Faceplating Experiences

[12sec97Z28]

Took the Camaro out last night and it was refusing to hit gears at high rpms unless I slowed down my shifts a little. It's a pretty much stock 97 T56 that's been crappily rebuilt once many years ago and I'm shifting it at around 7000-7100 rpms. I'm strongly considering faceplating it and want to know anything and everything I can about it since I'm sure the trans will need to be rebuilt soon anyway (stoker on a 300 shot).

Since I plan to street drive it a couple thousand miles a year, I was thinking about faceplating 3/4 and leaving 1/2 and 5/6 synchronized. It has 4.10s, so 2 to 5 shift should be usable if I want to avoid the faceplated gears. Thoughts?

[Ryan Stout]

I had 1-2, 3-4 faceplated. 5-6 synchroed. LOVED IT.

[MEAN LT1]

Getting mine done as we speak.

[SSlowBoat]

Heard Bob Hanlon say flat out you don't want a face plated trans on the street, and I've driven one, it was rough, but it was a stang so your results may vary

[12sec97Z28]

Ryan, what did you love so much about it and how were its manners? The car will at most probably get 2-3000 miles a year, but I have to make sure it's functional when I do street drive it. Could you shift it without double clutching?

Tubby, what was so rough about it? I've heard T56s are better to drive faceplated than Mustang transmissions, but have no proof to back it up.

The carbon fiber blocker rings are nearly impossible to get for T56 right now, so unless that changes, my options will probably be faceplating or swapping to a 6060 which will be much bigger money. Even Jason at Texas Drivetrain said he just used his last CF blocker rings a couple weeks ago.

[SSlowBoat]

choppy crunchy rough....dual friction mechanical clutch. it was all kindsa sucky lol. leg hurt. buddy ended up going to a tko600 now and he shifts his cobra at 7k fyi.

[96LT1355Z28]

1-4 faceplated, 5,6, and reverse still syncro'd on mine but no miles on it yet. Allow plenty of time for the faceplating, mine got pushed aside for a "special project" (their words) for about 3 weeks. Liberty's Gears did the work.

Buddy with an LS F body has taken his on Drag Week, from what I've learned it's just a matter of re-learning how to drive your car.

[dawdaw]

Face plated similar to a semi where you float gears and use no clutch?

[96LT1355Z28]

Guys have shifted without the clutch but it's not recommended, I'll still be using the clutch.

[Neil350]

Joe had mentioned parts were getting hard to find, didn't know how serious he actually was. Kind of weird since its such a popular transmission.

[superspirit]

When I had to rebuild mine a couple months back I had a hard time finding a few of the parts, I was told the manufacturer that was making the replacement parts for tremec went out of business, and tremec hasnt found another contractor to produce them. tremec is busy building all the newer tranny's for the Auto manufacturers and repair parts for them, so it could be awhile before we see readily available T56 parts again.

[12sec97Z28]

To be more specific, the carbon fiber synchro rings are almost non-existent at this point. That's another thing making me explore options. Having the girlfriend's C5Z06 T56 rebuilt at the moment and I was lucky enough to have a contact who had a couple of these left. Even Jason at TDP said he used his last set a couple of weeks ago and can't get anymore until the new manufacturer starts distributing them.

[96LT1355Z28]

Drove mine on the street and it takes some getting used to but was not as bad as I thought it would be. You just have to find what rpm the trans likes to be shifted at and then don't baby it. Think of it as "speed shifting" from one gear to the next, if you try and go slow it will grind and sound horrible. Down shifting is the same way, find the right rpm and just shift it. I still use the clutch as Liberty says not doing so will drastically shorten the life of the parts. Shifted at 7K rpm at the Shootout this year and it was the smoothest thing I've ever driven. After the first pass I was amazed at how smooth the gear change was, you can't even feel it go into the next gear it just hits the shifter stop! I can't say I'd reccomend it for a DD or primarly a street car but if you plan on racing a stick, I'd put it at the top of my list of "to do's".

[94Blackbird]

Drove mine on the street and it takes some getting used to but was not as bad as I thought it would be. You just have to find what rpm the trans likes to be shifted at and then don't baby it. Think of it as "speed shifting" from one gear to the next, if you try and go slow it will grind and sound horrible. Down shifting is the same way, find the right rpm and just shift it. I still use the clutch as Liberty says not doing so will drastically shorten the life of the parts. Shifted at 7K rpm at the Shootout this year and it was the smoothest thing I've ever driven. After the first pass I was amazed at how smooth the gear change was, you can't even feel it go into the next gear it just hits the shifter stop! I can't say I'd reccomend it for a DD or primarly a street car but if you plan on racing a stick, I'd put it at the top of my list of "to do's".

Sounds just like driving my truck then. It has certain spots it likes to slide into gear, just have to have feel for it and a quick hand.

[12sec97Z28]

How much are you guys paying for these rebuilds? Couldn't get into 4th last night causing me to lose my race. Bout done with this synchro crap! LOL