John Scott

One of the best 700 trans. one of our local (11 sec.) cars has delt with is Rossler transmissions. Always been helpful when I've called him. www.Rossler Transmissions, Inc. JS

Using an 8 rib with a little pulley isn't a good idea. Its not the blower putting the strain on the bearings as much as my trying to overcome the slippage issue. The car magazine articles on centrif. blower tips warn of the front bearing wear with really tight belts. I'm not breaking any new ground here. What I need is a larger surface area for the pulley. That would be a 12 rib design with 50% more contact area. Most of the cars you see on the street run 5-10 psi. You don't need much more than a pair of v belts to do this. Little pulleys with little surface area loose bunches of grip. And as I've confirmed, overcoming the slippage is hard on the bearings. I don't think the crank is flexing as much as the whole thing is being pulled up and towards the drivers side. Bearings show progressively less wear as you go to the rear. A two foot pry bar pulled so hard it makes me f@%+ can put a lot of preload on the crank. Running the car this way for 4 years adds up I'm sure. I think it is Vortech that makes a slick and really expensive bar that spans the pulleys, centerline to centerline, with additional bearings. Considered only for race applications. The 12 rib is the way to go. I think I'll see way less wear with less tension. JS

Thanks Pete. You have either good intuition or been reading up on blowers! All good recomendations. I've experimented, but perhaps not exhausted the belt wrap issue. I've moved, redrilled the idler pulley to 5 different locations. Toothed belts aren't recommended for the street, at least not the kind of driving I'd like to do. Harder on the motor, wear faster, need precision alignment with no deflection. Also a bigger case is recommended like the ATI P1200. Need a bypass valve(got that) or they'll bend something important when you shut down @ 7000 rpm., and yes they're expensive. Your pulley size idea has great merit. More area around the pulley is good. Same reason tall tires give better straight line traction. Paxton's older set up uses this to advantage (big driven pulley) with a higher step up ratio (4.44:1) in the blower's transmission. They just couldn't handle high RPMs (39,000)and thus only give small boost #s. I have minimal clearance under my drive pulley already so I'm stuck with the size I have. ATI has the largest engine pulleys out there @ 7.65 in. At least as of '98. They're step up ratio is 3.05:1 but with the larger lower pulley and really strong gearboxes, could handle lots of RPM (60,000) and way higher boost. They were the first to come out with a 12 rib, and have the cogged for the big units as well. Some racers resort to using traction compounds on the belts. BTW the MONDO Vortech crankshaft support strut is a piddly $500+. OW! My only alternative is a 12 rib, and good case bracing. JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited June 19, 2000).]

Also check your tension rods, steering rack, struts, anything and everything you can get your wrenches on. YIKES! JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited June 19, 2000).]

Number 2. After 10+ years of marriage and 2 weeks after buying my Z, bango ..."dear I feel funny this morning!". Four years later, here comes the next. My son really loves "the orange car". New how to say carburetor, supercharger, radiator etc. before he was 3! Has his own step stool next to the fender. Gave him lots of play tools. Never touched them. Always went for the real ones. Used to sleep with a holley fuel regulator under his pillow! By far the most important and amazing part of my life. Oh yeah, been hammering away on the underside for the slave clearance. Seems so crude...yet satisfying! JS JS

Spenc, some good questions. The TKO seems like the best of the 5 speeds. Almost up with the Vipers T56 550 torque. 6 speeds seem redundant, especially when the last two are overdrives. From a crusing standpoint, and I do get into some long drives, the slower my engine is turning, the better. Even with a .7 overdrive a 3.54 becomes a 2.48. My new 6 will cut this to 2.19. 3 speeds won't cut it for me. 4 for the road wars and 2 (one would do) for getting good milage and saving on wear and tear. Too bad a a CVT hasn't been designed for high hp. JS

Thanks for the tip, Ron. I'm doing the no pull-under-the car- bearing change. Advantage(?) of having a V6. I'm figuring on doing a new engine from square one in the future so I don't have the down time w/o my car. ( Additions to the project are going to be pretty slow around here. New baby girl, ANY day!) This will include all the extras I was hoping to put in this one. 4 bolt mains, better rods, heads, etc. I look in my engine a little more frequently than the average fanatic. Since all this has been experimental, I felt the check-ups would be a good idea. By the time a bearing spins out, its too late. The bearing change is to get me through to the next build. The crank that is in there now was prepped pretty well. Indexed, crossdrilled, balanced, and I would think maged. Block was align honed. I was getting a little flex from the 2 bolt mains, but have taken the Max rpm down a little. Along with Magnufluxing, what is your opinion of Nitriding? A waste of $$? A few of the REALLY high boost Syclones are adding this to there build lists. JS

As I suspected it was time for new main bearings. The #1 was showing quite a bit of wear. Rods looked amazingly good with little if any new evidence of predetonation. I'm going to replace them anyway since I'm "into it" I asked around for bearing advice (thanks everyone!) and most seem to recommend the Clevities. I've had good success with them too, but decided to try Federal Mogul's high end line made for racing applications. They cost more, but I'd like to see if they wear any better. Still cheaper than a new engine. I'm having serious concerns about the belt tension issue and know the 12 rib design will alleviate some of the stress on the front main. This will entail refab.ing brackets and another big deposit in ATI's bank account! Another plus for turbocharging, Scottie! So, the transmission takes a back seat while I wait for the UPS man, again. Did a trial fit of a big 3 row ATI intercooler. Looks pretty tight. Need to get my trans. cooler out of the road before I can make any determination. This would be cool because the intercooler is for sale at a good price. A friend claims it's only good for 600 hp or so. Too little for my his 800 hp twin turbo road racer Turbonetics Mustang! See! There's some competition out there! JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited June 17, 2000).]

