T-56 Swap

[BSridenguy]

Well, i've been on LS1 Tech, and Performance Trucks alot lately, Researching Changing my already five speed truck into a 6 speed truck... And while There is a Ton of info on those other sites, i still like this one, because its smaller, easier to use, and theres not as many people on this one, feels like a smaller town, VS. the Big city of those other cites....

So with that said i plan on doing a T56 swap soon, I think i've found one finally, and hope to get it within a couple of weeks. This site doesn't have a good write up on that kind of swap yet, with pictures, and the whole nine yards, so i thought i would write one up to the best of my knowledge... This is the first time i've done a tranny swap of this degree, but many have told me it is as straight forward, as any other manual tranny swap... So with that said,

Heres the list of parts that i've come up with Thus Far... Feel free to add anything you think may be needed..
1. The Transmission: hope thats an obvious one haha....I've seen them anywhere from about $600(a Steal) to Brand new Strip ready $2500
2. Drive Shaft parts: The NV3500( 5spd that i have) has the Th450/4l80E Style yoke, the T56 has the TH350/4l60E Style... You should beable to find that parts at your Local driveshaft shop.... Not sure on a price yet
3. Many people say change to the F-body slave cylinder: Just a good upgrade, while you have the Tranny out......$130 new from pep boys, auto zone, Kragens
4. The Infamous Drill Mod: Not Enough Fluid can get to where it needs to go when doing high speed shifts, so here's the solutions... Freebie (for a more in depth article Click here www.InstallUniversity.com OR Manual Transmission FAQ - Look Here First! - LS1TECH)
5. LS7 Clutch: A new Clutch is easier to do while the tranny is already out, and you might as well get the good one.. Many people swear by the LS7 (IZM-LS7cPP) one being perfect for many applications on the T56..... Includes Pressure Plate, Disc, Flywheel.... All for the low Price of 489.99
6. For me I want the Shifter as far forward as possible, since the T56 Shifter comes about 12 inches farther back than my Stock 5Spd, many people go for the center console... i However want to keep my Center seat so i have looked into some parts from a company called Drive Line Components (714) 651-0829... The most they can move it Forward is 4.5 Inches... MCleoud Industries Used to make a Product called the Slick Stix Shifter, which would solve all of my problems about placement of the Shifter, but they no longer make it..
7. This one i'm not to sure about, but a new Pilot Bearing... Some say its Cheap insurance some say you don't need one.. I'll be getting a new one
8. Flywheel bolt kit If your not going with the LS7 Clutch package, then you may want to look into these bolt kits.... ARP Bolts $32.88 Summit 330-2801
9. Pressure Plate Bolt Kit.. 134-2201 $17.88

FOR AUTOMATIC TO MANUAL TRANS

Things i've heard you need... I Haven't done all the research.. but heres a starting point for any of those that have thought about this
1. New Tranny crossmember
2. Master/ Slave Cylinders
3. Clutch Pedal
4. Polyurethane Trans mount
5. Poluurethane Lower Shift boot to reduce in cabin noise, and outside air from entering the truck.....

These are the Things i have Come up with for my 5Spd to 6Spd Conversion.. If you know of anything else, or have any advice, feel free to let me know about it... I know things may be missing, and probably are, but thats why i'm putting it on here, so you guys can help me out... As parts Start Ariving I'll start posting more pics, and try and do a thorough picture job of the whole Swap..

I hope to get the Swap Started in About 2 Weeks.... Depends on Arival Of parts...

[Tootall]

you're going to need a shift rail conversion kit if you want to use the same opening for your 5speed shifter . . it's 200-400 . . I can't remember. It's in the T56 swap thread

[RedHeartbeat]

Street and Performance carries the relocate kit now. Welcome to Street and Performance

[BSridenguy]

So after some Family Issues that i had to take care of, i'm finally ready to get started working on my truck again... I've ordered my tranny, it should be here, hopefully within a couple of days, its out of an 01 SS Camaro, with high 40,000 mileage on it... So when i get it needless to say i'll flush the fluid, and give it the twice over and make sure all the gears and everything looks good inside.
Then, i'll be moving the shifter location from the tail up to the front bellhousing hole, That way the shifter will be closer to where my 5 speed came through the floorboard at. I've talked to a few people online, and aamco (they were real busy when i called, and said to call back on tuesday, cause they'd have there whole staff there and would have better customer service for me) but haven't been able to find the exact parts needed to do it, aamco said they'd do it for like 2-3 hundred dollars, and would guarantee it from any defect for the life of the tranny, so i've been considering that....
I'm hoping to Order my clutch from speed inc this week too, so that will be here within 4-5 days of me ordering it. Hopefully i'll beable to, Remember to, takes pics of stuff as i do it for any that may be doing a swap like this...

