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I have never opened the tranny while it was still in the car, but it it may be possible. The 5/6 countershaft and gears will be tough to hold in place while it's on the car.. but I suppose it could be done in the car. The big deal with only having to deal with 5th and reverse is that they are all in the tail section. Once you have to crack into the main section (1-4) of the tranny, the shift rail installation is a PITA. Otherwise it's cake. If you have alot of miles on the tranny, the 5/6 countershaft will pull out by hand. If it's new or very low mile tranny it requires a special puller. I think it cost me $70 for just the puller head. I had to rebuild a friend's with ~5000 miles once and everything was tight. Once they get 30 or 40K on them they loosen up plenty. Take a look at this... http://jodyc.fbody.com/T56-manual/T56_service_manual.pdf That should answer a few questions Jody

If that is all you are having problems with then just buy the 5th gear blocker ring. The tail section comes off easily, pull 5th and replace the blocker ring. On the reverse, simply pull the reverse synchro apart and flip it over and re-use it. Reverse only uses one side, so the other side is NEW. Maybe buy a reverse blocker ring. Jody

Define rebuilt... if you just want to freshen it up get the Bearing kit and synchro kit... Call D&D performance and get both kits. The transmission is very easy to rebuild. You may want to get a steel 3/4 shift fork if you are a gear slammer. Make sure you replace the 2 shift fork alignment bolts and maybe the shift pads too. The transmission will hold up fine at the 450HP level. I have been abusing mine with more than that for years.

The key to bending tubing is the correct sized die and spreading the load on the points where the bender restrains the pipe. I plan on trying the bender for my exhaust tubing soon. The problem is the only exhaust sized dies the bender comes with are 2" and 2 1/2" dies. The 2" die will do 2 3/8 tubing and the 2 1/2" die will do a 3" tube. I wasn't planning on doing a full 3" exhaust. I may grind out the 2" die to the correct size to bend 2 1/2" tubing. Hopefully it'll work... we'll see.

Sorry about the picture size.... lets try this again. Buy 2 2" couplings like this. Put the couplings under the rollers and make sure the die is the correct size. 1 1/4" die is the correct size for 1 5/8" tubing. The couplings will leave marks on the tube, but they are easily sanded out. Jody

If used correctly a harbor freight pipe bender will make excellent bends. As smooth as any tube bender. All you need are some 2" couplings to bend 1 5/8 .130 tube. Use the 1 1/4" jig. Pipe benders use the ID measurement, tube benders use the OD measurement. Look at these pics of a couple of bends I made to show someone else this trick. Jody WHOA!!! Images a little too large, deleted! -admin-

I had this happen in my Camaro. High RPM launches twisted the splines in the driveshaft yoke. I used an air hammer to bang the DS off the transmission output shaft. It was UGLY. It took me hours to get it apart. Good luck. Jody

If you have a hydraulic jack with a large handle, take the handle off and slip it on your breaker bar. A 4' wrench works wonders. Use an impact socket though... standard sockets like to split using this technique... wonder how I know:)

What mod level is your motor? Couple of thoughts off the top of my head... Did you have the motor apart? Cam/Crank position correct? If the motor actually sputters like it's firing, What does the FP do when the motor tries to start? (not just during cranking) What size injectors did you get, did you change the injector size in the program? Try a squirt of gas in the intake and see if it fires. You already checked the spark at the plug so the opti is good. I helped a friend recently that had a similar acting starting problem, but he had a large cam 242/256-109 and 50lb injectors. The engine was actually flooding, so we took a ton of fuel out at start-up to fix the problem. Then changed the oil! Have you pulled any plugs to see if they are wet? I don't think that the IAC will cause the motor not to start... may not idle fine but should start. You said the MAF etc test fine, so I would assume you're sensor fuse is fine. Good luck, Jody

Mike, Try D&D http://www.ddperformance.com/ Jody

Mike, I am using the body spacer (stock JTR ). Once I get the car on the ground I'll re-evaluate the height. If too low, maybe I'll go with a little larger spacer and raise the motor a little. It's a shame to know that they may still drag.