Centerline will make you any offset you want if you don't mind a short wait. I didn't pay any more for the custom offset. I have the "Trident IIs" 16X8. Check members rides. They do a fantastic polish job and are really light. JS

Max, Sounds like you know what you want. Good man! Liberty 313 278 4040 has reconditioned T56s, or do you want a virgin unit? JS

ZD, www.burt.com 800-345-5744 site is pretty lame compared to Sallee. No info. I could find on the T56. Hows your project coming? Have you located a engine? JS

Psyence, consider the Aftermarket Tremec/T56(BW). It can be had for 2165.00. Figure in you cost for shifter, and a electronic speedo, and you'll have a new trans. Bolts to a T5 bell which is easier to find than the unique OE T56. The 400 lb rating is good for the light Z. Bigger badder engines need the late T56. If you're not going to run slicks, look into this. Burt chev. 1800-345-5744. JS

FF, Burt has them for 2168.00. You know no one has abused it before you get your dirty little hands on it! Give me a call if you want more details.(Before 9PM) JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited June 15, 2000).]

Absolutely Frog. Actually, the Aftermarket T56 comes with the adapter already drilled for the T5 trans. And includes the shifter. It bolts in upright to the tilted T5 bolt pattern. I have a list of parts from Rob to make the Swap complete(wiring pigtails,fasteners, etc.) You'd have to re-drill it to fit the Corvette bell. Gear ratios are 2.97,1.94,1.35,1.00,.84,.62. This was designed to be a bolt in behind the T5 bellhousing. Seemed too good to be true, so I had to get one. Again Burt Chev. has the others beat on the price, but you have to pay Denver's high sales tax. I figures by the time I found a good T56, bell housing, retrofitted a electronic speedo, bought a shifter, the New one would be a good deal. Now I'm thinking there are 3 T56s. The older orig. model, newer original, and aftermarket. For the simplicity of installation, and the common T5 bellhousing, the aftermarket is a good choice. If your needing a higher torque trans then better stick to the late T56s. Frog, let me know if you need some numbers. JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited June 16, 2000).]

Not too sure which models we're talking. If its the orig equip one vs the aftermarket, then the OE will have the skipshift solinoid, no speedo. provisions, and the higher torque rating. Orig. equip parts always seem to run high. Dealer profit I would assume. The GM with 2.66 1st is rated @ 450 lb/ft, and has a unique bellhousing. The aftermarket T56 (Borg Warner is now owned by Tremec) with 2.97 1st is 400 lb/ft and bolts to a T5 bellhousing. Straight up I might add. Pretty cool set up. I'm slowly learning that there's so much more to this torque rating than just your engines output. Just as important if not more, is what kind of traction you put through the tires vehicle weight, gearing, etc. JS

Found the PN, Frog. If its still avail.: 14048867. Confirm this. Its an old source. Said you'll have to purchase it through a "franchise dealer" whatever that means. Try Burt in Denver. Make sure you talk to Ken Casey. JS

Internal. Chevy claims the nodular flywheel is good for a billion RPMs when new. Just want to keep things in line. Everthing is hold together well, so far. JS

Myron, I do know the R200 case is bigger and rounder than the 180 (from the rear) . Not very scientific, but a noticible difference. JS

Since my engine was balanced as an assembly, from damper to flexplate, how is my new flywheel going to affect the engine? Am I fretting over nothing? JS

Ron or Brad may help here. I'm thinking since my car is in the air and the bearings are so easy to get to, I'd go ahead and replace them. My front main will surely be abused with the continual high belt tension.(common problem with high boost belt drives.)I want to know what the best bearings are. Clevite 77, Fedral Mogal, what? I remember seeing an H stamped on my last set of clevites. Is this a harder bearing? I know you drag racers run the $%#@ out of your engines and see the insides more than the rest of us. What are you using? What is the most durable? Thanks JS

B&M Sport Shifter # 80776. Avoid it! JS

Dang it Frog. I was just looking at the bellhousing. 84-88 Corvette. Saw it in one of my chevy catalogs. This will straighten up the shifter, but then you have a tilted trans crossmember mount. A S-10 WCT5 tailshaft will put that back level with the world, but no speedo hook up. I'll keep looking for the part #. I thought the JTR manual said the tilt was a good thing for the Z. Put the shifter in a good spot. Surely others here are running the T5. What have you done? JS [This message has been edited by John Scott (edited June 13, 2000).]

Wouldn't recommend the cheapie B&M for the 700. Its too easy to overshoot the detents. I was on a budget and should have waited . I'd go for the better ratchet type shifters that will let you bang away without overshooting a gear. Neutral safty switches/ backup should come with any good shifter. JS

Come on Andrew! Its cooler to say milled JS

Matt, try www.gearzone.net/T5.htm if you can find your way back to the front page there are phone #s, email addresses. This guy does a lot of T5 building. Designed the counter shaft stabilizer plate. Supplies parts, too. Check your case carefully. Most of the trans shops I've talked to say the bearing supports get so wallowed out a new case is needed. Usually go with a remanufact. If the case is worn you can find new WCT5s in the neighborhood of $1000-1200 JS