anybody ever swap out an auto for a t56? im looking to swap out my 3.8/auto for a 5.0/t56. im not sure if there will be clearance issues or if any major modifications with the trans tunnel will have to be made besides cutting a hole for the shifter. its in an 83 tbird. my buddy did it on a 96 mustang and there were no clearance issues but they also come with a 6speed from the factory where the tbird had an option of a 5 speed
Do some searching out on the Mustang sites that have Fox Mustang sections in them (Corral, Stangnet, etc) as our cars are pretty much identical to the Fox Mustangs and there are plenty of them running around with a T56 in them. I helped a buddy swap one into his '91 LX and with the right parts it was pretty easy but don't read pretty cheap. I was expensive as you have to go from the flywheel all the way to the drive shaft to put one in.
Darren
There are a few guys on this forum that have done the swap. The "magnum" t-56 ment for a stang works just like a fox, minus a few things. The driveshaft needs shortened, and some of the t-56 use a completely electronic speed sensor. Our cars use a speedo gear with a vss that converts it to an electronic pick up. A mechanical speedo hookup should work fine with your existing sensor, depending on the speed gears.
A t-5 swap is relatively painless. I used a 3.8 sn-95 and minus the speed sensor, it bolted in like factory. The 94-98 t-5's for a 3.8 have the correct style speedo hookups but are only rated at 265/ftbs. The 99-04 are rated at 300-310ftlbs depending on who you beleive. The non-viper spec t-56's are good for about 425ftlbs. The 03-04 cobra t-56 will work with the proper clutch and a different spline yoke, but needs a speedo recalibrator as the 99 up mustangs use a oss instead of a vss. The oss expects 32000 pulses per miles rather then 8000 pulses per miles.
If you don't swap that out, your speed will read 85mph before 1st gear is done.
Lots of reading on the subject, but it heavily depends on which t-56 trans you go with.
http://www.stangtv.com/tech-stories/drivetrain/tech-fox-body-aod-to-t-56-magnum-conversion/
I've been looking at swapping in a manual too. The AOD to T-56 swap should be pretty similar to this article. Some of their fancy stuff could be replaced with lesser items or junkyard parts, but it's still not gonna be cheap. As far as clearance goes, I haven't read anything about any serious issues. Mainly cutting tabs off the transmission case and bashing headers and exhaust a bit, depending on the setup.
Mark from Ann Arbor has done the swap in his 86 Tbird...non turbo. Its pretty modified at this point....its a really big transmission. Maybe he can provide some insite.
Thanks,
Travis