qwarnon

alright guys, i know there are threads on this, but they seem to all be partial and scattered, if anyone can point me in the direction of some good threads or websites with info i would greatly appreciate it.

Right now, i am building a 1993 nissan 240sx with a 355 gen 1 sbc in it. its the 2 piece older seal kind. Basically what i need to know is:

1)what parts would i need to mount a t56 to this motor.

2)what sensors or electrical things do i need to deal with
this is my main concern, i have a super T-10 i can use if this is too difficult, but this would mean swapping rearends to a pathfinder rear... with 240 axles.. it'd be a pain. anyway, i know with the T-10 i have no electronics to worry about and its a cable clutch

3)im pushing about 400hp and torque.. all t56's handle that no problem right?

i am also worried about physically fitting this in the trans tunnel, the 240 was an auto car, so it has a descent sized tunnel, but im not sure of the dimensions of the t56.. can anyone tell me how wide it is? and how tall the transmission itsself is?
(since im adapting to an older bell housing i assume the bell housing height and width will be the same as a gen 1 bell housing)

finally, length of the tranny really does not matter i dont think, i have to get a custom driveshaft either way, i can easily cut a new hole for a shifter when it doesnt line up. I just dont want to beat up my firewall and trans tunnel too much to put this in here.

any info is appreiciated!

thesource

iTrader: (60)

A T56 will hold more than that in a Nissan 240SX . As for installing it in the car , the first thing is to make sure you have enough room in the tunnel for it . After that , bolting it up to a 1st gen sbc should not be a big deal . The only real sensors on the T56 that you need to be concerned with are the reverse back up light , reverse solenoid and speedometer .

85MikeTPI

iTrader: (9)

The front plate of the T56 (behind the bellhousing) is about 12" high and 12" wide, sorta shaped like a stop sign. It tapers back more like 10" x 10" for most of the body.

Lengths are nicely represented here:
http://www.southernperformancesystems.com/dim_t56.html

Getting an empty T56 case to do the mockup would be ideal, check around in your area to see if any builders would loan you one. (I've done it a few times for folks in the MD/DE/PA area.)

qwarnon

thanks for the info guys, and keep it coming,

ill try to look for a case i could borrow, thats a great idea.

also do i have to have the reverse lockout solenoid hooked up? or would it run w/o it, just reverse wouldnt be locked out. I'm thinking i wont need any of the sensors such as the VSS sensor because my car has no ECU/ECM.

thesource

iTrader: (60)

I didn't hook mine up in my 94 Mustang .

qwarnon

thats good to know, and i can just buy an electronic speedometer to hook to it and i should be fine right?

85MikeTPI

iTrader: (9)

The autometer speedo will read the 4000ppm signal from the VSS just fine. That's what I have in my car.

qwarnon

alright, so i have read that an lt1 t56 may bolt up to my gen 1 small block without much modification, but an ls1 t56 take an adapter plate? is that how it works?

heres a link to the tranny i've been looking at, just because it has the adapter plate mostly.

http://stlouis.craigslist.org/pts/967472680.html

85MikeTPI

iTrader: (9)

The LT1 T56 with Bellhousing and clutch will work directly with an older SBC, you just have to use the LT1 hydraullics. The adaptor plate can be used over an LS1 T56 and lets you adapt a Muncie/T5/Saginaw type bellhousing/clutch to the T56, without switching over from the mechanical pedal/linkage and bellhousing,etc..

qwarnon

ok, so i have a bellhousing to mate a super t-10 to my gen 1 355, that one wont work with the t56, regardless of the adapter plate

so basically my options are:

1)T56 from an lt1 which i can bolt up using LT1 hydrolics, and what bellhousing?

2) T56 from an LS1 with the adapter plate and a t-5(so im assuming stock from any F-bodies with t-5s) muncie, or saginaw 5spd bellhousing, and the what hydrolics do i use?

sorry to ask so many questions.. i dont know much about trannys... i come from an auto family.

also... my engine in older, its a 69 block, so its a 2 piece seal, will this still work?

85MikeTPI

iTrader: (9)

Are you sure it won't work? I'm not a T10 expert, but I thought
most of those 4 speeds used the same 4-bolt pattern bellhousing?

If so, the adaptor plate should work with it. Do you have the
clutch pedals/linkage for it?

Stock LT1 bellhousing, or a McLeod steel one if you need SFI.

The older 4 and 5 speeds would use their respective stock
(many of them using mechanical linkages) clutch setups.

You should basically pickout your clutch linkage and bellhousing
setup, then choose the T56 that best fits with your clutch. The
modern OEM LS1 hydraulics help with clearance issues, since
there's no external slave or pivot points for mechanical linkages.
If you already know or have a setup that works, you can usually
get a T56 setup to work with it.


This should only affect the flywheel. Alot of clutch company sell FW/clutch
kits that adapt T56 clutches, with other types of FWs. My 2pc RMS SBC
runs a McLeod flywheel, and a OEM-type LT1 clutch/Presure-plate. Many
other combos are available.

qwarnon

thanks very much for the help to everyone, i think i am going to pickup this t56 and use it in my project if it looks good inside,

anything specific i should check for when looking at the t56 internals in particular?

or just the same stuff as other older trannys

qwarnon

ok, i bought a t-56, its from an LT1 i believe, but it came with both input shafts (LT and LS) as well as the mcleod adapter plate, and a clutch fork.

basically im tranny stupid, what are my options to bolt this up?

can someone please outline what i would need for each option? or at least for the t5 option?

I already have an old 4spd bellhousing, which i dont believe has provisions for an hydraulics, meaning a mech linkage.. which seems like a huge pain, so i dont think ill be going this route... UNLESS....

can i use a hydraulic throwout bearing with that old 4spd bellhousing? then do i not need a slave cyl? or clutch fork? and then could i just a 168 tooth flywheel with an old style sbc clutch?


can i use an ls1 bellhousing with its hydraulics, a 153 tooth flywheel, and ls1 clutch, and a hydraulic throwout bearing?

ok.. also what if i got a T-5 style bellhousing? then i could bolt up T-5 hydraulics (master, and slave) easily. Would i then use a 168 tooth flywheel with a clutch fork? if so what fork? if not should i use a hydro bearing?

i really think i would like to go with the T-5 set up, seems easiest and cheapest, but im not sure.

thanks alot for you help,
chris

the_merv

iTrader: (88)

You would have to use everything from an LT1 setup. It's not too bad to do and works well.