[harley3296]

Im starting this to help other people to do a auto to manual swap

I have a 1970 lemans with 350 for now, 9.5 compression putting out 310 Hp . I had a tubo 350 in the car originally and wanted an overdrive. The next logical step was to install a 200r4. I didnt put it in, i had someone else install it for me.I bought the tranmission off craigslist (should have known better). It wouldnt shift into 2nd, drove it a transmission shop and they rebuilt it for 1500.00. That was high. but nobody Else had A Better Price. .all the same. I drove it for 2 years and it lost 1st gear. I went to the same transmission shop and they said it needs another rebuild....thats it..i was done.

Now came the decision to make the swap to a manual. Problem is the price. T56 transmissions are 1800-3000.
So I'm going with a T5 rated at 310 ft lbs . Ill have to take it easy for a while till I can see what it cant hold up to...OK,
Here the 1st thing, remove old transmission

Now to remove old brake pedal, you have to unbolt the brake master cylinder , then the steering wheel braket comes loose. Pull down the steering wheel and unbolt the old brake pedal, swing the pedal around the steering wheel and pull it down.get the new pedal with clutch and insert it the same way in the old one came out, it's very easy to do.push the steering wheel back in the place and put it back together with 2 bolts. install the brake masters owner and install 4 bolts.

[Schurkey]

T5? Better install it using wing-nuts, so when it shatters you won't need tools to pull the transmission back out again.

[Goatracer1]

No offense but you should have picked a different auto trans shop or bought a performance 200-4R on line/catalog. I have a "BowTie Overdrives" 200-4R behind a 600hp blown 428 that has worked well for over 10 years. At the time it cost just a few $100 more than you spent. It's not always wise to shop price.

[Overkillphil]

Harley, what T5 are you using? I put a T5-Z in my 82 Mustang and it's probably the toughest version at @330 ft. lb rating. There are guys with Fox Mustangs running T5-Z's behind 400 hp 351's.

The heavier A-body isn't a plus but based upon your criteria of taking it easy for awhile, it should be fine behind that 350 as long as you can work out the fitment. There are a few specialty shops who can build those trannys to handle quite a bit more power but at that point I think I'd be spending any "upgrade money" on a TKO, etc.

[harley3296]

No big deal, the transmission is held on by 4 bolts and pull the drive shaft out and the transmission just falls out, it should take about 30 minutes to remove the transmission and you can find good deals on eBay and Craigslist for about 3 to $400, the transmission weighs 75 pounds, so it's no big task to remove it. Can have a new one in about 4 hours

[harley3296]

[QUOTE=harley3296;5476886]Im starting this to help other people to do a auto to manual swap

I have a 1970 lemans with 350 for now, 9.5 compression putting out 310 Hp . I had a tubo 350 in the car originally and wanted an overdrive. The next logical step was to install a 200r4. I didnt put it in, i had someone else install it for me.I bought the tranmission off craigslist (should have known better). It wouldnt shift into 2nd, drove it a transmission shop and they rebuilt it for 1500.00. That was high. but nobody Else had A Better Price. .all the same. I drove it for 2 years and it lost 1st gear. I went to the same transmission shop and they said it needs another rebuild....thats it..i was done.

Now came the decision to make the swap to a manual. Problem is the price. T56 transmissions are 1800-3000.
So I'm going with a T5 rated at 310 ft lbs . Ill have to take it easy for a while till I can see what it cant hold up to...OK,
Here the 1st thing, remove old transmission

Now to remove old brake pedal, you have to unbolt the brake master cylinder , then the steering wheel braket comes loose. Pull down the steering wheel and unbolt the old brake pedal, swing the pedal around the steering wheel and pull it down.get the new pedal with clutch and insert it the same way in the old one came out, it's very easy to do.push the steering wheel back in the place and put it back together with 2 bolts. install the brake masters owner and install 4 bolts.
next you will have to locate the hole for the clutch push rod that's attached to the clutch pedal. That all is located to the left of the steering wheel you are going to have to remove the bracket surrounding the steering wheel that's attached to the firewall inside the car it's pretty obvious where it's at, one step bracket is removed you will see wearing them boot is attached to the firewall it has 3 pre existing holes. you will have to remove the bracket and you'll see where the pushrod goes through the firewall and connect to the V Bar. outside where the Z bar is connected to the engine VF a ball on engine and is also connected to the frame of the body. there are two pre existing holes in the frame looking down on the frame from top you will see two holes, that's where the bar is connected by a bracket. you will have to use self tapping screws to start a thread in the holes because from the factory all frames were punched with these hole whether it was an automatic or manual. the best way to do it is to use a small screw to get started and an extension with a universal joint. once the threads are made then you can put the bracket on with longer screws.

[harley3296]

I'm using t5 transmission from a 1995 through 1996 Mustang 5.0 world class rated at 3:10 foot pounds and has been totally rebuilt and I bought it on eBay for $500. at a later time if I feel I want to go with a more robust transmission if I can get a good deal on it I will go with T56,but for now this should work fine, I'm not planning on doing any drag strip runs, the great thing about t5 and t56 is they are molded around the Muncie 4-speed bell housingand will interchange easily

[harley3296]

[harley3296]

[harley3296]

Today I tried installing the zbar, but I see the zbar is getting in the way of the headers, I can put it in 1/2 way and it gets stuck. I don't see a way this will work without getting different headers. Anybody have any ideas ??

