kp

iTrader: (34)

I had a local dealer rebuild my t-56 under warranty after my 5th gear went away and the car was popping out of 3rd since new. Ever since I got it back it has been acting like it had no syncros in 3rd and 4th - well thats because it didnt Decided just to pull it apart myself and this is what I found stuck to the magnets, everything looks perfect in the trans except one of the 6th gear countershaft teeth got chipped when the key went through. I'm going to replace the 3-4 blockers and syncro assembly just to be safe anyhow..

Except for having to make my own long puller these transmissions are pretty easy to get apart, hopefully its just as easy to get back together

Here is what was stuck to the magnets, never did find the other spring for the keys, either it got ground up (doubtfull) or was never put in..

Jason99T/A

iTrader: (21)

Ouch!! I can see why it was tough to shift. lol

Got any pics of the puller you made for the 5th/6th driven gear,etc.?

Jason

kp

iTrader: (34)

I'll take a pic tomorrow, it was pretty crude but it worked and took like 5 minutes to engineer.

Now that I have it all apart I realize why the keys popped out - there was no 3rd gear blocker. I'll probably replace 3rd gear also since its pretty rounded off.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Ouch! That was a dumbass move on their part.

Yeah, post up some pics. I've got some ideas on what to do to my own puller to make it work. I've also entertained thoughts of just buying the $200 SnapOn puller... I rebuilt another T56 this week... It had broken one of the 3-4 slider keys, and was hanging in 4th.

To get the gear off, the owner took it to a trans shop and they popped it off in under a minute.

-Andrew

kp

iTrader: (34)

If I were to do this a lot I would buy the right puller. I use my balancer puller and two jaws off my cheapo 3 jaw puller plus some strapping I had left over from garge door opener install. Be carefull though, my 13" snap on puller I use for everything wasnt long enough to get the driven gear off, for doing it once in a while my setup will work but that gear is on there pretty good and I was afraid it would slip and chip a tooth. Even though its only 6th gear and a chipped tooth wouldnt be so horrible, the 6th drive gear lost a 1/3 tooth when the key went through it so I didnt want to take a chance on chipping the driven gear with the puller - that sucker is on there..



Anyhow, how on earth they missed the blocker on the 3rd gear is beyond me since that needs to pressed on, I could see forgetting the 4th gear blocker. Thats goodwrench quality for you..



All in all its a pretty simple trans, I honestly should have just replaced the 3-4, 5-6 blockers myself and the shift forks instead of having the dealer touch it. I just assumed they had a clue and the 'free and easy' aspect appealed to my lazyness. It would have cost me about 100.00 in parts just to replace the blockers and the 3-4 shift fork.

It cost me 60.00 for a workmate 375 portable workbench (works awesome for a manual trans - I didnt want to drill a hole in my nice bench at home) and 40.00 worth of the good craftsman snap ring pliers from sears, 411.00 from D&D for parts, 3-4 syncro asy, 3rd gear, 3-4 blockers, fork pads - cant believe how bad they look only after 25 1/8 mile passes, and a snap ring kit. The 6th drive gear is 150.00 so I'll take a chance on the chipped tooth since 6th isnt exactly a high load gear. I Have a small press here so pulling/installing the syncro hubs are not a problem, you could use some pipe and a hammer for what I am doing here though.

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

I tried to build one that looked nearly identical to it, but my metal strips were a little thinner. It didn't work for me, I kept bending the strips. I was planning on using some flat bar steel for the next time around tho.

Here is the most badass set of snap ring pliers ever:

http://buy1.snapon.com/catalog/pro_d...mp;dir=catalog

I use those on the T56. I will NEVER go back to regular retainer ring pliers again. They make those rings *cake*. Another case of where the right tool is worth every penny and then some.

-Andrew

kp

iTrader: (34)

Yup, those are great pliers, I wish I could find mine. Not sure if they were snap-on but they looked the same, just moved recently and everytime I need something I'm diggin through boxes. The sears ones worked OK, but like any other tool if you use them a lot they wont hold up like the good stuff.

I made some solis steel extentions with my 3 jaw puller that would have worked great except you cant get a 3 jaw puller on that gear. I could have made my snap on puller work if I had some threaded rod but I wanted to get it apart last night so I could get the parts here saturday and get it back together to go to the track sunday. You know how it is at 1am trying to make a tool - you use what works

kp

iTrader: (34)

Just an update, finished putting it together today around 6pm and just got back from and hour long ride. Works great, did manage to get it stuck in that 'mystery gear' somewhere between 3rd and 5th once powershifting from 2-3 but other then that it works great. At least I know why it gets stuck in between those two gears now, if you ever seen the shifting mechanism inside its a wonder these things work at all after some beating.. I also put the newest updated slave on the car, clutch feels much better now.

Total parts cost 345.00 (plus 46.00 for overnight sat freight) from D&D and they even overnighted it to me so i would get the stuff today.

