Hey guys, new here, but not to cars, especially camaros. I do need some advice though.

My small block should make about 500 hp/ft-lbs, similar to the Vipers output. I really want a manual tranny, for fun, but since I am planning to road race her this spring, its the only way to go. I will drive her on the street, so an OD tranny would be nice. I am running a 3.73 gear now, but with some OD's being .5 I could run a 4.10 and still keep the rpms down on the highway.

It looks to me as the my choices are a T-56 from either a Viper or Corvette. Would the new LS1 T-56's from the F-bodies be able to handel the power I am making? Another choice could be the Tremec TKO 5 speed? Any other choices/opinions are welcome. I need all the help I can get!

Next, once I do choose the tranny, I am thinking of clutche choices. I want something that will hold the power, and keep my left leg alive from pedal pressure. I know SLP's clutches are nice, what bout any other brands?

Lastly, I think I want to Pro shirt 1-3rd gears(where the bascially make them non syncro gears). Has anyone done this and liked it? Any bad experiences? What is a good company to go with for this?

Thanks in advance, sorry I am fully of questions, but I dont wanna skimp here, not worth it.

Ciao
Hunter

 

Anyone?

 

the t56's from c5 corvettes are entirely different

t56's from 93+ z28's will (i think everybody will agree) easily and reliably handle 500ftlbs, they are one of the last things to go in the driveline.... thats what i see in here anyway

i beleive all the f-body t56's have the 2.66 1st and .5 6th, same as viper

vipers are actually speced to 550+ ft-lbs, but the f-bod ones should easily handle what you want and wont cost you ~3000 bucks new


i udnerstand that t56's out of certain years f-bodies are stronger than others hopefully somebody else will chime in

is this an lt1 you're speaking of or standard sbc?

 

Jimmy,

Ya the small block is from 1971, so I dunno how I am gonna do that, are there any conversion kits out there? I know its been done before.

If the 93 and up F body t56's can hold 500ft lbs then thats what I will get, like you siad I dont wanna pay 3 grand for the Viper tranny if I dont have to.

Ya if anyone knows that years the f-body t56's are the strongest, that would help a whole lot. I really am thinking about McLeoud Clutch, maybe Stage II or III, not sure yet.

Ciao

Hunter

 

Yep. The T56 transaxles in the 1997-up (C5) Corvette aren't easily adaptable to another application and the torque tube, even if shortened, has a bellhousing that doesn't bolt to anything but an LS1/LS6 without an adapter plate.

The Viper T56 is longer and has a different bellhousing, input, and output shafts than the F-body T56. In other words, adapting a Viper 6-speed to a Chevrolet application would also be quite a bit of work.

The LT1 F-body T56s will bolt to an SBC without any hassles, but you'll need a T56 clutch and possibly a special flywheel to complete the combination. Here's a good source of information...
http://www.skulte.com/T56.html

The '94-'97 LT1 T56, and the '98-'02 LS1 T56 share the same gearing (2.66, 1.78, 1.30, 1.00, 0.74, 0.50).

The "standard" 1993 T56 (3.36:1 first gear) is no longer available I believe, except from a wrecked '93 F-body, which is no big loss. The "alternate" T56 from 1993 is a better combination. The "G92" is still available new and of course used, and has the same 1st through 4th gear as the Z06 Corvette, (2.97, 2.07, 1.43, 1.00) but with a 0.80 5th gear and 0.62 6th. (Z06 has 0.84 and 0.56)

The '94-up T56s are rated 450 lb-ft. of torque, and the '93 "G92" was rated at 400 lb-ft., but it is my understanding from what I've read/heard that Borg Warner rated them as being able to handle that load for 24 hours continuously, so they'll take plenty of abuse.

Launching on slicks seems to be the only thing that takes a toll of input and output shafts (from what I've read here on this forum), but on the street, a missed shift can damage the shift fork (a steel shift fork from the Viper case is a common upgrade) or the synchros.

For a "built" T56, D&D Performance (www.ddperformance.com) is a good place to start, in my opinion.