Whoa, no way. To have the WHOLE job done, it was quoted at 350-600?? Now that'd be some great news! Was that just some local automotive place that gave you that estimate? Cuz at this automotive place here in St. Louis, to have a Richmond 6 speed installed in my car, the labor would be 2 or 3 THOUSAND! Not to mention the 3 grand in parts needed, including the transmission. So that would be a 5 or 6 grand job right there... does that sound right or was the guy at the automotive place full of it? Why would it be cheaper to have this particular transmission installed in my 92 Camaro? Just curious cuz neither transmission was created for my car particularly... so does the one that you pointed out on the performance unlimited web site just fit better naturally?? If I go to this local automotive place with a printed copy of the web site and ask how much they think labor would be, should I expect a similar estimate? I certainly hope so, cuz that would just answer all of my problems right there. I could have that done now and have money to spare!!

-Matt

 

Another quick question... the "GM Tremec T-56 93-97 F-Car" transmission that you showed me on the performance unlimited site, is it the same as the one at this link:

http://www.sallee-chevrolet.com/BorgWarner/bwt56.html

really really curious because there is a 400 dollar difference in price!! It sounds like its exactly the same thing though. So does that mean that the "GM Tremec T-56 93-97 F-Car" tranny is considered a "retrofit" also? On skulte's page they make it sound like it slides right in!!

-Matt

 

If you have to pay a mechanic to do this swap for you, forget about it and go buy a thirdgen with a stock 5-speed. Between buying the 5 speed and paying for the install, you're looking at $2500 or more. Combine that with the money you can get from your car and you'll have yourself a damn nice TPI 5-speed car.

 

Really? You think it would only be about 2500 for parts AND labor? If thats the case I'm all for it the swap. Theres no way I'm selling my Camaro though.

 

I am in the process of trying to get the my tranny to bolt up to a 2 piece main rear seal block, I'll let you know how it goes.
Chris
Anyone know where I can get a custom built flywheel for this?????

 

Tekno....if it's a T-56 you're throwing in you can get a flywheel from Centerforce for a little under $300. That's where I got mine. It's the only place I could find that had a T-56 flywheel for an early-model block.

As for swapping costs: I am a professional mechanic and I can tell you from personal experience that swapping a T-56 into a thirdgen is cake. With the appropriate conversion parts (crossmember mainly) it's practically a direct bolt-in. I did mine on a gravel driveway with the car on jackstands in about 9 hours total labor. With a lift and air tools, it would be much less. If you were to bring your car into my shop, with all the necessary parts, it would probably cost you right around $450 for us to swap it in. If you get the tranny and most of the other parts from a junkyard, you can probably have it in the car for $3000 or so. I did mine for less that 2 grand, but as I said I did my own labor.

 

http://128bitencrypted.com/centerfor...tarq=CHEVROLET

Part # 700100 and # 700177 match
will those work?
Chris

 

Whats a flywheel???

 

I said the same thing about my 86 Firebird. I even built a 350 and had it on a stand. Then I came to my senses and realized that after I went through all that expense and work, I still had a million mile no-option nothing car with a 350. I sold the car, bought an IROC to drop the 350 in and I haven't looked back. Best decision I ever made. I know that you're attached to your car, but you really need to think long and hard about this. If you can't do the work yourself, you're going to be paying HUGE cash to get that car the way you want it. For way less money you can just buy one that's already how you want it. By the time you convert to a 5-speed and replace that anemic 305, you're going to have fortune invested into an RS camaro. That money could buy you an absolutely stunning car that's already got a T56 behind an L98. Hell, that money could even buy you a nice Vette. I'm all about upgrading your car (hell, look at mine) but even when you can do it all yourself you wind up losing a ton of money. If you have to pay to get it all done, you're going to be pissing ridiculous amounts of money away, and at the end of it all you still only have an RS camaro to show for it. I'm just saying to think long and hard over it. I owned my 86 since I was 17 (it was my first car) and selling it was one of the hardest things I have ever done, but it was also one of the smartest.

 

well, alls thats left to do is put in the tranny crossmember that i am still waiting for from skulte, and the cable x box.
cant wait
Chris

 

700100 is what I used.

 

Well i had a T5 that stood up to a 305 TPI for 135,000 miles.Then i swapped in an L98 with lots of mods.It stood up to it for about 10,000 miles.Blew that motor running an LS1 on topend.Swapped in a 409 small block with superram,cam and many,many more mods.The T5 hung in there for a few thousand miles of that motor before it finally needed rebuilt.Maybe i was the exception but i think the T5 gets a bad rap.

 

damn thats a lot of miles for a stock t-5, especially behind any sort of decent power



btw was it a world class t-5 or not?

 

Yes it was a world class T5.I dogged it all the time behind all 3 motors and it was either old age or the 409s torque that finally did it in.

 

That T-5 must've been a factory freak. They're out there, but there's no real way to find them......every once in a while you'll just see one that'll hold up to all kinds of power, while all the other supposedly identical tranny's are blowing like Old Faithful.