When I wrote up the post that ended up in the sticky in this sub forum, I was "reverse engineering" Patrick Friel's T56 truck after the swap had already been done. Now that I did the swap myself in my own truck, I decided to do up a more in-depth how to, offer up sources for parts, etc. and of course, PICS!!!
lots of them.
First off, my truck was already an NV3500 Y-code truck. this means I already had a hole in the floor, I already had a 3rd pedal and clutch hydraulics. If you start with an automatic truck, the only differences that you will need to do is cut a hole in the floor yourself, and swap out your brake pedal for the brake and clutch pedals from a stick shift truck. The brace and hole are already on the firewall to install the clutch master cylinder--it's where your shift cable passes through for the column shift automatic.
Also, the CPS is different from auto to manual. if you use the auto on a manual flywheel, it will eat the sensor. you need to buy the stock CPS for a 5-spd truck. any 5-spd truck will work...3.9, 5.2 Dakota, Ram, etc. It costs about $80
as for PCMs, you'll have to source a V8 5-spd PCM, easy to do for the 97-99 trucks, but I think it's 2000 when the 4.7s came out? For those trucks, Sean says you can use the PCM out of an '01 or '02 Ram 3/4 ton truck, which had a 5.9L and 5-spd from the factory.
Ok. On to the swap!
After removing everything, you'll need to add a pilot bearing for the input shaft. The stock Dakota 5-spd bushing/bearing will work on the T56, part is available at your favorite parts source -- Rock Auto, Advance, Autozone, Pepboys, etc.
it fits into the recess of the crank for the hub on the converter. a rubber mallet will drive it home:
(this picture is actually the bushing/bearing on a big block crank...great thing about this part is that it fits ALL Mopar cranks not just the 5.2/5.9 magnums.)
After that, you'll need a flywheel. I went with a custom billet 130 tooth flywheel with the tone ring on the backside. balanced to stock 5.9 specs. It's a pretty piece!
Pick a clutch of your choice based on the power level of your build. My motor is only lightly modded, so I went with a "stock replacement" from Ram clutches. I bought the pressure plate separate from the disc. I use quotation marks because by "stock replacement" I mean that it's not a high tech dual disc, special friction material type clutch. a stock Dakota clutch will not work. You need a 10.5" or a 10.95" clutch to fit this flywheel. the stock Dakota clutch was a 12" If I remember correctly. Clutch disc needs to be 26 spline in same size as the pressure plate.
Bell housing--quicktime part 8074 is the one needed. it's for a small block chrysler to the viper T56. ...unless you get a GM or Ford T56, then you'll need the appropriate quicktime bell. Each version of the T56 has their own input shaft, and front transmission plate, which may require different bell housing patterns. --They may all have the same bolt pattern, I don't know, but I do know the input shafts are different lengths, so you can't use a viper trans on the GM bell, or vice versa.
Now. Time to start putting it together.
here's where we start--back of the motor with everything removed:
First step... Notch the bell housing for the CPS unless you plan on going carb/stand alone with your own custom crank trigger.
To do this, first, put the block plate up onto the back of the motor. Once that's in place, use a bolt to hold it from falling off the dowels. Next, bolt on the crank position sensor, and use a marker to trace around the outline of the CPS.
Now, remove everything.
Take the block plate to your workbench, use a grinder, and cut out the marked area:
Next, get the bell and place it "transmission side down" lay the block plate over the top of the bell like this:
Now you know where you need to cut on the bell.
Use your grinder again to cut out the area on the bell to match the cutout on the block plate. use your CPS to know when you have gone deep enough into the bell so that it fits. only need to go about 3/4 - 1 inch "deep"
Here you can see the bell mocked up with the CPS installed:
Now, bolt it all together!
Block plate first, again, use a bolt to temp it in place, and next install your flywheel you can also install your CPS again at this point:
Next, install the clutch to the flywheel:
and finally, the bell:
Now you can put your starter back in too if you want so it's not hanging there by the cables anymore. FYI...when messing with the starter, unhook the battery cables, or you may weld the starter to the block or frame as you remove or install it with hot cables attached to it!