Trans-Mission 305, Part II

Hopefully you tuned in last month and read Part I of Trans-Mission, in which we replaced the mortally wounded slushbox in our potent Vortec-headed, 305-powered '92 Camaro with a high-zoot Tremec T56 six-speed. If not, a brief review: Our Mission 305 RS put out 257 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque at the wheels (June and Sept. '04), but wasted its factory-original 700-R4 in the process. Looking for a substantial upgrade, we decided to go the row-your-own route by installing a six-speed replacement box from Rockland Gear. This T56 is meant to replace the T5 manual trans that blemished '84-92 Third-Gens, and installing ours in a factory automatic car presented challenges. But hey, it wouldn't be worth it if it were easy, right? Our setup isn't the only way to do it, but it works. We ended Part I with our McLeod clutch in place; now we'll take you the rest of the way home.

McLeod's Red Roberts set us up with a 168-tooth steel flywheel and 12-inch Dual Performance clutch. The steel flywheel is a good match for our motor's power level, providing the needed level of momentum and stored energy once the motor is turning. Stepping up from a stock 153-tooth flywheel necessitated a starter change, but it also allowed us to use a 12-inch clutch disc. The Dual Performance unit has gotten better since we've put some miles on it, and it remains low-effort and smooth while providing outstanding clamping force. Roberts says it's meant to be the best of both worlds, and we believe him. Our McLeod scattershield is beyond stout, and with the proper adapter place, our Rockland Gear T56 bolts right up to it.

We'd be remiss not to say more about the Rockland Gear T56. Rockland sent us one of its "Race Ready" units, and we keep calling it slick shifting because, well, it is, and then some. The Race Ready option includes some upgraded internals, but more importantly, it means that the tranny is disassembled and blueprinted, every part match-fitted to its cohorts. The result makes shifting an effortless pleasure, even before we put fluid in it. This "011" box, designed to replace the onerous T5, takes a GM speedometer bullet as well, making installation that much easier.

Speaking of easy, Spohn Performance's T56 swap crossmember and torque arm made this part of the job a simple, bolt-in affair, right down to the preset pinion angle adjustment on the torque arm. With the transmission in place, all we had to do was bolt these pieces, along with the Spohn driveshaft, into place. The driveshaft even came equipped with an adapter U-joint to mate with our factory 7.5-inch 10-bolt rear, and all we'll have to do is swap this out should we decide to upgrade to a 12-bolt. Very nice.

As we said last month, though, putting a manual trans in an automatic car is a custom job. Parts of the process may sound easy, and maybe even are, but the devil is in the details. Getting the clutch disc centered and using the correct pilot bushing (see Part I) are crucial--properly setting up the throwout fork and hydraulic slave cylinder are equally critical steps, which we cover here. Go slow and get 'em right, and you'll have nothing but joy at the engine-trans junction, namely the clutch. Get 'em wrong, and you'll be tearing the thing apart again. We had some pro help, and hopefully his tips will help.

Other than that, all we've got left to do in this chapter is to wire up our new tranny. Our car's owner picked out the proper wires to tap into using a test light, but a wiring diagram would be equally helpful. Again, go slow, think twice, cut once, wire up your new six-speed properly, and it'll work just like it came from the factory. Ours does, and we have to say, it's transformed The Bitchin' Camaro's personality. More of the power we've gotten out of our breathed-on 305 is getting to the pavement, and the entire package has become much more potent, whether burning rubber at a stoplight or revving easy at high speed on the open road. And don't worry--we will be back on the mission again, finding out what kind of power our hot-to-trot 305 is really making.

(The author would again like to thank Barry White's Street Rod Repair Company, 1640 Commerce St., Dept. CHP, Corona, CA 92880; (951) 273-9284, www.barrywhitesrrc.com, for the use of the shop and for letting us burn lots of midnight oil to complete this story.)

Ryan's grandfather, Gene White (seen in our lead photo), ran a clutch and brake shop for 30 years, so he stopped by to keep the kids in line and make sure our assembly was properly set up. Here, he's comparing the measuring rod he just inserted through the bellhousing to the end of the pilot bearing to our T56's input shaft. As you can see by Gene's mark (arrow), our clutch disc will end up right where it should, and the input shaft end will have plenty of bushing to ride on. Thanks, Gene.	It was then time for some more cuttin'. We had already removed the automatic shifter and cable, as well as the extra plating found atop the tunnel. Ryan made his measurements on the new T56, transferred then to the car, and made his cut. He was pretty much right-on. As shown in our lead photo, the six-speed was then hefted onto a trans jack and raised into position. Once the trans angle matched the engine angle, and using a spare yoke to turn the shaft, things slid together nicely.	Once in place, the T56 bolts to the adapter plate from the backside. We had already attached the nearly new urethane bushing from our 700-R4 crossmember to the six-speed, so all we had to do was install the Spohn crossmember. This meaty piece bolted right into place. This setup relocates the torque arm mount to the crossmember, taking stress off the tranny and maintaining the proper pinion angle.
Speaking of pinion angle, Spohn provides an angle finder with its crossmember/torque arm kit, but they also use a jig to preset the torque arm at a street-friendly 1-degree down (negative). Ours was right there, so we didn't need the finder. Spohn also sent one of its Extreme duty driveshafts. One warning, though: The beefy differential mount may hit the floor in lowered cars. Raise it up, or prepare to clearance.	Squared away underneath, we moved back inside. After installing the provided stock Tremec shifter (the short-throw unit we tried was too short), we installed the upper console lower shift boot. This mostly rubber piece has a metal perimeter, so Ryan drilled a few extra holes and installed a few extra screws, thoroughly sealing the shift lever hole he had cut.	In the home stretch, we turn to wiring (a diagram is helpful here). Ryan cut the aqua and purple wires from the automatic shifter harness, extended them to the clutch pedal, installed the proper plug ending, then connected the wires to the neutral safety switch, ensuring the car won't start unless the clutch pedal is pushed in. He then cut the blue and green wires, added the yellow and white extensions shown, again added the proper plug and connected it to the receptacle on the right side of the tranny--instant reverse lights! Finally, he added the green and white wires.
Ryan ran one end of these wires to the brake pedal--one wire taps into a brake light switch wire, the other goes to ground. The other end of the two wires runs through the dash, into the reused shift cable grommet, and back to the reverse lockout solenoid that sits near the shift lever. When the brake lever is pushed, the solenoid is energized, and the trans snicks right into reverse, just like from the factory.	One of the nice things about this T56 is that is accepts a stock T5 speedo bullet and gear. The not-so-nice part is finding a stock T5 bullet if you're working on a car that came with an automatic. King kudos go to Paul Ebbs of Richard Hibbard Chevrolet for tracking down the correct '92 Camaro mechanical/hybrid speed sensor and 19-tooth gear (the correct pairing for the seven-tooth cog found in this T56's tailhousing in our 3.42:1-geared car).	And finally, Ryan crawled back under the Camaro to hook up the exhaust-pipe bracket. To make it work, he modified the trans side, tapped a blank hole in the side of the transmission, and fastened the bracket with a 3/8" bolt. The pipe side bolts back up just like stock.
Don't ask where we found the five-speed shift console, 'cause then we'd have to...well, then we'd have to tell you our source has no more, as GM has discontinued them. We will tell you though, that this stick works a very slick-shifting six-speed that has given our speedy F-body a whole new personality. We'll be back with more on that.	Under the dash, it looks just like it came this way from the factory. No, we don't have ABS, but as we said, the new clutch pedal works as one smooth setup that grips when you tag the gas pedal. Thanks to Stevie and Les at McLeod for dropping everything to get us the parts we needed.