Bartman, Nice choice of color Mine went in for test fitting everything last week... The motor still needs to come out, apart and gone through and the headers will go out to be coated as soon as I have everything mocked up. Jody

Installed.

My solution to the Canton Oil pan and S&S headers. After stripping most of the paint off of the oil pan... I cut the oil pan wing down on the passenger side and cut the oil level sensor off on the driver side. The inner oil control flap is still completely functional. Then instead of heating and bending the headers, ( since Mike Kelly collapsed a header heating it to bend it ) I cut both collector flanges at an angle, spun the flange around and rewelded it on pointing in the right direction. After re-welding the header flange. Jody

Check for a local truck supply. Many have up to 5" also.

I bought the axles (along with the full billet stub axle and adaptor set-up) from Ross and expect to receive them within a week or so. I addressed the axle length issue with Ross and he confirmed to me in an e-mail that the axles he is selling will work fine with the wider R230 rear. from an e-mail to me from Ross... " Jody, you'll be glad to know we've now confirmed our present R230 axle center sections will definitely work with you R230 mounted location. Just confirmed min/max travel with the setups:) " I'll defenitely post pictures when I get them... and when they are installed. Jody

Mike, thanks for the heads up on the thin pipe. I don't think I need to move the collectors much. Heating 4 pipes well might take 2 torches to prevent a kinked pipe. The passenger side faces the fuel/brake lines and the driver side faces the foot-well corner. Jody Here are a couple more pictures of the collector location.

I took my stock braided hose up to a hyduaulic fitting place and had them cut the stock fitting and press on a fitting on the MC side. I left the stock pinned set-up on the slave side. I bought a 1 1/8" Tilton MC, since I am using a McLeod Street Twin clutch set-up. Jody

I bought the 5205's uncoated and trial fitted the engine/tranny this weekend. I'll take pictures of the clearance issues and post them tonight. Basically the header collectors need to be tweaked down and in a little. I have the Canton pan and I am planning on cutting the passenger wing down some and welding up the oil level sensor hole on the driver side. The header rests on the passenger wing and is right next to the oil level sensor plug. Then I will be taking the car to a friend's exhaust shop and heating and bending the headers to where I like them. Then I'll send them back to get re-coated. The steering shaft seems to clear, but not by much. For installation position reference... When I installed the motor, I did not slot the mounting holes and I am using the JTR engine mount brackets. Jody Here's a pic of the pan and headers from the front. The picture looks lower because of the picture angle. The driver side collector is very close to the T56 slave cyl bump.

I was a little skeptical too, but their feedback was decent and the price was right. I bought a full set from them. The shocks appeared and felt to be new. The shocks, boxes and parts bags were perfect, with the warranty cards etc... . The shipping and time frame was fine. The shocks are installed, but I have yet to drive it. Go for it! Jody

I'd put another breaker in and run an outlet for the compressor. Hard wiring into the electrical panel without a breaker is foolish. What amperage draw is the compressor? Get a __A 2 pole (230V) breaker and a __A 230V outlet. If you don't have space in the sub panel in your garage, you could wire the welder breaker to an outlet and share the outlet by getting the same plug configuration on both the welder and the compressor, since you likely won't be using both at the same time. Jody

Have you called D&D to see what they can do? Their T56 parts etc.. are awsome, they also have T-5 upgrades. http://ddperformance.com/t5_parts__upgrades.htm http://ddperformance.com/index.htm 248-735-6220 Jody

I've given this to a couple of people already and thought I'd share to all who may be interested... I have a .pdf file copy of the T-56 service manual and have posted it at http://jodyc.fbody.com/T56-manual/T56_service_manual.pdf The server is sometimes slow, and the file is 1.7m... Once the file opens, save it to your HD. Jody

Another hybrid project. Not a Z car, but good information and pictures on some fabrication work. The project is a work in progress and Jason is updating the page regularly. http://www.vorshlag.com/E36ProjectBook.asp I love the factory sticker on the BMW! (stolen from Vorshlag)