Has anyone done this cause im seriously thinking about it. I've become so sick of automatics having issues on two trucks in less than a year. So I ask ,has anyone done this yet?
Has anyone done this cause im seriously thinking about it. I've become so sick of automatics having issues on two trucks in less than a year. So I ask ,has anyone done this yet?
yup. it's been done. several times. Last_in has a truck with a T-56. I'll have to post some pics, but it's a pretty straight forward swap.
take the hydraulic TO bearing from a SRT-10 truck, and place it onto the master for the dakota. buy a quicktime bell for a small block mopar to a T-56, notched for the CPS, custom flywheel on a 130 tooth flywheel that still has the tone ring for the CPS, and the T-56 itself...should be about all you need.
oh yea, and you need to notch out the trans cross member and make a custom trans mount. simple to do though.
I think that is about it.
the major issues is just getting the quicktime bell, usually around $500, and the custom flywheel. Last_in bought his truck done, but I talked to the guy who built it, he said he took a stock flywheel and knocked off the ring gear for the starter, then had it turned down to take the 130 tooth gear, and pressed it on. that way he still had the tone ring for the CPS. he said this was about $500 as well.
the trans will run you a few grand, so to plan on doing this, you should budget a good 6,000 to make sure you can get it all, and most likely, you'll spend a bit less than that if you shop smartly.
I'll have to post the pics of his truck that he asked me to take for him!
(when he bought the truck, 5th and 6th gears were making noise, so we pulled the gearbox to get re-built. it's sitting in my garage without a transmission right now)
--Tom
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Lots of info...I like very much, thanks....pics would be awesome too
No shit. You could by a cherry used R/T for what it'll cost you to get a Viper 6 speed into it. Even then, you will still have a check engine light.
BTW, don't even thing about asking about Keisler. The answer is NO!
Alan Short
D.R.T.C. #15
yea, keisler is a bunch of over hyped con-artists. they take parts that you can already buy somewhere else, put them all into 1 box, add about a grand to the purchase price, then sell it to you.
they wanted how much for their TKO swaps? 5K? 6K? that's their average rate for any of their TKO "kits" for the older carb'd muscle cars anyway--and that's also before shipping. I put together everything I needed, with better (safer) parts, and did it for about 4,000 shipped to my door. --they had a "proprietary bell housing" made of cast aluminum. that would NOT be SFI approved, nor will it save your feet when your clutch explodes at 6500 rpm. a Lakewood or quicktime bell IS an SFI certified piece, and will keep your feet safe when your clutch lets go.
--Tom
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I could just get a t-56 out of anything it seems and rebuilt it if need be....but couldn't you use like a flywheel off a manual Dakota or ram? I don't really care about a check engine light, I will always have one from my ignition box.
I have pieced together a keisler kit. I have under 2k in everything. All I need now is a drive shaft. Its thebellhousing that makes it difficult for us. But like mentioned there's other options. Figure maklybe 4k for everything quick put s you close to keislers price.
if your motor is fairly stock or mildly modded, then yea, you could grab a T-56 out of a firebird and save some money. the Viper spec T56s are about double the GM parts, because they're rated for over 500 ft lbs of torque. not sure the actual rating, 600? 700?
the GM T-56s are only meant for about 300-400 ft lbs of torque.
--Tom
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I could more than likely rebuilt a gm one for cheaper and get decent life out of it... im making pretty good power if my auto would allow it to move lol. But id be happy with it lasting a good year and then even making it stronger during the winter.
No the 318 is my daily driver....this is for my rt, built motor too, will have nitrous as well.
Built motor + spray + heavy truck + non-viper spec T56 + sticky tires = borrowed time
If you take it to the track and hook it... A firebird/trans am t-56 won't last long
--Tom
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I wouldn't expect it to, always can rebuild and make it handle it. I'm gonna look around at some local guys and see what they can do and for how much. There's one guy in particular that has done me well in the past and ill give him a call in the morning.
now what about a speedo? What usually needs to be done to make the speedometer work?
What 70Cuda383 said.
I would probably never do the swap if I didn't come across this truck. I think I got a decent deal on it. Hard part was done, just needed a built engine, better brakes, suspension, rear, etc. to get it where I want it.
Here are some pictures, that he took.
Last edited by Patrick; 07-19-2011 at 01:21 AM.
It would be easier to start with a 318/NV3500 truck.
Yea im excited to do this....thanks for all the info and pics
Speed sensor is in the rear diff. That's why the trans won't affect it.
Starting with an R/T is going to be a LOT more work. You need to cut the hole for the master cylinder, swap in a pedal assembly, new driveshaft, cut a hole in the floor, swap out your steering column, dash cluster will need mods to delete the gear shift indicator, and maybe some other small things.
But hey, when you're done, you can ask 15,000 for it!!
(anyone know, did he ever sell that truck? The guy w the R/T manual swap? It was a really nice clean truck, but I don't think it'll ever sell at what he was asking)
--Tom
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Column and instrument can stay for awhile but that's not all that bad really just holes and mounting everything up. There's room for it all so that's always a good thing yeah its going to be wicked and no more stupid auto issues.
Well, it's do-able. That's for sure. Have fun with it and let us know if you get any questions
FYI, if you just want to manual swap and aren't set on the 6-sod, I've got a QuickTime bell, small block mopar to a TKO. the TKO can be bought brand new capable of 600 lbs torque for less than a used viper spec gearbox. 6 speeds is a lot of shifting and do you really need 2 OD gears? The TKO with a .64 OD was perfect for my big block. 1-4 for acceleration, 5th for cruising. Top of 4th gear was 120 MPH never took it past that, but with a long enough straight, 5th would have topped around 180.
Anyway, I bought the QuickTime because I was going to yank the big block out of my club cab, and put a small block into it w the QuickTime
Obviously that changed and I ended up w a completely different truck before I did the swap
It's new and unused. You interested? It won't work w a T-56, just the TKO (any anything that shares the same pattern as the TKO.)
--Tom
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I may hit you up on that in the future once I decide exactly which one I go with. Thanks again for the info very very big help.