[BSridenguy]

THE VICTIM

So an update on the Tranny... Things have gone ok, not everything has gone as people have said it would... So First things first, never take your Tranny to AAMCO, they Screwed me over big time, and i will never take any of my vehicles back as long as i live, and called the better buisness beureau on them... But to get on with how to do the tranny install...(i'll add pics later)
Feel free to add any details, i wasn't going to write this, but then i was talking with my brother, and after all the problems we've had, i felt it would be best to just put this on here, so somebody else doesn't have to deel with the problems that are usually over looked.( soo it's been over a month since i've pulled the tranny off)

How to take out the old Tranny (For a 04 Silverado 5spd)
One thing I always stress is when taking out bolts to put them in a baggy, label them and put how many there is, then put them in the bed of the truck, or in a box...
1. Take out your old Transmission, don't forget to disconect the slave cylinder from the master cylinder... just push on the little white sleeve that's in between the connection... Push it towards the steel braided line... and the line will disconect, some fluid will come out..
2. Take off your driveshaft, some fluid will probably come out of the tailshaft, so you might want to drain the tranny first
3. Take off the shifter from the inside, and the boot...
4. Start unbolting the tranny from the motor.. Theres 8 bolts...
5. Undo the Trans crossmember, and start pulling the old tranny out, it may need some coersing....
6. Unbolt the Clutch and Flywheel..... Impact works best for taking both off..

Install
I'm not sure of some of the details here, because i had AAMCO install my Flywheel Clutch and pressure plate, but i'll go from the best of my knowledge, correct me if i'm wrong..
1. The pilot bearing needs to be installed... A socket of the same size as the pilot bearing, and a rubber malot work good to get it in, from what i've heard.
2. The flywheel, clutch disc, and clutch need to be aligned as you bolt it all up... There's plastic aligning tool out there, but i've heard the clearances aren't tight enough on some of them...

Side Note
The T56 is out of an 02 Camaro... Its going into and 04 Silverado....
I have the center seat on my truck, and wanted to keep it, and didn't want to go the route of putting in a center console soo.
1. I talked to keisler, and they sent out a kit that can be installed to move the shifter location from the tail of the Transmission to the center

2. On the truck itself, you will have to cut the Back of the hole(if your truck was a manual to begin with) about 2 inches give or take to allow for the location of the new shifter assembly, but its alot better than the 16 inches back if you had left the shifter in the original place..
Obviously, i haven't cleaned up the whole, or painted it yet, but you get the idea

Back to Install
3. After you get the Flywheel, and Clutch Assembly on there, it will be time to move to the Transmission...
4. Get your New Slave Cylinder...Thats goes to The T56... You will notice the Fittings are on there in reverse of what your stock 5spd had... Me and my brother simply removed the the little pin on both, and swtiched the hose.... I'll take a picture so you can see what i mean... Make sure you hit it out the right direction too, as they were pressed in there from one side, and will only come out that side.
5. Bolt the Slave cylinder back on the Tranny, with the bleeder valve towards the drivers side...

Sensors

6. You will no longer need the Skip Shift Solenoid( this makes it so that when your cruising below 19mph and using less than 35% throttle you can't shift from 1 to 2 instead, you have to go straight to 4th... Its for gas mileage something... blah blah blah..).. So you can leave it if its on there.... But for me it wasn't even on there, so i am currently looking for a plug to fill the hole
7. You will probably want to put the reverse lock out on a switch, the most common is hooked up to the brakes, because your usually on the brakes when you go to put your truck in reverse... (the reverse lockout switch when in the open(off) position makes it very difficult to put into Reverse(In the T56 The reverse gear is the same as the Forward moving gears, so you could put it into reverse by accident while going forward and it won't grind..), but it can be done.. whith the Reverse switch closed (on) it becomes much easier to put into reverse..)
8. The VSS and Backup light Switch are the only ones... For me at least on my truck that were going to hook to my existing wiring harness, although i did have to buy some pigtails to lengthen them.. I found them on ebay for about 10.00's each... I Soldered the ends, and put a piece of watertight shrink tubing on there, then Taped it all back up

