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chevy tpi?


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Yup. I did.

I believe you would have the same issues bolting the T56 to it as any older style block. I'm not up on the details of that but if you do a search for T56 you should find some good info. My question is why though. The tpi doesn't produce the big horsepower and torque numbers to warrent it. A WCT5 will handle the tpi motor and it can be beefed up with kits to handle a lot more. Plus the T5 is about half the weight of a T56.

I've done both swaps, tpi/T5 and LT1/T56. At the time I did the tpi swap LT1's were selling at a premium and the tpi I found was a steel with very low miles. But today I'd choose a LT1 for a budget swap and an LS1 if I had money to spare.

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Calico,

I agree with Dan. Use a World Class T5, they are strong enough to handle the torque a TPI motor will produce and will be easier to setup. I'm installing an LT1 and using a WC T5 because I didn't want to spend the money for a T56 but I ended up having to scrounge around for parts to make it all work. Still cost me a lot less than a T56 though.

 

A T56 should bolt up to a TPI based motor assuming the T56 is from an LT1 not an LS1 or a Viper. The area where you'll end up doing the most research and chasing parts will be the clutch/flywheel setup. The clutch slave cylinder is different for a T56, it's a pull type rather than a push type which means you'll need to use the pull type clutch parts and flywheel unless you use an adaptor. Here is a link to a page that has some info about this topic.

 

http://www.drivetrain.com/gmt56inst.html

 

Overall it should be doable to use a T56 with a TPI based motor but IMHO it wouldn't be worth the extra effort and cost.

 

As for the WC T5, the hard part with those is finding one for sale.

 

Depending on the power output of your motor and what you intend to do with the car an R180 differential which is found in the 240s and 260s might be Ok but an upgrade to an R200 from a 280 and several other Datsun/Nissan cars would be better. Also again depending on all the above mentioned parameters it might be worth the time and money to install CV joint axles.

 

The_dj,

You posted while I was writing my post.

What issues, if any, did you run into assembling your setup? I had to track down the correct clutch and flywheel to use with the external balance/single piece rear main seal LT1 that would mate to the T5. I'm thinking the TPI motors also used the one piece rear main seal and are externally balanced, true or not? Was it possible to use a flywheel from an LT1 or did you have to track one down? What about the pull type clutch, how did you deal with that?

 

Wheelman

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