DirtyDaveW

Got a steal on this used T56 from fellow member Jason Short for $700.




Then bought a new SPEC Stage 4 clutch kit. Nice! It even comes with a new pilot bearing/bushing.





Notice the "FW Side" decal on this side? I'm drawing attention to this so those that told me the wrong way can see they were wrong. What's pitiful is I asked two different boards about which way to install my prior solid hub clutch (Clutchnet didn't/doesn't mark them) and one got ZERO responses and the other only two guys responded. The first said to install it with the flat side (the opposite of what you see here) towards the flywheel. The 2nd guy concurred with the first guy. I thanked them at the time and installed it the way they said. Well, a ruined SPEC Stage four pressure plate, a ruined brand new Clutch disc and a ruined T56 later, I found out they had no idea what they were talking about or had a $2,500 joke(not including my labor) at my expense. I'm showing you all this picture so you know if you ever install a solid hub clutch on your car, the "Flat side" faces to the transmission and the side that has the protruding splined hub faces the Flywheel.

97WS6SCharged

It's so nice & clean. That won't last. Looks like you got a decent shifter with it as well. I always use TO bushings instead of bearings.

DirtyDaveW

Yes, hehehe.. Jason is really (thankfully) a clean/neat freak about his parts and whenever I buy something from him he's already cleaned it up, whatever it may be. The shifter is a PRO 5.0. When I bought the T56 from him, it had a stock shifter on it. I had the PRO 5.0 from the prior setup. I still have to send off the ruined T56 to Tickshift in N.C. for research and repair. I hope they can get that old disc off without too much trouble.

shoebox

With so few responses, why didn't you just call Spec and ask them? Free advice on the internet is only worth what you pay for it. Thanks to your thread, the next person will have visual proof of what is what.

DirtyDaveW

This was my hope. That I could save the next person the grief. Through the years, I've periodically seen guys post that they'd screwed themselves by putting the disc on backwards.

If I'd just taken out the old disc and then put in the new one, I would have remembered which way the disc was oriented. But I took out the old one back one year ago, then put in a TH350 and didn't go back to the T56 till last month. In that interim, I forgot which way was which. But you're right. I should've called SPEC. I just felt guilty about buying the Clutchnet disc to replace my 7 yr old SPEC solid hub and feared their tech support asking questions like, "what happened to the sticker on the clutch? We always put a sticker indicating the direction to face on our discs".

DirtyDaveW

Drove her around today. Got up to just under 16 psi (too freakin high! Lol.. I had to dial the boost controller back to a safe level).
Impressions...
1st gear = fine... a bit of gear whine but if memory serves, any peformance shifter (PRO 5.0 here) transmits a bit
2nd gear = Ditto
3rd gear = Ditto
4th gear = Ditto
5th gear = Ditto
6th gear = Ditto

Reverse... hmm.. now, the guy that sold it to me said it had some trouble getting it to go into reverse but he wasn't sure if it was a bad wire on the reverse lockout solenoid or a real issue. True enough, it's kinda reluctant to go into reverse unless you're very deliberate in your effort.

Downshifting at speed. All gears except downshifting from 6th to 5th work fine. It absolutely will not downshift from 6th to 5th. It doesn't grind or anything, it just is as if it's plain blocked.However, if I downshift from 6th to 4th, it will easily reaccess 5th gear from 4th. Are the shift forks of 5th and Reverse related in some fashion? I just wonder since they both have issues while all other aspects are fine.
Thanks,
Dave

Colin

My T56 service manual says:

Condition: High effort shift from 5/6 gate to reverse gate

Possibly Problem:
Reverse lockout assembly or solenoid malfunction.

Remedy:
Check lockout assembly function
Check solenoid
Replace parts as required

DirtyDaveW

Hot damn! Great info
Thanks for the quick response. I'll swap the solenoids (from my other T56) and see if that improves the situation.

Procharged94Lt1

You like that stage 4 clutch disc? I have the same one in my car and I like it. Its really grabby and hard to be smooth with it in a parking lot or in town but is possible.

Sorry about all your troubles...Wish I could have helped you before...

DirtyDaveW

Yes! I like it a lot. Perhaps because this is my 2nd Stage 4 and used to how to feed the clutch out(daily driven in Houston, Tx traffic) without chattering, it almost feels like what I remember of the stock 'feel'. Chattering when backing up is a different matter. About half the time, it grabs/lets go/grabs/lets go ala chattering. But the beauty of it is that I can run up to 16 psi in 3rd gear(I'm on a very used temporary T56 and don't want to break 2nd gear) and it grabs solidly.

Are you using the stock flywheel or Billet Steel SPEC(what I use) or Aluminum ?

Procharged94Lt1

I'm still using the stock flywheel for now. I didn't have the coin to drop on a nice billet flywheel at the time and long-term plan was to swap out the trans anyway when and if the turbo ever makes it to the car.

And yes- you are right about reverse. It is even more pronounced in my car with the Detroit Locker out back too...that usually adds to the jumping around until it kicks open. But its all part of the fun!

white97T/A

Great post Dirty Dave, worth $$ with the pics! Sorry to hear about your luck with the first clutch.


How do you like the detroit locker with the T56? I installed a S60 with a Detroit Locker and have not gotten to drive it yet as I am waiting on my DS - which should be here in about 2 weeks.