This trans didn't swing down as much I expected. I had a tricky time finding the bolt near the vent tube on the trans, or at least getting a wrench on it. I've pulled a few of these, but this one was a bit harder to get loose. Not sure why. lol.

Today's mission was to change the clutch master cylinder.

I wanted to drain the hoses and get the brake fluid out. So I drove the roll pin out of the old slave cylinder and removed the inlet. I clipped it onto the line from the master and let it drain. I ran some brake clean through it and pumped the pedal until it's dry. Then I removed the old slave parts and started to remove the master cylinder.

I got the old master cylinder loose and started to remove the U bolt but it still had the factory spring clip retainer on it (which is under the bracket from the pedals such that it sucks to remove it). I tried to pound it through and I split the board I was using. I tried some other things and finally I remembered a chunk of aluminum I had (it's a long metal shaft, I think it is part of a camera flash setup). I drilled a hole to index on the end of the ubolt and drilled a deeper hole on the opposite end so I could use an air chisel. That did a great job of punching the ubolt through the spring clip.

I hooked the new hose to the new master cylinder and got everything in place by myself. I felt pretty good until I realized that the Ram adjustable master cylinder heim joint is too thick to allow the snap ring to go onto the clutch pedal. I knew I should have checked that first. I had already adjusted the master cylinder to stock length before installing it. I had to pull the heim joint off and grind about .020" off of it so I could get the snap ring onto the clutch pedal. Why does nothing aftermarket actually fit the things it's supposed to connect to? I'd have been done about an hour sooner if it wasn't for the curse of the aftermarket part. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, things always seem to go this way.

Check your heim joint on the pedal before installation if you're using the RAM adjustable master cylinder.

I also tried to install the billet aluminum clutch reservoir and it doesn't quite fit the bracket on the 4th gen. Since I'm lazy, I just installed the new OEM plastic one and buttoned it all up.

Now to get time to open up the transmission...

I have a huge paperweight that might be usefull for you.
Forged LS2, whole engine (except accessories) and intake manifold... headers too.
made 510rwhp.

It's a useless paperweight for me... until I get a new toy project... thinking maybe Suburban baja and slap a twin scroll on it, and change its pistons for low comp.
I don't need more toys now.

I'm afraid to ask how much you'd want. That motor ran hard when I last drove it in a convertible....lol.

It had become a slouch for my standards... Lol
Call me.

Bwhahaha....If it was anybody else saying that I'd just laugh at them. However, I've known you for far too long so I know you're quite serious. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Hey so I just saw that you know Jeff at CAM! He's a tuning genius. When my dad had the 396 LT1, nobody could tune the cam surge out, except Jeff.

So this 1SC tends to pop out of 3rd once in a while. It has only done it on downshifts while decelerating. So I might be doing something similar soon.

I'm being lazy because I know it's probably in here. Are you rebuilding the tranny yourself? I'd be interested in just a simple rebuild, no upgrades.

Is that something that's doable by me and how much does something like that cost? Or maybe I should just get a T56 from Hawks for $1500 with lower miles and sell mine for whatever I can get for it.

Yea, I met Jeff at the 2005 NFME (National Fbody Motorsports Event). I traded some parts for some beer and they brought me the beer on the last night of the event. So, I'm out in the parking lot giving away beer to those who would help me drink it. Jeff was among those guys (I fed him a Shiner Bock or two). I was texting with him about cams the other day and waiting to see how yours runs, etc. If I do anything, it will be later this year.

There's a sticky with the transmission rebuild manual (hosted by the New Jersey Fbody board now):

http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/index.php?showtopic=5167

You need some specialty tools. Racerdad916 rebuilds these things and we were going to do it. Depending how things go, I may just do it. You'll need some snap ring pliers, specialty pullers, etc. I think I have $800 or so in the new 1/2 and 3/4 synchros and the "Stage II" upgraded internal parts. You don't have to go that far. Throw a synchro and new blocker rings in it and put it back together.

