6 Speed Swap

[REVINKEVIN]

Hey. I did some searching but I didn’t find what I was looking for. I have a 1986 Silverado regular cab short bed and I am toying with the idea to swap out my 700R4 for a TREMEC T56. I have looked around on YouTube but I haven’t seen much there either. My engine is a 406 with AFR 195 Eliminator heads, Air Gap intake, and custom ground solid flat tappet cam. I was thinking about pulling the engine and swapping out to a hydraulic roller setup and swapping the transmission out at the same time. So, have any of you actually done a 6 speed swap on your C10? Thanks.

 

[Trucksareforwork]

I have not done one but have a T56 sitting at the shop waiting for its next home. As I understand it the shifter location is a problem that CAN be solved for a truck but that requires some work. I'm hoping the experts can chime in on this one.

 

[bluex]

If you have or are going to bucket seats you can keep the rear mount shifter. If you want to keep the bench then a mid shift conversion is needed. Other than that there are several kits out on the market now that have everything included. I picked up an LT1 T56 a few weeks ago for stupid cheap so I'm going to make it work but I've got to do the mid shift an convert it to LS1 spec. It might need a rebuild too since it was so cheap. I'll still be in it cheaper than a new one though.

 

[REVINKEVIN]

Hey. Thanks for the replies. I am still in the planning stages of this so I have an open mind right now. More than likely I would just get a brand new kit with driveshaft and clutch and go from there. I have been thinking about installing bucket seats so that is a good thing to bring up. I built the truck with a bench seat, but my daughter leaves home for college this week so buckets are in the plan already. I need to get rid of my 2 12’s behind my seat anyway. This would give me an excuse to build a custom console and swap to a single real 12 and never look back. Great ideas so far. Thanks.

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[TheC5Surgeon]

Subscribed to this one.
What are you thinking about with pedal assembly, hydraulics, ect?
Planning out a manual swap with my 76 c20

 

[TotalyHucked]

Check out Level 7 Motorsports, they're friends of mine and have everything you need for it

 

[REVINKEVIN]

Hey C5surgen. This is a longer term plan right now. I just removed the complete interior from my 2001 SS so I can install a mini tub kit. That’s taking up my spare time at the moment. I actually did a 6speed conversation on my 1976 Laguna S3 and it turned out super nice. Lots of floor mods there. The pedals for that where pretty easy to come by. I am pretty sure that Wilwood has a pedal set in the complete kit for the trucks. Once I finish up with my cars I am going to to get back on my truck. I did just order a rear mount gas tank so I can get rid of the saddle tanks. Once I get that installed I will be thinking of nothing but the truck.

hey T-Hucked, I will look into Level 7. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[bluex]

Subscribed to this one.
What are you thinking about with pedal assembly, hydraulics, ect?
Planning out a manual swap with my 76 c20

I used a factory mechanical pedal set, and a wilwood master with my NV3500. It uses the same internal slave as a LS1 T56 so you could do the same. The mechanical pedals are easier to come by an much cheaper. My 5 spd swap is here:

NV3500 swap

This is how I went about installing a 96/97 S10 NV3500 into my C10, this way worked for me and will probably be a little different if you use an older or newer transmission. I would stick with 96 and up though as they are the strongest versions of them. Parts list: Purchased through Rock...

www.gmsquarebody.com

I'm thinking a clutch disc swap to a 26 spline an moving the shifter hole should be all the mods I have to make on the swap to the T56, after doing a mid shifter conversion to the trans.

 

[REVINKEVIN]

I am curious about the transmission tunnel. I need to do some research to see if it needs to be modified. Here’s a couple of pictures of what I had to do to get the T56 Magnum to fit my Laguna. It was some pretty major surgery.

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[TotalyHucked]

Yeah, Level 7 has a couple different pedal setups you can choose from, the transmissions, fluids, clutches, etc.

I know the low 2wd floor won't clear a T56. We've got trans humps that just came in stock, for now we just have the early versions but we should have the '81-up version later on. The first link would work, but you'll have to do some massaging to get it to work with the '81-up floor. I actually literally just laid one on an '81-up floor to see how close it is. It's not bad, but would take a little fab work.

Transmission Cover - 4WD No Hole - 73-80 Chevy GMC C/K Truck Shifter Tunnels | AMD 415-4073-42

Transmission Cover - 4WD No Hole - 73-80 Chevy GMC C/K Truck AMD Premium reproduction high hump transmission tunnel cover for the 73-80 Chevy / GMC Squarebody Pickup Truck.

www.autometaldirect.com

Transmission Cover - 4WD Rear Cover - 73-80 Chevy GMC C/K Truck Shifter Tunnels | AMD 415-4073-41

Transmission Cover - 4WD Rear Cover - 73-80 Chevy GMC C/K Truck AMD Premium reproduction high hump transmission tunnel cover for the 73-80 Chevy / GMC Squarebody Pickup Truck

www.autometaldirect.com

 

[bucket]

I am curious about the transmission tunnel. I need to do some research to see if it needs to be modified. Here’s a couple of pictures of what I had to do to get the T56 Magnum to fit my Laguna. It was some pretty major surgery.

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I've got a similar amount of cutting going on to make a T56 fit in my 2nd gen Camaro. And there's likely more to do when driveline angles are confirmed.

 

[REVINKEVIN]

T56 second gen Camaro! Hell yea. I used to have a 1970 Camaro. I was going to go all in on that car. That’s a completely different story there. On my Laguna I built up a complete frame and dropped my body onto that. I had made all of my measurements before I did that and then I fabbed everything up from there.

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[bluex]

I know the low 2wd floor won't clear a T56.

You've seen/done it? I've not found anyone that mentions extensive floor mods in a truck for one yet? It also looks smaller than my NV3500 which fits the stock low hump. It is admittedly close in places but it didn't require any mods other than the shifter hole.

 

[TerryRH]

Glad I found this thread!

 

[TotalyHucked]

You've seen/done it? I've not found anyone that mentions extensive floor mods in a truck for one yet? It also looks smaller than my NV3500 which fits the stock low hump. It is admittedly close in places but it didn't require any mods other than the shifter hole.

I haven't done it yet but I've seen several done/know some people that have. They usually just use the high hump, up until recently, it was pretty easy to find the high humps. I actually was just talking with Jesse at Level 7 yesterday, he uses the 4x4 high hump and then makes an extension piece to mate the rear of it to the floor (I just told him about our new humps yesterday so now he'll be using those).