9. Time to put the tranny in...Some say its the hardest part of all... So far i would have to agree, its driven me crazy trying to do it...
First i broke my bellhousing... I had the Transmission all up in there, the bellhousing bolted to the block, i put two bolts in the tranny to the bellhousing, to help keep it aligned while wiggling the tranny, trying to get it slide back in... well it broke the bellhousing... I went and got it welded... Next night, same result...
So now i've opted to put a scatter shield on which will be much safer anyway... O But wait you wanted to keep your hydraulic clutch right... Well there's a couple options.. call MCleoud order one from them, then when you get it, you have to cut it up, so that your slave line, can go through it.... and some other stuff... Well i found one of the only(newest) companies that makes one that will work with hydraulic clutches, the company is call Quicktime, and for the T56 To LS1 your going to want the RM8020... It comes with a Steel block shield too

So i finally figured out why the tranny wouldn't go in.. The guys down at AAMCO screwed me, and put in the wrong pilot bearing.... Thank goodness for local shops.. I took my Truck out to Rick at SYNERGY MOTORSPORTS, and right away, said it didn't look like the right pilot bearing... Sure enough when he pulled it all apart, it was the wrong one, so he's gonna put the right one in, and finish everything up for me.... I'll put some pics up of the finished product when i get her back.

One thing i strongly Recommend after doing this install, is to DOUBLE check all your parts... For me, i had the wrong pilot bearing, and the first Slave Cylinder i got was broken... it wouldn't compress all the way... And whenever you get an estimate from someone, make sure its in writing, not just word of mouth. . . Live and Learn i guess. . .

Part Numbers
1. Kiesler kit: Receipt says T56FS (front shift conversion kit for T56) $199.00

2. Pigtail Extensions: Ebay Type in T56 Vehicle Speed Sensor Connector LT1 LS1 Wiring VSS $9.75

AND T56 Backup Switch Connector LT1 LS1 Wiring Wire $10.50


3. Quicktime Bellhousing RM 8020 399.20




4. Transmission itself $1400.00 Out of an 02 Camaro SS


5. LS7 Clutch from Speed inc... $529.99 Comes with Flywheel Clutch, and Pressure Plate



6. New slave Cylinder from carquest... $114.00


7. Pilot Bearing . . . 31.00


Quit Fooling AROUND DANG IT!! LOL

[Riceeater]

Wow I dont think I want to take on all that. I was thinking about the swap but i have a auto 4x4. But I am glad to hear its comming together for you. Good luck!!!!!!!

[Wtfan18]

haha sounds like a pain in the A** i think ill put mine on my motor before i put it in. might be a bit easier. i bought the clutch alignment tool as well and a pilot bearing its only 20$ i got the ls7 clutch from SDparts for 400$ and was planning to go with a keisler kit but love the look of the shifter in the console so im saving myself 300$ by cutting a new hole and not having to look at the goofy 3foot shifter will make me happy. the only part i was confused about is the yoke i heard that one from a turbo 350 will work with my driveshaft but im not sure. keep us posted. and post pics to! good luck. ill be feeling your pain soon enough

[r6z4o6]

...does the yoke from a 700-r4 fit? Wouldn't that be the same thing as a 350? maybe more easy to find since the 700 is only a few years old(10+ lol)

[BSridenguy]

Ya, as far as a New yoke and driveshaft goes, i've heard that the Driveshaft from an automatic truck, as long as its the same body style will work(no shortening needed)... No matter v6 or v8.. i'm not positive, but i've heard this from a couple of people.......And it hasn't really been that Much of a pain in the ass to put the tranny in, more or less just a little more time consuming than i had originally thought, and a couple of more details than most people had said or brought out... other than that, i'm sure i'll love it once i get it done.

[Slowpoke]

I am a 4.8 5spd owner myself. I always wanted to do this swap, but then I asked myself why? It will only help the street driveabilty with the second overdrive. I can buy nv3500's cheap all day if I were to destroy one. What is the real benefit to having the t56 tranny beside the second over drive? Just curious, I have never heard anyone complain about the t56 once its in there though.
Oh yeah by the way great post good stuff. Can't wait for the pics.