87 MonteCarlo SS TTops

Status
Not open for further replies.

walshie

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Apr 7, 2018
19
12
3
If you don't believe it's a WC by now how can you be sure the sun came up today

LOL - that's funny!

I will drain the fluid, and accept the fact I have a WC transmission. I will also locate the metal tag while I am down there.

Thanks for your help!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

walshie

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Apr 7, 2018
19
12
3
Some pics
 

Attachments

  • 20180419_122913.jpg
    20180419_122913.jpg
    1.2 MB · Views: 144
  • 20180419_122804.jpg
    20180419_122804.jpg
    1.7 MB · Views: 137
  • 20180419_122819.jpg
    20180419_122819.jpg
    1.6 MB · Views: 149
  • 20180419_122324.jpg
    20180419_122324.jpg
    1.8 MB · Views: 143

UNGN

Comic Book Super Hero
Sep 6, 2016
3,048
3,267
113
Southlake, TX
Over the years, WC has come to mean something different than it originally did.

An '87 F body V8 T5 would have a 2.95 first gear of a WC T5, is but is NOT a true WC T5 (other than having the same gear ratios as a WC T5).

It is also NOT a NWC transmission (which over the years has come to mean a 4/6 cylinder T5).

An '87 F-body T5 is made of glass, just like an '87 Mustang 5.0L T5. Production T5's didn't get upgraded to true WC synchros/gears until 1990.

Any good builder can built it to WC status for about $600, but in its current condition, it is NOT WC.
 

pontiacgp

blank
Mar 31, 2006
29,270
20,399
113
Kitchener, Ontario
that would be a first for me, they used a WC box with NWC gearing. GM started using the WC in 88 but if the 87 was built late enough in the year it's not unusual to have some upgrades installed from the next years production
 
Last edited:

UNGN

Comic Book Super Hero
Sep 6, 2016
3,048
3,267
113
Southlake, TX
The internet is full of revisionist history. Wikipedia for example.

Here is an article that explains the difference between WC and Non WC transmission:

Technical Bits T5 History from Modern Driveline

Except that isn't the way it actually happened back in the 1980's (besides being riddled with factual errors, but its on the internet, so it must be true). The people that had V8 T5's back then remember expensive, aftermarket WC T5's being sold as "aftermarket upgrades" while the production cars got transmissions with more glass in them (and were not rated over 300 lbft)

Today, those "exotic, expensive bits" that once separated a regular T5 from a WC T5 are now called "std replacement parts", but that was't the way it was back in the 1980's. Somebody who is old enough to have owned and raced a manual T5 in the mid 1980s would differentiate a V8 box that hasn't been upgraded with WC parts as non WC, while people who came along later would say, no, a 4/6 cylinder T5 is a NWC T5.

Guys that raced V8 T5's back in the 1980's didn't know cars could actually be purchased with 4 or 6 cylinder engines. That would make no sense.
 
Last edited:

walshie

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Apr 7, 2018
19
12
3
I appreciate everyones feedback and time to contribute. Im not hung up on WC/NWC, this is just a fun around town, long drive on Sunday car, i wont be hitting it hard.

My only concern is, what fluid is best?
Is Dextron 3 acceptable in the event some gears are NWC? If so, i should use that.
 

UNGN

Comic Book Super Hero
Sep 6, 2016
3,048
3,267
113
Southlake, TX
I appreciate everyones feedback and time to contribute. Im not hung up on WC/NWC, this is just a fun around town, long drive on Sunday car, i wont be hitting it hard.

My only concern is, what fluid is best?
Is Dextron 3 acceptable in the event some gears are NWC? If so, i should use that.

I'm pretty sure all of the "V8" boxes can use ATF. My 1986 5.0L I bought new spec'd ATF and it was definitely not considered a WC transmission at the time, but by today's definition of WC, because it can be rebuilt to WC specifications, its is considered "WC".
 

pontiacgp

blank
Mar 31, 2006
29,270
20,399
113
Kitchener, Ontario
Great thing about this forum is no matter how much you think you are right if you are wrong someone will point it out. In this case it was UNGN and I appreciate that. I dug up my Tremec manual and that 185 is listed as a NWC so GM must have used WC cases to build NWC T5s.

http://www.tremec.com/anexos/TRSM-T5-0510-R1_173.pdf

Sorry for contributing to the misinformation you can find on the internet

as for the fluid..

2-4. APPROVED LUBRICANT.
Most T5 transmission models use Dexron II automatic
transmission fluid. Refer the vehicle owner’s manual
or service manual for lubricant specifications.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user

UNGN

Comic Book Super Hero
Sep 6, 2016
3,048
3,267
113
Southlake, TX
I'm pretty sure All of the V8 T5's can be brought up to WC specs for about $600-800 if they are rebuilt by someone who knows what he is doing... at least that is the current price on Craigslist including parts/labor.

In the mid 1980's, "WC" trans meant "aftermarket upgrade" but by the 1990's, all of the production V8 T5's had the WC upgrades (and rebuilders do those same upgrades)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GBodyForum is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. Amazon, the Amazon logo, AmazonSupply, and the AmazonSupply logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

Please support GBodyForum Sponsors

Classic Truck Consoles Dixie Restoration Depot UMI Performance

Contact [email protected] for info on becoming a sponsor