[Overkillphil]

Yeah I remember this issue with these cars and that's why I'm going with RARE manifolds if I go E-head roundport or Hedman Shorty's if I go d-port on my 70. Sticking with the stock clutch linkage is simpler for me but at a price when it comes to most headers.

[harley3296]

Looks like I can get a pair a used headers on ebay for 75.00, it bypasses the zbar, when I bought the original headers, I didnt see that coming. .now to all those that are considering a manual transmission, watch out for the header issue, buy one that comes straight down on the rear drivers side cylinder

[harley3296]

After doing so much investigation and research I have found absolutely nothing about Z bar installation, well here are the facts for those who pretend to be mechanics I've got pictures and illustrations of how to do this. First it is not necessary to have Doug's headers, any header will work. You have to install the ball to the Z bar into the engine, make sure that you cut recesses into the ball stud so you can attach a 12 millimeter or 13 millimeter wrench to it so you can grab onto the stud and turn it to make it tight otherwise there is no provision to secure the ball into the engine block ,second you will have to cut the Foot clutch arm off of the Z bar with a cutting tool, then you can feed the Z bar from underneath the car and secure to one side of the ball stud then go on top of the car and install the other side of the Z bar to the mounting bracket and secure .Tighten up all bolts and the Z bar will move freely through its total deflection. Then when you know there are no hidden obstructions, which there shouldn't be all Pontiacs are built exactly the same as mine, then you can remove the Z bar and bolt the portion that was cut off from the bar together, when you cut the clutch side pedal of the Z bar make sure that you leave at least one inch from the round bar to drill 2 holes on each side of the arm, I will provide pictures. This is so easy it sounded so difficult at first with no information , now you've got

[harley3296]

More pics

[harley3296]

More pics

[David Jones]

Originally Posted by Schurkey

T5? Better install it using wing-nuts, so when it shatters you won't need tools to pull the transmission back out again.

I'm sorry, I don't want to dilute this thread any, but I laughed out loud when I read this yesterday and have silently chuckled a few more times since then when remembering it.........

[Shiny]

Nice job solving your problem, glad you shared your solution.

Never say never..

[Schurkey]

Originally Posted by David Jones

I'm sorry, I don't want to dilute this thread any, but I laughed out loud when I read this yesterday and have silently chuckled a few more times since then when remembering it.........

Credit goes to my former employer Daryl, (A full-fledged Mechanic-Philosopher) who originally talked about wing-nuts holding a transmission in place in reaction to a Mazda pickup transmission. His shop--where I worked--pulled the broken transmission out of the pickup, while the rebuild was done by a local transmission specialty shop. We then reinstalled the "rebuilt" transmission. The truck subsequently became an unreliable turd; the transmission would fail every few months. We got stuck yanking the trans out, and then reinstalling it for free, while the trans shop never managed to get the thing built in a way that would "stand up" to what I suspect was plain ol' ordinary usage.

At the time, (20+ years ago, it was likely an early '80s truck in the late '80s) we were given a story about "Japanese Five-Speed Disease", where those clever Japs would take a four-speed trans design, revise the casting and gear-sets enough to cram an overdrive gear into the case, and therefore fifth gear was very, very weak.

Looking back on it, I think the problem may have been that the trans shop sealed the case joints with DAMNED RTV SILICONE instead of proper (expensive) gaskets, and the Japs were counting on the thickness of the heavy paper gaskets to provide appropriate, designed-in end clearances for the internal assemblies. Using a few skims of RTV instead of a proper gasket made each section of the transmission shorter by ten or thirty thousandths, and now the thrust bearings don't have end-play.

Whatever it was, that truck was a comeback queen for a couple of years before the owner sold it and it became "SEP" (Somebody Else's Problem.)

Having said all that, "World Class" T5s get torn-up by six poppers, so hanging some used, random, WC T5 behind a 350 V-8 seems all too silly. Like all OEM design/production failures, the aftermarket has responded to the common destruction of T5s with multitudes of expensive upgraded parts, so if there were some reason to "need" a T5 suitable for a V-8, and you have enough skill and money--sure, it can be made to work. For awhile. Since the whole point of this thread seems to be "how to install a cheap overdrive transmission into a Pontiac", I don't get a warm 'n' fuzzy feeling about the potential success of the endeavor.

Hopefully I'm very wrong about the odds of long-term success.

[harley3296]

Thats ok , Im not going to to run this transmission very hard, and if I do, Ill be the first one to put tbe information on this thread. It really depends upon the durability, if the tranmission explodes within a week, then Ill unbolt it and bite the Bullitt and get a T56, the tranmission mounts shoud be about the same,the only difference may be the drive shaft output shaft, to remove the tranmission will only take 1 hour.. big deal. I went to the junk yard and removed a T5 from a 5.0 mustang and had it out in 2 hours and i didnt know what i was doing, now that i do, shouldnt take more than 1 hour...tops. BTW the car I took the transmission out of looked like something out of Road Warrior,and hit a telephone pole, although the tranmission was toast, it shows the durability

[harley3296]