Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Well, after some talking with Jason at Thunder this past weekend, I may Pro-Shift my spare tranny and try it out.

Liberty will sell just the parts to do it yourself. http://www.libertysgears.com

You send them your 2, 3, and 4th gear (input shaft), along with your 1-2 and 3-4 slider rings. They machine the little nubby teeth off of the gears and weld on a 12-tooth ring. They also modify the slider sleeves.

They told me that the condition of the nubby teeth does not matter on the gears, but that the sliders do need to be in decent shape.

You remove the first 4 sets of blocker rings (1-4), and you also remove the keys and key springs. For this reason, the tranny must be assembled horizontally (otherwise it'll want to slip in to a gear while on the bench).

They do not pro-shift 1st gear, but they do 2, 3, and 4. They don't modify the 1st gear side of the 1-2 slider.

The cost is $66/gear and $33/slider (total of $264).

IMO this does not sound like a very streetable tranny, but I could shift from 1st to 5th if necessary (4.56 gears rule ). Couldn't enter 1st gear unless stopped (no blocker ring), and you'd have to rev match / double clutch to get in to the other gears when downshifting.

Should be interesting. I have spare T56 parts laying around, so if I hate it, I can always back out. None of this is irreversible. I would do the assembly myself, as I've worked over a few T56's already...

Anyone have any comments on how they drive? I personally have never driven one, but I'm just very curious. Like trying crazy things.

-Andrew

Coach 02 A3 Z/28

iTrader: (10)

Andrew, Andrew, Andrew,

Do you want to hurt that brand new Thunder Racing Motor?

You know the story that happen to me. I have your spare motor in the Hot Rod because of the Liberty Pro-shifting the T56.

STOP my friend!

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

I know, I know, your story is first and foremost in my mind about the Pro-shifted trans. Believe me, I'm thinking about it.

But...

The more I think about racing my car, the more I want to stay with the 6-speed. I was thinking about maybe going TH350. Well, let's take a look at your car again. Ouch. 2nd gear sprag.

What I'm thinking, at least, the T56 is a tranny that I can work on. I can have one out, rebuilt, and back in - in 2 days or less. I've never rebuilt an auto tranny, and have no real desire to do so. But T56's are strong, and they're cake to work on. Zero labor cost. I just wish mine would go in to gear *better*.

I'm going to try to put some miles on my car before I decide 'for sure' to do this. My 'new' tranny still feels notchy going in to gear, so I'm going to replace the master cylinder with a McLeod and see what happens. The MCyl is the only piece left from the old system. Of course, the tranny only has 3 miles on it, so it may still 'break in' a little bit. Dual bullets doesn't make "just driving around for break in" very easy in populated areas.

I really want it to bang through the gears *fast*. I plan to run M/S in next year's shootout. Gotta drop another hundred pounds off the car tho.

-Andrew

critter

iTrader: (9)

I've seen this referred to before, but can't find anything with search. Could you elaborate, please?

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

Coach had several issues, several times, with his Pro-shifted trans.

He had it start misbehaving on him (popping out of gear) after only a few miles. He sent it in for a rebuild.

He got it back, and during one of his passes down the track, something happened and the motor over-revved. Missed a gear and valve float? Missed a gear and mechanically over-revved? Did something happen internally in the trans? I don't know. But something to that effect. The motor dropped a valve and, well, that's one of the reasons he's running my spare motor these days.

Now, fast forward to me. This is just my perception of it, but... I can build my own trannies. If something goes wrong, I can fix it. I won't be sending it off anywhere.

I have a spare. If I hate it, out it comes, the spare goes back in.

I have boxes of left over T56 parts from other trannies I've worked on, including gears and sliders. If I hate it, I can put the parts back in to it and make it a 'normal' T56 again. For example, I've got this second gear sitting in a box at home. Perfect for pro-shifting, because it's FUBAR'd otherwise.

Just want to try it and see how she goes down the track.

