Cooper1

Hello first post new member here!

First off great info on this site tons of knowledge. With that said I need help I’ve tried searching this question to the point of exhaustion and any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

I have a donor 1997 camaro with a ( 3.8)v6 t5 transmission(free of charge) I would like to swap out the automatic transmission in my 90 305 iroc for the 97 manual

First question- will this trans assembly bell housing and all bolt up to my block

2nd what flywheel would I need

3rd what clutch assembly

4th will my vss Speedo work

i have read about main shaft being longer and if it is what is the remedy

thanks any help would be much appreciated

VIZ28

I have both a '97 3.8 T5 and an '89 305 T5.
the gearing is very much different between the 2.

There are a lot of other parts you will need to swap acquire as well. Engine harmonic balancer, trans mounts, possibly drive shaft yadda yadda yadda.

Not sure the effort is worth the ride.

Cooper1

Just swapping the transmission only why would I need to swap the harmonic balancer?and what’s the yadadada??

VIZ28

You are swapping an auto for a manual right?
etc, etc, etc.

I would not recommend this, I'll leave it at that.

Firechicken82

Your balancer will be the same. You'll need a flywheel for an 86/10.5 clutch and the the matching clutch. I think you'll need a bellhousing because the 3.4 has a different bolt pattern. The early v6 t5s usually have 14 spline clutch's/inputs. They usually are rated at less power as well. So using the bell housing and hydros from an 84-92 will be necessary. Count the splines on the front of the trans input. If it's 26, you should be OK. If it's anything else it's not worth your time.

it looks like your in CT. I'm in CT as well. I have a t5 out of an 83 w 10-12k on it. It's in great shape and I'd really like it out of my garage. If the t5 you have won't work let me know.

the v6 t5s have a little less info out there. Post up some pics of the spline shaft/bell/front bolt pattern of the trans and we can give you more info.

Cooper1

Thanks firechicken !

I am almost certain the 3.4 block has the same bolt pattern as the sbc so that is my main concern along with the shaft length.
I have a 90 with vss trying to stay away from a mechanical speedo. Why that specific year for clutch
This donor is a free car I am on the search for a t56 but this will get the swap going

Firechicken82

Yeah, I totally hear that about the speedo. The clutch can be a standard 82-92 10.5 inch w a 26 spline. The t56 uses the same splines on the input. I used an 82-92 clutch in my t56 swap. If the bell housing bolts up then all you need to do is figure out the clutch release system. You may need the release system out of the donor car. I think you can use the pedals if you cut the throttle pedal off the donor pedals. If a t56 is your goal none of these parts will work when you do that swap less the clutch and flywheel and pedals.

my car was an auto and I swapped it to a t5 and years later to a t56. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Tom 400 CFI

I have also swapped an Auto thridgen to a T5...then to a T56...then back to a T5.

Going from the auto to a 5 speeds was totally worth it. Totally.

I see one hurdle that I haven't seen mentioned yet: the 3800 has a different bell housing flange, than the 3.4 flange (which is different than the SBC). I'd think that you would need to find a 2.8/3.1/3.4 bell housing that has the later T5 flange.

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

AFAIK all of the V6 motors except for the 4.3 have different bell housing flanges from the Chevy V8.

THE ONLY bell housing that will work on a Chevy V8 is a Chevy V8 one; and as said, the version for 84 - 92 F bodies is far and away the most suitable for them.

Pretty sure the later 6-cyl transmissions have the Frod trans bolt pattern, not the V8 one that will come on the 84-92 V8 f body BH. So you would have to drill & tap that pattern into it.

Not sure if the later model trans mount flange is in the same place as it is in these cars. It certainly isn't in T-56 cars. If not, some adapting will be required.

Pretty sure the 6-cyl transmission will have the 14-spline clutch gear. So you'd need the 86-up T-5 flywheel, the clutch for a V8 one of these cars, butt the disc for a 6-cyl. I think people talk about one for Astro van as the usual candidate butt I'm not sure of that. Of course you'll need a pilot bearing/bushing.

The speedo is different between the older cars like you have and the later model transmission. You'll need one of those boxes that can make the pulse rate conversion.

Pretty sure the drive shaft you have will work. You won't have to change the crank damper; not sure where that idea came from.

