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Widening the Tunnel, T5 and T-56


Guest thinkmonkey

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I recently acquired Lone in AZ's '72 240Z; which has been renamed the "Orange Crate". It has a 350 4 bolt main, with a T-56. In answer to your question, I noticed that the passanger side of the tunnel has been "dimppled" approx. 1/2 - 3/4" in order to allow for tranny clearance(s). It is bearily noticeable and has minimal impact on the passanger side seating area.

 

Compaired to my "Two40MuscleZ" which is a show build up, I have cut both sides of the tunnel; replacing those areas with stretched and shaped metal type covers. This feature allows increased space for the installation of the "wider" T-56 tranny, as well as a removable access plate for future needs. Hope this helps.

 

Comps, VAN 2thumbs.gif

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In my case I just zipped off the stock mounts with an air chisel, installed the T56, and then used a prybar to press the passenger side of the tunnel out some. I only had to make room for the reverse switch - it fit with no real banging that I remember.

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Guest Anonymous

David... My experience in removing "pinch welds from the stock mounts" was the beginning of a disaster beacuase the chisel wanted to go thru the floorboard into the interior of the car. I backed off the pinch welds and trying to work the chisel between the two layers of sheetmetal to cut the spot welds/pinch welds. I layed the chisel on the outside of the sheet metal mount and let it cut thru leaving the a thin strip of pinch welded/spot welded sheet metal to the floor board all the way around both sides of the mount which removed 99% of the mount. The air chisel with vey liite pressure can rapidly cut thru this mount sheet metal leaving a very clean cut.After it was undercoated ,you could not tell that the flat layer of what was left of the mount sheet metal was still attached to the tunnel

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Guest Anonymous

Dang...I never thought of using an Air Chisel.Well,that seems to be my tool for knocking out the original Z transmission ears.Sounds like a winner.

 

Tomahawk,What brand of undercoat did you use for your Z?That's one of the next few things that are going to happen with my Z's restoration and V8 Conversion.

 

Izzy cheers.gif

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I used a cut off wheel in my angle grinder to cut off the ears. I then ground off the spot welds to make a smooth surface. It was pretty quick to do. No holes in my floor from that just from the subframes. An AOD fits in ok but I think you will need to pull the motor to take out the tranny. The bolts are under the curve of the firewall. Does anyone else need to do this?

 

Don

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Guest thinkmonkey

I am about to have my car in primer followed by a few months of body and cage work. During that time I want to get all my metal work done so that after I go to the paint booth I don't have to bang away at the transmission tunnel trying to cram my transmission in there. I'm installing a crate 350 and a T5 in my car first, to be followed by a Whipple supercharger and T-56 in a few months/years. Has anyone standardized how much the transmission tunnel has to be widened on each side and where, depending on each of these trannies? JTR was kinda vague on that. Thanks guys.

 

-David

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Guest Anonymous

I haven't started to try to stick my 350/Turbo 350 in my Z yet,but what I plan to do is when I get the engine built,is to put it on the engine hoist and set it down in the car to see how much I have to beat the trans tunnel to get it all to fit in the JTR position.I think that Pete can tell you exactly how much you'll have to beat and bang to get it to fit.I think that he installed a Tremec 3550,so it should be about the same diameter.You might also check out his web site for more info on his conversion.It's a nice one.Anyway,it shouldn't be that bad of a job to tackle 2thumbs.gif .

 

Hope this helps!

Izzy cheers.gif

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I cut my tranny mounts off with a sawzall. Went very quickly and not as ear shateringly load as an air chisel. You do get metal dust that you don't get with the chisel. like TZ, I left the flat section with the spot welds and just sprayed it with rattle can undercoat. If anybody asks I just say it is "extra frame strengthening". Nobody asks.

 

With the f-body T5 (15* angle) you need to dimple the floor near the gas pedel to make room for the clutch slave cylinder. This adds an extra complication as now you need to trim off about an inch from the bottom of the pedel so it won't snag in the carpet and get stuck in WOT. :eek:

 

Not that you won't spend a lot of time there anyways. But, occasionally, you'll need to lift. :D

 

The only other spot I "clearanced" was a spot on the passinger side to make room for the JTR tranny mount. I needed to do this to get my tailshaft to line up better with the diff. If you have a 280 I think is not necessary due to the differaces in the floor pans.

 

If I ever get my car back from the painter I'll put it up on a hoist and take some pics with a ruler in place to show how much to smack. It's really not a big deal. Like the other guys say, you never notice it inside the car. If it were me I woundn't worry if I did it before of after any other work. If you do it before and just guess, you will, no doubt, have to fine tune it later anyways.

 

JMHO,

Dan

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Guest Anonymous

Mike Kelly wrote an article entitled "installing the T6 transmission" which should help you. Its a very descriptive article with pics. I dont know how to add an attachment to this site. I will try to send to your private email, or you can ask mike kelly ( I think a hybrid member }.

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