Be gentle with the snap rings. A friend over stretched one and it came off, the gear ground on the housing and it made a mess that could have been avoided. Also, a few snap rings say to replace them when you remove them. A snap ring kit for the whole transmission is about $19. So just buy one with the other parts.

I started going through my parts and looking at what I received. Oddly, I had two sets of billet keys (3/4 and 5/6 that are the same set) ordered from different companies and both sent me the same thing and it looks pretty odd. See attached pics.

I received my orders in November/December. I just emailed Hawks and The Gearbox to see if they can help me get the right parts (assuming these aren't, but I've never seen a synchro that takes mismatched keys). I'm not sure that a couple of those even fit a T56 (unless they fit reverse, but I don't think so).

I'll let you know what they say. And while I'm at it, I guess I'll order the billet reverse keys (no reason...but since I'm in there). I don't expect to be doing full power burnouts in reverse. lol. But you never know. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Heh, you never know. Back when a local club used to run drag racing events, one of the members with a 4-speed Trans Am (1977, IIRC) would accidentally roll forward through the lights when he was staging. Sooooo, he backed the car up until both staging lights were lit.

Sure enough, when the lights started coming down, he reved the engine for his launch, and dumped the clutch, in reverse, when the lights went green.

And he did it two more times during the same event! (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/2thumbs.gif)

Luckily, we was running street tires, and the track didn't have much prep.

The reverse shift pads were actually the most worn out off all the pads in my T56 when we were messing with it yesterday. Either the PO was into gymkhana or just loved to bang into reverse.

Ah, you mean the synchro pads that go on the shift fork. I'm talking about the 3 keys that go in each synchronizer. These are part of the strength upgrade of the Stage 2 package.

I was just surprised the pads had that much wear.

I could see that. Reverse is the gear that everybody "mashes" into the gate. You sit down in the car, start it, step on the clutch and "bam" over and into the reverse gate. The other gears tend to "slide in" when things are moving. And the moving gears are likely covered in fresh oil that helps minimize wear when they are typically used. But reverse would seem more likely to get beat on.



You know, it seemed odd that I'd get the same mismatched set of keys from two vendors. The Gearbox just emailed me back and I realized, I didn't flip those keys over. I didn't believe they were the same width, but I am guessing that flipping one over will fix my mismatch. This will teach me to be tired when I start looking into these things.

However, Tick is sending me the keys/springs that were missing from my synchro assemblies. I found it odd that I didn't get them. I'm upgrading them anyway, but I'll put them in the parts box for some other time.

Ah well, sometimes I'm just dumb. (IMG:http://www.frrax.com/rrforum/style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Today we went through the transmission and did the full rebuild.

Unfortunately we found out that I accidentally bought the standard blocker ring kit and not the carbon fiber blockers for first and second. I'm sure it's going to be fine, it's all fresh and new synchros for 1/2 and 3/4. So, the transmission is back together (thanks Racerdad916) and I got the clutch installed before my shoulder decided I was done for the day.

Tomorrow I hope to get the transmission reinstalled. We'll see how it goes.

I ended up having to work today or else I would have invited myself over.

One of these days I will have to bring my trans over so I can have someone who has done it before make sure I don't make mistakes. Previous owner really did a number on 5th, and it's slowly taking everything else out with it.

5th shouldn't be that bad. You don't have to pull the case off to get to it. If the rest is damaged, it becomes a much more involved process.

When we rebuilt the trans, the new 4th gear synchro seemed a bit tight. Once it was assembled, we pulled it through the gears using a roll pin punch for a handle and decided it was ok. Once the trans was in tonight, third gear was "vague" and it felt like the entire gate was bound up. It made it very hard to find neutral. So, I tried 4th and it ground into 4th....every time. So, we pulled the transmission back out. It appears that we got a defective synchro or something else strange is going on. I'll know more in a few days.

Ugh.

Oh no I'm sorry. That doesn't sound like fun