Few more pics to try to encourage someone to do this themself, its really not hard. Only hard thing is if you mess up a bearing and it needs to be replaced, some measuring/shimming involved, everything else isnt that bad. If you just want to do the carbon fiber 3-4 blockers and shift fork its pretty easy. I started on the car 7pm Thursday, had the trans out and disassembled by 1am. Ordered the parts Friday morning, cleaned everything up Friday waiting for parts. Parts arrived today (Saturday) at 11am and I had the trans in the car by 6pm using only hand tools and taking a long break for lunch.

This + BFH = 3-4 syncro press..



Here is what it all looks like before the case goes on, notice the steel 3-4 fork (darker colored one), its a must on these after looking the beat up original.



Took me an hour of taking the case on and off before I finally figured out how everything needed to be lined up so the the shift rail guide bolts would go in and all the gears worked properly before the 5th-6th and reverse were put on - pretty frustrating untill I got it..



5th, 6th and reverse go on last..



Ready to go back in the car, glad I did it myself just to see how the whole thing works.

Jason99T/A

iTrader: (21)

Cool , thanks for the pics Kevin. I'll be doing my spare T56 next weekend. It was popping out of 3rd gear. This was the T56 I used when the car went 10.59 and did beat the crap out of it on the street, so I'm not surprised it is having problems. I'm curious to see what kind of interesting pieces I find on the magnet this time. lol

Jason - going on T56 #5

kp

iTrader: (34)

popping out of third on mine was just the shift fork/plastic pads. Only thing is wish I would have inspected the links that connect the forks a little better. I dont know if it ever happened to you but sometimes when you go for third the shifter goes into something but it isnt third and just free revs, then you have to yank the shifter back out of gear. I can see how and why that happens now but I didnt think about it when I had it apart. Heck man I'm just glad to have syncros in 3rd and 4th now

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

LOL yeah, those shift rails are real fun the first time around. Took me a while to figure them out too. I have the T56 rebuild manual (in my 94Z Helm manual), but it does not show anything about how the shift rails are put together, or their interaction with the bolts.

Speaking of the shift rail bolts, were yours stuck like a *****? All the trannies I've worked on were. The best method for removing the shift rail bolts that I've found is to have a friend 'hug' the tranny, gripping the wrench as tight as he can (pulling it towards the trans), while I turn the bolt. Otherwise, it's easy to booger those $8 bolts...

-Andrew

66ImpalaLT1

T56's are so easy to work on, I just wish they'd use neoprene gaskets similar to the valve covers. I hate RTV.

Eric

kp

iTrader: (34)

Luckily the dealer put some new bolts in but whover put them in used red loctite on them I broke two cheapo t-40 bits so I had to heat them up pretty good until I seen the locktite bubbling out, then they came out.

I'm just kinda mad at myself I didnt replace the detent/guide lever on the shifter rail. I noticed it was getting a little rounded and its too easy to get stuck between 3rd and 5th when really slamming it. I'm used to the old 4 speeds that didnt have a 5th gear and you had to push hard to the right. Oh well, I'll fix it next time

Slowhawk

iTrader: (12)

LOL, this brings back memries when I rebuilt mine last year.I made a getto puller just like pictured above and it worked.To reinstall that gear I just popped it in the toaster oven at 400 degree's for 5 minutes and it slide right on.Also broke 3 t-40 bit's till I torched around them and they almost fell out.
A tip for a first time rebuilder is to lay out in order the parts you take off so you put it back piece by piece the same exact way,made my life easier.Took me 5 hours to rebuild with 3rd-4th syncro,gears and clutch fork.

FAST LS1

iTrader: (2)

I've had this happen before too. What's happening when it does that?

kp

iTrader: (34)

There is an internal guide, basically a piece of metal with slots cut in it. On the round rail there is a guide that pins on with a blade that follows the cutouts. From what I gather its possible to just catch the corner of that and catch the lower shift pin between 3rd and 5th levers. the shifter will move forward but when the guide moves past the 'V' its binds up since the lower pin is betwwen links and not lined up. Kinda hard to explain, if you seen the shift mechanism in person its easy to see what happens. Here is a pic of the guide rail and the the lower links/selector pin, its not real clear what is happening unless you see it for yourself - but as you can see there are a lot of parts to make it shift properly..

kp

iTrader: (34)

It was easy to beat the 5th gear back in with a pipe/BFH - it was a lot harder to get it off then on :/
I used a piece of pvc pipe and just slid all the parts on in order, I'm getting old and have CRS syndrome

algws6

iTrader: (3)

camaroholic rules when it comes to the T56. we did mine last week or should i say he did mine last week while i was just the cleaning/tool bitch. andrew call me this week i still owe you ninfas or whatever.

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

kp, you should show me how to rebuild mine I'll drive down and bring all the parts needed

Scalpel

iTrader: (4)

If the installer would have laid it all out in front of him I doubt any of that would have happened