any advice to help me swap from a4 to t56?

[fleetfeet2004]

My car is a 96 camaro z28 and I am trashing the 4l60e in favor of a t56. I have all the oem parts from a local guy selling EVERYTHING to me for 1500$

So I have all the parts, it just looks really difficult to do in my driveway (I am 19) and I haven't been able to find a shop who is wiling to do it for me, soo. I took an engine out of a ls1 trans am so f*ck it. I can manage a tranny swap.

I just need some advice from someone who has done this before. And I have read this:

http://www.afrashteh.com/tranny_pics/T56.htm

its only so helpful when you have never done this before.

I am concerned mainly with the clearance and cutting involved along with drilling for installing the master cylinder.

[Ryan Stout]

There's stampings where the factory cuts the m6 cars at, they'll give you a good guideline. Use a holesaw on the master cylinder hole. If its square or anything, it'll make a weak spot and probably tear the firewall. Its not a bad swap, its like changing a clutch, but with some cutting involved.

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[Fastbird]

Don't pre drill the holes for the master cylinder. Mount the pedals and use the interior bracket as a template and drill then with the pedals/bracket installed. You'll be dead on.

Oh....and I know a guy who makes a neat little harness kit that will make your wiring installation much easier. ;)

Posted from my Rooted and ICS'd Rezound

[Ryan Stout]

If fastbird is thinkin of who I'm thinking of I bet its a great piece priced right.

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[fleetfeet2004]

First of all, who is this magical guy who makes the wiring harnesses, plus I think I found something on ebay that would get me covered as far as wiring "pigtails" or something like that.

I like the idea of lining up pedals and checking for the factory outlines. Thanks! I think I have a whole saw but I am severely lacking in the power tools department. Most of my tools are really under-powered with sh*ty blades lol. But I'll try to make it work, I successfully cut a trap door and installed my racetronix fuel pump with a little dremel from orchard supply for like 100$ lol. went through 2 blades though so I think I need some new blades.

My parents literally laugh at me when I am struggling to finish jobs/projects like this because are tools are so sh*tty, they think my car is just 'stupid' ANYWAY, had to get that off my chest.

I am little concerd with flywheel and clutch. I am a little pissed at GM for making the lt1 externally balanced, wtf? I am worried that the flywheel from the manual tranny wont be balanced right for my specific lt1. Unless they are all out of balance exactly the same way (which would be really stupid, why not balance it when they build it? wth)

So should I be worried about the flywheel or should it just bolt right on and be good to go? And honestly, what clutch should I use? Spec? reuse stock clutch with unknown miles? idk. My lt1 is bone stock with boltons, cai and longtubes. But after the new transmission I planned on going the LE2 route and get around 400whp. I am sure I will need a new clutch/pp.

Also whats the deal with the clutch fork? I mean wtf. Why pull the clutch? ls1 is just better to work with in every way. These little things are so stupid, I was *this close* to swapping an ls1 when I decided I liked the lt1 sound better... now it is kicking me in the ass. Everyday I find a reason I should have went lsx. But regardless I committed to the ltx so I need to understand how that works. I don't 'get it' what does the fork attach too and how do you install when attaching the tranny to the bellhousing?

Maybe I am overreacting. I hope I can just bolt up the stock tranny and plug and play without worrying about engine balance.

[Sahara54]

First off...Calm down. Take a breath and count backward from 10....




Done, Ok good.

A T56 swap is not that hard in our cars. It's like they were made for it.

Yes, stock our motors are externally balanced but they are all the same...so a GM lt1 flywheel will bolt up and be happy as will any flywheel that is lt1 specific.

Clutch - You want to aim for 400hp, go aftermarket. Do some research for what you want in characteristics, feel, hold.

And the clutch fork pushes on the clutch just like every other clutch fork.

Btw, I hope you were being sarcastic about the harness guy but if not just PM Fastbird... I hear he's like the only one who can ever track that guy down.

[Featherburner]

And the clutch fork pushes on the clutch just like every other clutch fork.
Are you sure about that?

[Green94Maro]

I just got finished with my t56 swap and it's not as bad as it seems. I did the same thing as you at first. I read around on the forums and on write-ups and it seemed as if it was going to be difficult. The main thing is to just relax. Make sure you have everything you need before you start tearing your car apart.

The wiring isn't difficult at all. I ordered the set on Ebay that came with all the pigtails I needed for like $20.

The clutch fork was the thing I was most worried about throughout the whole swap, but once again, I worried for nothing.

As far as the cutting goes, I cannot help you there. My car was previously a 5 Speed V6 car before I swapped in the LT1 so all of my holes were already there for me.

