6 speed

ImportEater

ImportEater

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i want a six speed bad. would a t56 fit? how long do you think it would last in a 4000lb car. also the $650 rear end from max at 5 star... how do i get ahold of him?
 
lincolnboy said:
good thing i have a 5speed
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You got a manual in your VIII?


Importeater...... A T56 would be a good choice for a mark IF you have the rear gears to support a .50:1 6th gear. As far as I know, I am the only one with a manual tranny in a MarkVIII. It's ALOT of work to get it in there, not limiterd to JUST bolting the tranny in place.

I went with a T45 out of a 2000 Mustang GT. Check out my cardomain site, to see some details on the swap. http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/577667

If you don't notice I had to TIG a shifter extension on the back of the housing to make up the difference in the shifter loactions between the mark, and the mustang. (don't laugh at the weld quality....it was my 1st time TIG'n aluminum) Now I wish I would have added another inch to the housing, as I had to notch the console to fit.

You will need a different driveshaft as the tranny cases are different lengths. I went with a MMX driveshaft from www.dennysdriveshaft.com. I would reccomend them to anyone. A++++ on the service.

There are a few different options on the clutch release system. You can go with an external slave cylinder, or a McLeod bearing/slave assy. Your looking at a few hundred for that alone.

The clutch pedal has a few options also. I used a Thunderbird supercoupe clutch pedal, with a Willwood 5/8" combination master cylinder. The only problem with that is...you need an adapter to use the two parts together. I have the plans for it tho, and can be made for 70$ in my area. The second option is to use a Willwood top pivot pedal, and make the brakets to hold it SOLID with the firewall.

The ECM is a trick all in it's self. You have to take it out and relocate it elsewhere in the car. I mounted mine under the drivers seat, and havent had any trouble with it thus far. To extend the harness requires about ~350 feet of different gauge wire, silver solder, LOTS of heatshrink tubing and even more patience. I used gold plated 25 pin computer connectors to connect the jumpers together, and have been flawless.

As far as the transmission goes, your better off looking for aone out of an 03-04 cobra as the bellhousings will match up perfect. The flywheel NEEDS to be a 6-bolt unit out of a GT. I would go with a billet steel, (or even an iron unit) as the mark is a heavy car, and you need the mass to get it off the line. I HIGHLY recommend a McLeod clutch/flywheel assy. But thats just me.


Anyway, that should be a good head start for you. Hope it helps.

Mike

edit......figured you could use some price estimates. This is for NEW parts, and materials.

Tranny. ~$2-2,300
Clutch. $200
Flywheel $200
McLeod t/b $350
Driveshaft $510.95
Shifter $150-200
Then you have your MISC stuff......I'm gonna go with a rough guestimate of ~200$

Thats NOT including labor...If you are going to pay someone to do the work your looking at over a grand for the machine/welding work to get the tranny READY to bolt up.
 
moving the computer sounds like asking for trouble. i'm waaay scared of doing that. i see how you extended the shifter, you should check out the easier way they do it when stuffing 5.0's in miatas
 
ImportEater said:
moving the computer sounds like asking for trouble. i'm waaay scared of doing that. i see how you extended the shifter, you should check out the easier way they do it when stuffing 5.0's in miatas
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Does it involve bolting a plate on the back of the tranny? If so, I looked into that, and I did'nt like what I saw.


The computer really is'nt a big deal as long as you know how to solder, and take your time.
 
When you get through you need to submit your car for a feature article in either MM&FF or 5.0 and Superfords. Hell, maybe even CarCraft would be interested. Since your car is a one off and soon to be meaner you really deserve national attention.
 
scott9050 said:
When you get through you need to submit your car for a feature article in either MM&FF or 5.0 and Superfords. Hell, maybe even CarCraft would be interested. Since your car is a one off and soon to be meaner you really deserve national attention.
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Me?
 
scott9050 said:
Yep, you :Beer
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I was thinking you meant me, but how it was worded could have been someone else. Anyway.


I would think about it, but there are a few things that I don't like about the work I did. I've been told I'm too damned picky about my own work. It just seems like nothing is EVER clean/pretty enough for me.

The weld quality on the shifter box does'nt look very good, nor does the shifter plate. I've got a small tranny fluid leak to go along with it. I'm about to install a 4.10 3rd member, and replace the halfshafts. I think while i'm under it, I may pull the tranny and clean up the weld beads, and R&R the tailshaft seal.

I'm looking for a new woodgrain console and after that, I MAY be ready to write in to a few magazines. Hell, I may just write into them after the engine/T56 swap. (Magazines like to give 600-700 HP cars more pages. :) ) Thanks for the words of encouragement tho. Your about the first person thats mentioned that.


Mike
 
How does the on-board computer work after the swap? Does it still give you all of the information, or has it lost some of its fucntions?
 
Now that right there is a must-do mod, especially since many aftermarket built T56s can be set up with the shifter in 3 different places.
 
ImportEater said:
i want a six speed bad. would a t56 fit? how long do you think it would last in a 4000lb car. also the $650 rear end from max at 5 star... how do i get ahold of him?
Click to expand...
I think our cars actually weigh around 3600-3700 lbs.
 
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