Well I got around to doing my T56 swap this weekend. Everything went pretty well aside from the fact that it was ridiculously hot out. The only problem I had was with the pilot bearing. My bearing from the 5 speed is the larger diameter bearing that fills the main hole on the crank. It was in good shape so I left it in, I dont know what I was thinking. So I put the flywheel/clutch/pressure plate on, bellhousing and the trans input shaft hit the pilot bearing with about 1/4" to go, the input shaft is just a little longer on the T56 so you need the LS1 bearing, which I had but didnt put in the first time around. So I had to take it all off, knock out the bearing and install the smaller bearing in the second recessed hole. Its my own fault but after that everything went fine. Had to flatten my Y-pipe just a little bit so it would fit under the rear section of the trans, and lengthen the VSS and backup light harness a little. Stock crossmember fit with no modification, reusing the trans mount from the 5 speed, stock 60e driveshaft is perfect length. Only had to trim the shifter hole about 1.5" or so with the front shift conversion. The forward and back throw is about the same as 5 speed but left and right throw is much shorter. Once I get the boot and stuff on it will look stock.

Clutch bleeding went better than I expected. I filled the reservoir and opened the bleeder and let fluid run out till it was clean and there weren't any bubbles. Then pumped the pedal a bunch of times making sure to keep the fluid topped off. Then opened the bleeder about 5 times or so when the pedal was all the way down and hardly any air came out just fluid, that was it. At first it was engaging about 1"off the floor but after about 30-40 pumps of the clutch with it running and a quick test drive it was almost back to normal. I still need to get my boot and stuff installed inside but thats the least of my worries right now.


Heres a few pics.





Difference in driveshaft length. The T56 shaft is only a few inches shorter.


Stock Clutch




LS7 clutch on the left, stock on right.


Stock NV3500 pilot bearing


LS1 pilot bearing installed. I couldnt get the stock bearing pulled out, tried 2 different pullers with no luck so I just took the seal off and knocked the cage and ***** out and left the outer race in since there was enough clearance to put the input shaft through it.


You have to knock out the pin on the LS1 slave and the truck line installs directly into it.




LS7 clutch installed.

 

Nice write up. I did the exact same swap to my Joe Gibbs in 06. But the front shifter location wasn't available at the time. That would have been nice then.

 

nice, if you would have used it with the shifter in the back position could you get the shift throw shorter?

 

Yeah if you use the rear location you could buy a short throw shifter for an f-body and it might be a little shorter. But weather you use the front or rear shift location the stick is roughly the same length which is what makes the throws longer so there isnt a big difference. I the stick I made is about 15.5" long. Its shorter than my 5 sp was.

 

that's awesome man. I'm sure it's fun to drive. man, I miss bangin gears with a manual trans.

 

they dont make a short shift for the front location? also did you do a gear swap?

 

Not that Ive seen. I have 4.88's for it, hopefully get them in next week.

 

Would you sell the original 5-speed? If so, how much?

 

very nice! sometimes i wish i had the luxury of a light weight single cab or even a 4th gen with a t56 just for the fun of banging through the gears... I think a couple people have already tried fully built t56's in heavy *** ext cabs and the results werent pretty...just too much weight for the trans to handle.

which makes my mind start to wander...maybe a single or ext cab s10/sonoma with a 6.0 swap and a t56 would be fun....hmmmmmmmm

 

[QUOTE=zachm89;4740679]very nice! sometimes i wish i had the luxury of a light weight single cab or even a 4th gen with a t56 just for the fun of banging through the gears... I think a couple people have already tried fully built t56's in heavy *** ext cabs and the results werent pretty...just too much weight for the trans to handle.

QUOTE]

I want to do a manual conversion to my 07 burb 2wd this winter. T56 is a no-go, eh? I don't want to do a body lift for the nv4500 or the zf s6-650. I plan on keepin the factory center console if possible and have the shifter come through where the cupholder is. Could it work to make a floor cutout and hide it under the console?