Krab

iTrader: (28)

I did it over a period of about a week (on and off work along with a trip out of town), but it finally got done. I bought a synchro rebuild kit (included 1-2, 3-4, 5-6 & reverse synchros) and a steel 3-4 shift fork. These were the only parts replaced in my tranny, I inspected the internals and everything looked good.

There was a small amount of "fuzz" on the case magnets, so nothing to be worried about. All the bearings looked good along with the wear pattern on the gears. At times, I was afraid I wasn't going to be able to put it back together because the shiftrail has to be positioned a certain way, but once it was in the correct position the rest fell into place.

Now, the reason I rebuilt my T56 was because I was having some trouble getting my car in reverse sometimes, I had to force the shifter into gear. No other gears were really giving me any trouble, but I figured since I was already tearing into the tranny, might as well rebuild all the synchros. I'm glad I decided to do that because now I notice the tranny goes into each gear easier than before the rebuild. Don't get me wrong, it still has the infamous T56 notchiness, but it has been minimized. It is also quieter if you can believe that. I went for a test drive last night and noticed this with the radio off.

Total cost for the rebuild was ~$350, including the transmission fluid and two craftsman snap ring pliers I bought. Not bad if you ask me. Anyways, just wanted to share this with you guys that might consider doing a rebuild on your own. It is really feasable if you are a bit mechanically inclined. Intimidating at first, but completely doable.

flyinZ

iTrader: (15)

Good to hear..I thought about doin' this myself...but we'll see.

02Z06MATT

would you be able to give some step by step directions on how to do this because I am interested in doing my t-56 in my vette very soon. thanx matt

sickss228

iTrader: (27)

Did you have to use any special tools?

Krab

iTrader: (28)

Although not mine, here is the write-up I used to guide me through the rebuild.
http://ls2.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1877
It's for an f-body T56 though, not sure what differences there would be (if any) for a y-body T56. I also used a service manual I got off ebay.

Only specialty tools I used were some good snap ring pliers (hole and slant tipped), torx T-40 bit and extra long 3-jaw puller. I made one similar to the one in the write-up above and it worked really well.

99FormulaWs6

Feels good to do it yourself doesn't it Krabman?
This may be a stupid thing for some of you more advanced builders, but may help some of the new guys.
This weekend, I finished up 2 x 6 speed rebuilds(#5&6 respectively) and found a new simple, greatly helpful tip. From my limited experience, I've ALWAYS had trouble getting the shift lever guide bolts(case bolts) to line up with the Interlock plate cam grove. I would set the mid-case down only to have the grove just barely out of alignment. Here's what to do:
(Looking at the transmission with the mainshaft facing down(tranny vertical)
Put the guide bolt in on the left side, this will keep the 5-6 shift rail in place, now from the top pull up on the 5-6 shift rail slightly and insert the other guide bolt, you will feel the bolt fall into place, simply locktite and continue reassembly.
Again others may have figured this out before now, but I haven't seen this in any of the rebuild guides and it's the one thing I've really struggled with. This solves a LOT of problems and cuts my time considerably, as I would pull the transmission apart, and try and move stuff around until it fell in the exact place it needed to be.


Z06Matt- There is a free downloadable copy of the manual online, that helps more than anything else. The other things for a successful rebuild:
-As you disassemble the transmission, lay things out nice and neat and in an orderly fashion, I lay mine out in line, as they come out of the tranny. If it comes off a different shaft, or from a different section of the case I lay it in a different row.
-The right tools will make a difference: both snap ring pliers listed above, a small shop press, various 3 piece gear pullers, 5-6 gear puller, a work bench with a hole in it to set the transmission upright, and a parts washer.
-Lubricate all bearings, and synchro's with tranny fluid before installing.
-When you start reassembling, check work bench for any pieces you might have overlooked.
-REPLACE ALL YOUR SNAP RINGS 50.00 from t56 is worth not having to tear down because a snapring is too loose.

Krab

iTrader: (28)

FormulaWs6, it sure does feel good doing this myself. If anything goes wrong with my tranny in the future, I'm confident that I can tear her down and find the problem. Thanks for the tip with the alignment bolts, that part gave me some trouble as well. Only thing I didn't do was replace the snap rings, I just re-used mine. Hopefully all will be well...

99FormulaWs6

Probably will be ok, I didn't replace the snaprings in mine either, and the tranny has been 11.5's. Although for 50.00 extra on the last rebuild I did and I got to see the difference in the tightness of the rings, it's well worth it.

BadAzz96Z28

iTrader: (8)

I did mine last summer. It is a breeze to do. Im doing another one tonight.

TransAminal

Wish I knew enough about trans internals to do mine.

Unfortunately the bearings in mine are shot too, and I think thats something best left to a shop.

It sucks when people who own the car before you don't take care of the trans and it ends up with bad synchros and noisy bearings

Krab

iTrader: (28)

It's really not all that difficult to do with the manual and a good write-up. It does get difficult when the bearings must be replaced like in your case. You would need to have access to a press in order to do that. It does suck when the previous owner didn't take care of the car you now own. Good luck with getting it fixed.