you guys got me thinking, did alittle research,
from what I found, T56 can be built to take 650ft.pd but its costs like $3000 on average without a core

 

its a 6 speed,
personally I'm against the idea of a 1:1 5th gear unless your running like 2.73's

 

I had a 95 t-56 in my 87 bird, motor made around 430 to the wheels, and I didnt have any probs. I used to beat and bang the hell out of it too.. If youre not going to do any heavy drag racing on sticky tires, you should be fine. Nice thing about the street, its a lot easier on parts cause you get wheelspin.

Personally, I loved having 4.56s in the rear and taching 2300 in 6th at 75 mph...

 

Dude, pick up a copy of GMHTP.....couple (big print) advertisers in there selling "built" T-56's for under a grand......700-1500 hp. Although I am fairly sure the 1500 hp would be over a grand.........but still.

Even then, a 1:1 ratio is no diff then running a Muncie 4-spd......great tranny but no overdrive. My understanding is that OD means lower then 1:1 otherwise what is the point?

 

You're right, OD means the ouput shaft is "overdriven" faster than the crank

 

until you call them and find out thats the price for a stock rebuild plus core and doesn't include gears if they are worn
its not cheap to rebuild trannys
$3000 for a BRAND NEW tranny is a good deal,
price out, counter shafts, main shafts, and gears, that stuff is not cheap at all,

sure you can put a used but rebuilt tranny in, but if I'm dropping $10,000+ on a motor, why not put something good behind it,
I'll pay the extra cash for new gears and shafts


I wouldn't run a 4 speed either,
but having 5 gears to get to 1:1 means you either have rediculously close ratios or a stupid low first gear,

I love the tranny I have, 4 gears for the city and 1 for the highway,
that why I want the tranny i want

 

Perhaps, I have never needed to call and look into it.....as I said, there is a guy here who does heavy-duty builds......but if you are throwing over 10k into the motor, I don't see a problem spending less then 1/3 of that for the trans....seems reasonable to me. Personal choice on brand new or built.



My theory, so long as you are happy with what you have, that is all that matters.