-Andrew

kp

iTrader: (34)

If you need a 3rd gear and 3-4 slider I have the extras out of mine. They were new when the dealer messed up my trans and I replaced them after only a couple hundred miles of driving (and 15 passes) with no 3rd gear blocker. You can have them if you wish, I was going to save them but the 3rd gear in this extra trans I have looks perfect..

Interesting thing is, when the dealer did this trans it ground very bad going into 3rd and 4th - mainly because they forgot to put the 3rd gear blocker in and the keys popped out before the car ever moved an inch

Anyhow, knowing something was screwed up I took the car to a local 1/8 mile track (dont get into fourth in the 1/8 - didnt want to screw up the input shaft) and made 15 passes. I couldnt miss 3rd to save my life, it was the first time I could powershift 3rd in a long time - thats with no 3rd gear blocker at all. Wasnt exactly smooth going in but it went in..

So I take the trans out and fix it, brand new 3rd gear, 3-4 syncro assembly and carbon fber blockers in 3-4. Take the car to the track a week later and can hit 3rd at all, 1/2 the time it goes in the 'dead zone' somewhere between 3rd and 5th and the other 1/2 (unless I really granny shift it) just flat wont go in 3rd. Its perfect on the street though.

Install Mcleod master and finally can get the car in 3rd 98% of the time. Except the Mcloed thing squeaks and moans and the pedal pressure is almost double of the 2002 master that was in it..

Moral of the story is, if I could jam this thing in 3rd power shifting with no 3rd blocker at all 100% of the time without the clutch disengaging all the way I'm sure the pro-shifted trans will be the same. Even though driving the car without 3rd and 4th gear syncros is no fun at all and thats the same way the pro shifted car would be..

critter

iTrader: (9)

Yeah, that is strange. We were doing that with the bike trannies back in the 70's. I'm sure guys were pro-shifting muncies, top loaders, and Mopar trannies in those days or since. I've heard that there have been a ton of Mustangs with pro-shifted T-5s. I've never heard of that sort of trouble before. Normally, they almost fall in gear. The trick on the bikes was to have the dogs slightly back cut.
I don't have a box of parts around, but I'd sure like to try it too. I need a cage and slicks worse at the moment, but some day ....

I'll be interested in your experience. Please keep us posted.

kp

iTrader: (34)

I had a big block camaro with a chrysler (new process) 'crashbox' in the early 80's late 70s. Basically it was just grinding every other tooth of the slider and clutch teeth on the gears and blockers (which were welded in I remember). Its a lot of fun but I tore the countershafts up on a regular basis (shouldnt have used the aluminum case I found out years later), switched to a clutch-flight after that and didnt have much luck with those either. Thank goodness high stall converters and trans brakes came around

95 Formula

iTrader: (2)

I will let you know soon. Mine is being done right now. I drove coaches right when it was back together and loved it. Shifted smoooooth. I don't know what happened after that though.

Formula 1

iTrader: (5)

Stay out of my spare parts!

Camaroholic

iTrader: (1)

I got parts in my tranny that's on my floor.

-Andrew

1BADWS6@STENOD

iTrader: (6)

I might have some experience in this area! I had my t-56 pro-shifted earlier this summer...and I love it! I have about 2,500 street miles on it and still feels great! Once you get the hang of it, it is cake to drive. At the track it is awesome! Leave the throttle to the floor, slap the clutch and grab the gears as fast and hard as you can! When driving on the street you do have to stop completely to put it in first. I also found that once you let out the clutch when the trans isn't in gear, you must put it in 5th or 6th to slow down the gears or it will grind when putting back in 1st.

As for the popping out of gear. Liberty told me that you have to hold the shifter in place under hard acceleration or deceleration or it will pop out of gear. This is because they take out the dog rings, which supposedly keep the gears engaged. Again not that hard to get used to. You do have to worry about throwing it in 1st when going to 3rd, because there is nothing there to stop it and that would be trouble!

Camaroholic i have a couple questions for you and i'm sure you will have some for me. I'll PM you in a bit. later