What is required to switch from a t56 to a th400 as far as the tranny croosmember mount is concerned? I heard that all that was needed was to slot the tranny mount hole in the stocker. Do you have to run a spacer or something to raise it up? Do you use 1 bolt or 2 bolts for the tranny mount to the crossmember? Does anyone make any kits for the crossmember modifications?

Secondly, I am going to run a JW ultra bell but was wondering what you guys are using for a tranny sheild for the case. Which one fits the best? Any suggestions?

Thanks
Matt

 

I don't think you need a shield with an Ultrabell do you. Isn't it already SFI certified?

I use a stock TH400 case from the 1980's. I use a TCI shield in my car. The Kevlar shields are nice since they're formed over the tranny for a tighter fit and also act as a flexplate shield but they cost about 3x as much.

 

Tranny cross-member

You obviously don't need a flex-plate shield with the UltraBell, but you still need an SFI 4.1 case shield for under 11.00-sec. I have the TCI 980005, which also shows in the pic, above.

 

Thanks for the replies! Fred, did you have to modify the tranny shield to get it to fit or was it a bolt on deal? Secondly, your tranny mount looks like there was a lot of fabbing done to it is that necessary to mount the th400 on the stock crossmember? What modifications are needed to mount the tranny onto the t56 crossmember? Lastly, what did you use to calibrate your speedo and if you have the part #'s could you please include them?
Thanks for all the info
Matt

 

Nice pic but your shield shouldn't pass a tech inspection. You need the braces going under the pan.

Here's my TCI tranny shield. www.hardtail.com/pics/tranny.jpg

And here's my crossmember. It's custom made to attach to my custom made SFC. www.hardtail.com/pics/crossmember.jpg

 

Stephen, that setup looks good. I might attach my trannt mount to my subframes if there is a lot of mods to do to the stock t56 crossmember to get it to work.
Matt

 

It's not pretty but it does the job. One of the holes in the floor where the factory crossmember bolts to is stripped. It was easier to fabricate a new design than to try and fix the stripped hole. The TH400 mount sits back a few inches from the original 700R4 position. I don't know where the rear mount position is on a T56.

The SFC have a gap at the top between the floor. The bolts for the crossmember go right through the SFC and the nuts are on top. I could have made it a little more high tech by drilling larger holes in the SFC and welding nuts in the holes for the bolts to screw into. Or maybe even welding a gusset onto the side of the SFC and just bolted those pieces of angle iron onto the gussets. I've never had a problem with this setup and I've had my tranny out a few times during the race season.

There is a small plate between the 2 bars that runs under the tranny mount. A single bolt goes through the plate and into the bottom of the tranny mount. Alignment wasn't perfect and I had to slot the hole to get the bolt to line up. The solid tranny mount has 2 bolts that hold it to the tranny.