBD2 so stay with your PCM and just get it programed

I don't have a F-body but did the T56 swap in a B-body using the stock wiring harness. I just taped into the correct wires to make the reverse lock out, back up lights work as they should. F-body to F-body should be even easier. I suspect the donor wiring harness would work but maybe someone who has done the 4L60E to T56 in F-body can chime in.

You have what are now a few parts that are not available anymore (clutch fork, dust shield, primary floor boot) so having the donor car is good as those parts are just about impossible to find now.

I did my swap in my garage on jack stands so if you want to save some $ on not using that rent a lift place that is one option. Either way you will need some form of tranny jack...or a friend to help lift trannys.

Go get yourself a clutch alignment tool to install the donor clutch. Buy a new pilot bearing for your motor. I use a short piece of closet wood dowel to drive it in. You can use a piece of wood, just don't beat it in with a hammer direct

Bengtson95

I thought 2500 wasnt a bad deal at all, thanks for verifying, and yes before i install the tranny i will bring it to a shop and have them tear it down and inspect it, only 100 for them to do that, dont want to do the job a third time so i will b taking all precautions to ensure i dont have to take it all apart again, and yes its a complete car so i dobt need to look for other parts however i was considering a tick performance adjustable master slave, but not sure if i need it, cars fairly stock besides from lt headers and little bigger throttle body, so idk if its worth the 300 bucks.

BALLSS

of the 3-4 single disc clutch's from various brands I never had any problem with stock hydraulics. Going to the McLeod Twin I used a adjustable MC, it came with the kit

IIRC the LS guys have more trouble with the stock MC vs LT1 guys

Bengtson95

Well got the parts car and it sure was running rough, was actually a t56 swap as well i believe because it still had the auto shifter in there! Haha needed to b in park to start, that was just cause they didnt want to do rewiring right? Noticed the rev lights didnt come on either, no big deal, ran good enough, shifted really nicely into all gears no issues there, one thing i did notice was (keep in mind im not the best at driving stick ) but when i was shifting sometimes at low speed it made a very loud noise almost like a backfire, but it also sounded like there was alot of play in the driveshaft and it was like it once it caught it banged againsy something, i know it isnt the driveshaft, just tryig to explain it, but i also thought it was because i wasnt slowly lettig off the clutch from 1st to 2nd and such, didn't make the noise all the time, anyways it shifted well abd thats all im worried about.

Next question is should i buy anything new for this swap? Clutch is fine so not worried about that, actually grabs real hard, so anything else i should buy? Also any other input on the subject? Iv been reading lots of posts in my downtime about this swap to prepare myself, just sucks im gonna b away for a month before i can do it