If you have any questions about ANYTHING, feel free to message me and I can do the best I can with helping you. Here is a link to my t56 swap thread. http://ltxtech.com/forums/showthread.php?23746-T56-Swap-Progress There really isn't any information on my thread that will help, but there are some pictures on there that you might want to look at so you know what you're getting into. I ended up pulling the motor out too because there were a couple little things I wanted to do to that as well. I also figured it would make the T56 install a lot easier since this would be my first time installing a manual transmission. Like I said, if you have any questions, please message me.

[Injuneer]

I don't 'get it' what does the fork attach too and how do you install when attaching the tranny to the bellhousing?

The clutch pivots on a "T" bolt that screws into the front plate of the trans. As a result, it just hangs there while you install the trans to the bell-housing. The fork has a slot in it so that you can pull it "out" (away from the input shaft) to allow you to slide the input shaft into the throw out bearing and the disc. After you get it all together, you push the fork "in" so the little fingers go over the throw out bearing. Very simple, nothing to be afraid of.

[fleetfeet2004]

ok thanks for the motivation. Guess I'll have to ride a bike to work in the mean time lol. Working 40 hours a week without much time for the car means I need to get it all done before school starts again in sept. Time to occupy the driveway and get working every spare min. I have.

The tranny came with a poly trans mount and no torque arm mount. So I guess this means that I need to buy a umi torque arm relocation kit? Is it ok to run the poly mount with rubber oem engine mounts? I don't really want to search for an oem tranny mount but I may have to.

I got the flywheel resurfaced today and it still has some minor chips/cracks in it from the previous user. At least the heat spots are gone. The machine shop told it should be fine for use for a while so I am going to use it. I am a bone stock lt1 anyway. clutch looks good to so I will reuse it but the pressure plate looks rough with heat spots, no cracks though. I am not sure if it is ok to reuse or not, I hope so because I spent most of my money on the transmission.

lastly I bought longtubes along with the transmission. so should I install those at the same time? any easier without the transmission installed?

Also I forgot to add that my catback is welded on LOL so I will have to cut off my exhuast with a saw.

I also need to get a new pilot bearing and a pilot bearing puller from orileys.

Toughest parts of my job are now:
cutting and installing master cylinder
cutting to fit shifter
long extensions to get to bell-housing bolts
jacking the car up high enough off the ground
benching the transmission up and bolting it on by my-self
figuring out how the umi tourqe arm relocater works
figuring out how the tranny mount works.

[Green94Maro]

Running a poly trans mount with rubber motor mounts is the one combination you want to avoid. Both poly or poly motor/rubber tranny are acceptable combinations from what I've read.

I didn't do my header install while the motor was in the car, but I would assume it would be easier once you get the tranny out. It will just be one less thing to get in your way.

A good investment may be a transmission jack if you don't already have one. It will certainly make things a lot easier and safer. I've seen some guys try to use their floor jack to balance the tranny on...doesn't look safe at all

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[fleetfeet2004]

Running a poly trans mount with rubber motor mounts is the one combination you want to avoid. Both poly or poly motor/rubber tranny are acceptable combinations from what I've read.

I didn't do my header install while the motor was in the car, but I would assume it would be easier once you get the tranny out. It will just be one less thing to get in your way.

A good investment may be a transmission jack if you don't already have one. It will certainly make things a lot easier and safer. I've seen some guys try to use their floor jack to balance the tranny on...doesn't look safe at all

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yeah I heard that too, but I think I have found a solution to my problem. It fixes the problem of the tranny mount and the lack of tourqe arm mount... the UMI cross-member/tourqe arm mount relo kit. It does use a single poly bushing for the tourque arm and deletes the tranny bushing. Its 250$ but it solves 3 of my problems at the same time soo... looks like its the way I am going to go. I don't think it will have a prob with stock motor mounts since umi sells it for use with stock tourque arms. Besides I am into autox and road racing so relocating the tourque arm off the tranny while keeping it full length is cool.

now for the tranny jack... yeah your right but I don't have extra money to spend and I am already pinching pennies to just complete the swap and get a car running so I don't have to ride a bike.

[Injuneer]

I've been running an ES poly trans mount, with the stock rubber motor mounts for about 15 years.... same mount under three different trans setups (T56/McLeod Street Twin, TH400, TH400+Gear Vendors O/D) and behind an engine that transformed from a bolt-on stocker with a 125-shot of nitrous, to a 381ci stroker with a 300-shot of nitrous (800HP/800lb-ft at the flywheel). I have never encountered a problem of any kind.

As far as the UMI TA mount relocation kit, you might want to check the parts included. It requires that you buy a new poly TA bushing, and allows you to delete the stock TA mount with it's rubber clamshell 2-piece bushing. But I do not see where it would include a new transmission mount. There is nothing to prevent you from using your stock rubber mount, or you could buy a new poly mount.

