Tremec T-56 Magnum 6 speed I fitted into a 1956 Chevrolet 2 door post......
Found a pretty neat product from American Drivetrain, They sell an adaptor to retain the original 3-speed/4-speed Bellhousing, Clutch Fork & Clutch Linkage......The Flywheel & Pressure Plate was in such good shape & it already had a 11" clutch.....All I needed was a 11" Clutch Disc that fit the T-56 Input Splines.
This car still had it's factory Cast Iron 3-Speed Bellhousing, I wanted to upgrade to am Aluminum 4-Speed Bell.....But the 2 I had in my stash have slightly worn Dowel Holes.
Pretty impressed that the 65 year old Cast Bell was within .001" & good slight press fit over the Block Dowels, Probably because you didn't remove the Bell for Clutch Jobs on these.
Had to fold the Pinch Weld over to clear the Adaptor/Front of the Trans Case, Slight messaging of the tunnel was necessary at the Shift Tower.
The Only issue I had with the Adaptor was......T-56's are Canted 17 degrees from the factory, The Adaptor is "Supposedly" drilled for 17 degree cant to keep the Trans Mount Pad level along with another set of holes to put the Trans Case & Shifter level....Then you can shim the Mount on one side.
I decided to keep the Mount Pad level.....Well it's not quite level being off about 4 degrees, Not the end of the world. As this rotated the Shifter over to the Driver Side.....I only had to open up the previously cut 4-speed hole by 1/4".
Have a good 8 hours doing the Trans swap, Including wiring the Back-Up lamp switch & Reverse Lock-out switch to the Brake Switch.
The engine had a pretty good leak out of the Rear Main Seal, The owner assumed it could be fixed with the Trans out.....Not on a 2 Piece Seal Small Block .
Removed the Oil Pan & the Pick-up Tube was laying in the bottom, Tack welded it the Pump while I was there, The top Main Seal half was installed backwards with a bunch of silicone packed between seal halves......Clean all that up, Rolled the upper seal in, Applied Hylomar M between the seal halves & between the Main Cap & Block (Just the rear part) as oil can & will seep between them.
The oil pan was some thin cheap aftermarket part & was distorted pretty bad at the bolt holes, I wanted to use a Fel-Pro 1-Piece Perma Dry oil pan gasket as I'm not fighting with Cork gasket strips upside down with oil dripping in my face. Bought a Milodon 4 quart replacement which are really thick & well made!!
I've done quite a bit of other work to this car over the last couple years......
Installed the Weiand 177 Street Blower, Tuned the 750cfm AFB Carb (W/ a Wide Band O2), Recurved the Distributor, Aluminum Radiator, Power Steering Conversion with a Chrome Ididit Tilt Column.
*While it does have a 383 Stroker in it....It has some big chamber smog heads with what looks like some "jobber" Pistons (using a bore scope), It just didn't make any power....He wanted more power without opening up the engine, I said you have 2 choices.....Nitrous or Boost? He chose Boost & it works VERY well!!
Found a pretty neat product from American Drivetrain, They sell an adaptor to retain the original 3-speed/4-speed Bellhousing, Clutch Fork & Clutch Linkage......The Flywheel & Pressure Plate was in such good shape & it already had a 11" clutch.....All I needed was a 11" Clutch Disc that fit the T-56 Input Splines.
This car still had it's factory Cast Iron 3-Speed Bellhousing, I wanted to upgrade to am Aluminum 4-Speed Bell.....But the 2 I had in my stash have slightly worn Dowel Holes.
Pretty impressed that the 65 year old Cast Bell was within .001" & good slight press fit over the Block Dowels, Probably because you didn't remove the Bell for Clutch Jobs on these.
Had to fold the Pinch Weld over to clear the Adaptor/Front of the Trans Case, Slight messaging of the tunnel was necessary at the Shift Tower.
The Only issue I had with the Adaptor was......T-56's are Canted 17 degrees from the factory, The Adaptor is "Supposedly" drilled for 17 degree cant to keep the Trans Mount Pad level along with another set of holes to put the Trans Case & Shifter level....Then you can shim the Mount on one side.
I decided to keep the Mount Pad level.....Well it's not quite level being off about 4 degrees, Not the end of the world. As this rotated the Shifter over to the Driver Side.....I only had to open up the previously cut 4-speed hole by 1/4".
Have a good 8 hours doing the Trans swap, Including wiring the Back-Up lamp switch & Reverse Lock-out switch to the Brake Switch.
The engine had a pretty good leak out of the Rear Main Seal, The owner assumed it could be fixed with the Trans out.....Not on a 2 Piece Seal Small Block .
Removed the Oil Pan & the Pick-up Tube was laying in the bottom, Tack welded it the Pump while I was there, The top Main Seal half was installed backwards with a bunch of silicone packed between seal halves......Clean all that up, Rolled the upper seal in, Applied Hylomar M between the seal halves & between the Main Cap & Block (Just the rear part) as oil can & will seep between them.
The oil pan was some thin cheap aftermarket part & was distorted pretty bad at the bolt holes, I wanted to use a Fel-Pro 1-Piece Perma Dry oil pan gasket as I'm not fighting with Cork gasket strips upside down with oil dripping in my face. Bought a Milodon 4 quart replacement which are really thick & well made!!
I've done quite a bit of other work to this car over the last couple years......
Installed the Weiand 177 Street Blower, Tuned the 750cfm AFB Carb (W/ a Wide Band O2), Recurved the Distributor, Aluminum Radiator, Power Steering Conversion with a Chrome Ididit Tilt Column.
*While it does have a 383 Stroker in it....It has some big chamber smog heads with what looks like some "jobber" Pistons (using a bore scope), It just didn't make any power....He wanted more power without opening up the engine, I said you have 2 choices.....Nitrous or Boost? He chose Boost & it works VERY well!!