Not sure what has to be done to make the torque arm work. Pretty sure the late-model mount is in a different place (more rearwards), meaning it might maybe be possible to use that and a late-model (shorter) torque arm. Not sure at all. Another way out of this is to use an aftermarket crossmember with its own torque arm; this also dodges the X-member mismatch.

The 6-cyl ratios are AWFUL. You know how far 1st is from 2nd in the 700: now imagine that 3rd & 4th are that far spread out, then 2nd to 3rd as well, then 1st to 2nd. 1st will be like those dump truck transmissions where they don't even use 1st ever at all except to go up hills very slowly with a full load, and on the highway they start out in 2nd butt have to wind out every gear all the way before shifting, butt the motor RPM is so low after every shift that it bogs down. The 6-cyl ratios are IN NO WAY "performance" oriented.

Bottom line: besides just the transmission itself, you'll have to come up with:

Complete 84-up pedal assembly
Bell housing
Hydraulics
Flywheel
Clutch
Disc
Throwout
Pilot brg
Speedo box
Trans mount "adaptation"
Torque arm mount

All in all it seems like ONEHELLUVALOTTA maze to go through, with only a very small morsel of relatively unappetizing cheeeeeze at the end. In short, even with a "free" transmission, you'll have to spend THE SAME OR MORE as a V8 transmission, do ALL THE SAME work and then some, and then end up with something you'll hate every time you sit down in the driver's seat. In short I strongly recommend abandoning this "idea"; it simply isn't a good one to begin with.

Cooper1

So I got some more research info

3.4. & 3.8 4th gen Camaros have a 60 degree block
fm sbc and bbc are 90 degree blocks

4.3 v6 is also a 90 degree block. (V8 less two cylinders)
some older V6’s also were 90degree

to use the fourth Gen t5 you would need to find a bellhousing with 90degree engine side and a ford pattern on trans side and the only one that existed was from a manual Astro van

short of finding an aftermarket bell housing this is a no go!

sofakingdom

iTrader: (1)

Or, just get a 84-92 F body BH, and drill the Frod trans pattern into it. Not too hard, as far as that goes. I'd Heli-Coil the holes afterwards just to prevent problems.

One other thing I don't know, having exactly ZERO experience with 6-cyl motors, is whether the later model T-5 was rotated like the 83-92 was. I suspect so since the same situation exists at the floor pan in the 4th gen as in the 3rd; namely, if the fork was in the "traditional" place, it would go RIGHT DIRECTLY THROUGH THE MIDDLE of the driver's right foot. AFAIK the Astro van wasn't made that way. Also AFAIK the Astro van transmission used the GM bolt pattern; but again, I cannot emphasize strongly enough, I have ZERO hands-on knowledge of 6-cyls.

Still, this whole idea is a ridiculous amount of maze to run, only to arrive at (assuming you can carry it through to successful completion) with a REALLY CRAPPY setup. Gotta be one of the worst "I just want a stick shift" conversions imaginable.

stew'86MCSS396

I*think*everything that has been said has covered it. I just came back in from going outside to look at a SBC T5 bellhousing and it does not have enough "flat" surface area to accommodate the frod pattern. Aside from the 14 spline, I seem to recall it's 1" longer. The Astro BH while it may solve the frod to SBC issue, this BH uses a standard length input shaft so the longer 14 spline would hafta be shortened. You cannot simply swap input shafts due to the different gear ratios. If you want the 26 input splined shaft...you could swap in an entire gear set but of course why go through all this trouble especially if you got the gear set from the trans you should be running in the 1st place.

OrangeBird

iTrader: (1)

Now you've got it !!!!

Rather than go to the bother of tryin to find "white elephant" parts, the smart money is on selling what you've got to someone with a six banger who needs it, and then using that ca$h to buy stuff that actually fits your car

Tom 400 CFI

Almost. The 3.8 in the '98 Camaro was a Buick engine, which is 90° and has yet another different bell housing flange design, than either the 90° Chevy or the 60° Chevy.

I'm sure that this project is doable....sofa gave viable options. I don't know that it's worth it.

anesthes

iTrader: (12)

The 4th gen T5 uses the Ford pattern, but the same 26 spline as the V8.

The only bell housing that will work 'out of the box' on V8 is the Astrovan bell housing.

Otherwise, you can re-drill a lakewood or other steel bell housing.

The problem with trying to drill the pattern into an alumum bell is you won't have enough material on the bell housing face when you rotate the transmission. Otherwise the rear mount won't be flat on the crossmember.



Yes I've done this. Recently