[Still2slow]

I did the conversion about 10 years ago, feel free to pm me any questions once you've started and I'll do my best to get back to you ASAP. Hopefully my memory holds up. It's somewhat straight forward and like you said, if you can pull a motor this isn't above your skills. Go for it!!! The only thing other than basic hand tools you should need are a torque wrench, hole saw for a drill, and sawsall or cutoff wheel.

I just wanted to add that one thing that can be overlooked is the necessity of installing a pilot bearing or preferably pilot bushing in the back of the crank.

[fleetfeet2004]

Thanks for all the support guys! Seriously it's really motivational and helpful. LTX FOR LIFE xD. I have already decided I am replacing the pilot bearing but I think I am going to stick with oem replacement parts for everything for now. I think my local orileys will be just fine for clutch and pressure plate, got my flywheel resurfaced already but I think I should have just got a new one from orileys and I may still do that. The question is: Should I get a new rear main seal, I am not sure if it is leaking or not honestly, but I think it is because it drips something from the torque converter on the driveway. Also, do throw-out bearings come installed with pressure plates or do you need to install new ones yourself? I am not sure. Lastly my clutch looks ok to use 'as is' pressure plate has heat spots but no cracks, machine shop said I couldn't machine it so do you all think it would be ok to use? everything ran fine with the previous owner. The flywheel was cracked though, got heat spots out but cracks remain. I also want to install an aluminum drive-shaft while I am there. And if I had a bigger budget I would add a umi full length torque arm.

I am not worried about the drilling so much anymore. I looked where the clutch would be on my car (interior is all stripped out) and I can see the template. Once I get all the parts I am going to start with the project. I might make a build thread if I am not too overwhelmed.

My biggest concerns now are the top bell-housing bolts as well as a flywheel holder because I know I am not going to get much of any help from anyone. This will need to be a one man job. Like I said, my parents laugh at me instead of help me out...

[fleetfeet2004]

Thanks for all the support guys! Seriously it's really motivational and helpful. LTX FOR LIFE xD. I have already decided I am replacing the pilot bearing but I think I am going to stick with oem replacement parts for everything for now. I think my local orileys will be just fine for clutch and pressure plate, got my flywheel resurfaced already but I think I should have just got a new one from orileys and I may still do that. The question is: Should I get a new rear main seal, I am not sure if it is leaking or not honestly, but I think it is because it drips something from the torque converter on the driveway. Also, do throw-out bearings come installed with pressure plates or do you need to install new ones yourself? I am not sure. Lastly my clutch looks ok to use 'as is' pressure plate has heat spots but no cracks, machine shop said I couldn't machine it so do you all think it would be ok to use? everything ran fine with the previous owner. The flywheel was cracked though, got heat spots out but cracks remain. I also want to install an aluminum drive-shaft while I am there. And if I had a bigger budget I would add a umi full length torque arm.

I am not worried about the drilling so much anymore. I looked where the clutch would be on my car (interior is all stripped out) and I can see the template. Once I get all the parts I am going to start with the project. I might make a build thread if I am not too overwhelmed.

My biggest concerns now are the top bell-housing bolts as well as a flywheel holder because I know I am not going to get much of any help from anyone. This will need to be a one man job. Like I said, my parents laugh at me instead of help me out...

update: I learned reading this article: (http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/tech/0705gm_transmission_swap/viewall.html

the pictures are very helpful thanks gmpp!)

that I can reuse the stock a4 tranny mount/rubber bushing ^_^ ok cool. And thanks to the other guide I am reading I have the part numbers for a t56 torque arm bracket. So I can save 200$ from not getting the umi relo bracket. I also called orileys and its 220$ for oem replacement clutch kit. clutch, pp, and throwout bearing. I can't decide if I should just do that or go aftermarket. I don't really want to spend 500$ though. and I am still pretty clueless about how the throwout bearing works. Anyone want to fill me in as to how that gets installed?

[Green94Maro]

My competition clutch stage 2 kit was $214 on sale and with a discount code. Heck of a deal and has been a great clutch to me so far. I went with a stock replacement flywheel. The throwout bearing just sits inside the pressure plate. It is held on with a half-circle clip.

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[Green94Maro]

In this picture you can see that the throwout bearing comes in from the other side of the pressure plate and the clip attaches on the other side to hold it in place

http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/08/25/y4eqy8yv.jpg

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[fleetfeet2004]

My competition clutch stage 2 kit was $214 on sale and with a discount code. Heck of a deal and has been a great clutch to me so far. I went with a stock replacement flywheel. The throwout bearing just sits inside the pressure plate. It is held on with a half-circle clip.

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I've heard bad things about competition clutch though? Work good for you?

[Green94Maro]

Almost every review I read on forum threads had good things to say about them. That is what led me to try it out. I was more than pleased for the price, especially since I was on a budget.

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