Price for ls1 T-56 vs LT1 T-56

[UNGN]

Turna, do you know if anyone has a 5 speed swap out there for a Malibu, that's a factory 4 speed car, so that the shifter comes out in the original location? I've been looking around without much luck so far.

If you have a stock 305 (or any motor with less than 300 lbft of torque), a 3rd Gen F-body T5 would work good and is the cheapest good option. They sell offset Shifter adapters to move it to the left.

T56's are overkill for most 5.0L and smaller motors unless they are built.

 

[84dragcutlass]

Olds 455, ported and milled heads, cam, intake, WZ manifolds

 

[TURNA]

When I had the 5 speed in my old Malibu.
I put an S10 tailshaft and rear case on.
This gave me the correct length for the shifter location but it was still centered.
So I had to close up the original location an "shift" the hole to the center of the trans tunnel.
Again this was done 20+ years ago before these companies made it easy.

Yes that is duct tape!!!!!!!!

 

[UNGN]

Olds 455, ported and milled heads, cam, intake, WZ manifolds

Yeah, you"re gonna need a built T56 or a TKO600 minimum. A "working" LT1 or even a "working" LS1 might not work for long before it is grinding on shifts and howling in gear.

Clean8584 might be able to get away with a T5, depending on his motor.

 

[84dragcutlass]

Last thing I want to do is get it all put together and then blow the stupid trans out of it. I looked at the TKO transmissions. They seem really nice. TURNA that install looks pretty clean, are those cutlass bucket seats I see?

 

[clean8485]

UNGN, thanks for your advice. I'm going to be upgrading to a 350 engine in the near future, and I need a trans that's fairly strong. Besides, T5s are kind of few & far between here, and anything that's in decent shape tends to be expensive. If I'm going to spend money, I'd rather spend it on something that's worthwhile.
Turna, thanks for your help, and thanks for posting the photos. Looks like you did a pretty good job on your conversion. I was just wondering if you knew of any kind of 5 speed conversion setup that's currently out there. I have checked with 1 company, and all they offer for my car is a 6 speed conversion, for a car without a console.

 

[TURNA]

Last thing I want to do is get it all put together and then blow the stupid trans out of it. I looked at the TKO transmissions. They seem really nice. TURNA that install looks pretty clean, are those cutlass bucket seats I see?

Yes they are, non reclining ones

 

[UNGN]

Turna, thanks for your help, and thanks for posting the photos. Looks like you did a pretty good job on your conversion. I was just wondering if you knew of any kind of 5 speed conversion setup that's currently out there. I have checked with 1 company, and all they offer for my car is a 6 speed conversion, for a car without a console.

All of the Tremec 5 speed/6 speeds have centerline shifters. Only the weak-*ss Richmond 6 speed has a left side shifter (that is similar location to a factory box) and I've blown up 3 of those and don't recommend them to anybody.

Patching a driver side hole with $10 worth of sheet metal and some pop rivets and buying a new $150 carpet set is WAYYYYY cheaper in the long run than buying a transmission that fits the factory shifter hole.

 

[pontiacgp]

All of the Tremec 5 speed/6 speeds have centerline shifters. Only the weak-*ss Richmond 6 speed has a left side shifter (that is similar location to a factory box) and I've blown up 3 of those and don't recommend them to anybody.

Patching a driver side hole with $10 worth of sheet metal and some pop rivets and buying a new $150 carpet set is WAYYYYY cheaper in the long run than buying a transmission that fits the factory shifter hole.

a center console should cover up a carpet patch.....

 

[UNGN]

a center console should cover up a carpet patch.....

I thought he said he had a factory shifter. Those came out the driver side of the tunnel and not the console auto shifter hole. The console would need to have an old school 3" jog on the driver ide to fit the factory 4 speed shifters The centerline shifters of a T56/TKO work much better with factory auto consoles, but if you don't have a console, you'd need to patch the factory hole on the side of the tunnel.