TKO VS T56?

[fe66comet]

I see they now offer FE bell housings from Quick time for the T56. I was wondering if anyone has used the T56 behind the FE? It is larger and heavier than the 600, I wonder if the extra gear is worth the extra 50 lbs and the effort of fitting the larger case under the floor. On the other hand it is also stronger at 700 ft lbs rather than 600 for the TKO. What do you guys think?

[chilly460]

Looking at wide or close ration T56?

[jayb]

After asking some questions about Tremecs last year on this forum, I ended up buying a T-56 from American Powertrain.  Of course they said I would have all the parts for the kit in 1-2 weeks.  This was last April.  My Quicktime bell didn't arrive until October    As a result I no longer had time to put the car together; hoping that I will be able to get that done after Drag Week this year.  If I run into installation issues I will post them on the forum.

[fe66comet]

Yeah with new stuff it always takes time to get all the ducks in line. How big is it compared to a trans like a the T5?, I am picturing a trans sized like a NV 4500. Length won't be an issue for me but the bell housing and case I am thinking is going to make it hard. I currently have a T5 four cylinder trans, it has some extra room but not much on top or the bell housing area.

[blykins]

It's huge.

It's not only much heavier, but most importantly in the case of factory cars, it's much bigger around and longer.

The extra gear just doesn't cut it for me.  Yes, Quicktime makes a bell, but there has to be a good bit of modification done to the midplate of the trans to get it to work with a clutch fork or some of the twin disc clutches that we use in front of them. 

I sell a lot of TKO 600 kits and I'm racking my brain trying to remember if I've ever heard of anyone breaking one.  We do some modifications to them to increase the torque capacity by about 90-100 lb-ft, so don't discount the 600 as an option.  Much cheaper too....

[bn69stang]

Amen on that Brent , what mod s are you doing to add the extra  90-100 ft lbs  ? .. Bud

[blykins]

Change shift finger, do a basic blueprint of thrust clearances, then treat some of the parts cryogenically. 

All of these transmissions are made on an assembly line.  Like anything else mass produced, there are tolerances and tolerance stacking.  Blueprinting and correcting the tolerance issues will go a long way. 

[bn69stang]

Great info Brent , what s the bill to do that to new 600 ? .. Bud

[blykins]

I don't think I've talked to jay about being a vender here, so we should prob discuss pricing offline.

[jayb]

I sell a lot of TKO 600 kits and I'm racking my brain trying to remember if I've ever heard of anyone breaking one.  We do some modifications to them to increase the torque capacity by about 90-100 lb-ft, so don't discount the 600 as an option.  Much cheaper too....

I could break one 

Seriously, its good to know that you can modify a TKO for increased torque, Brent, that would be useful for a lot of mid to high horsepower engines.  I bought the T56 because I was thinking that at some point I might put my supercharged engine in the car with this transmission, and I think it may even be marginal for that 900 lb-ft monster...

[blykins]

Well, the same mods can be done to the t-56.  You can essentially increase the torque capacity by 15%.  However, you may want to look into a lenco.  :-)

[BigNate]

Gotta admit that I've daydreamed about a T56-Magnum... (extension of daydreams about doing an old T-56 out of a viper) mostly because of the ability to get the 0.50 6th gear...  Running 4.xx-ish gears on reasonable height tires and still being able to cruise on the freeway without being at 3K RPM is the fuel for this daydream...    On the other hand - my car has been waiting for me to finish the C-6 transplant for the better part of 2 years - so until the kids are out of the house I'll just keep bench-racing my daydreams...

[bn69stang]

Kids out of the house , charge em rent   lol  ( tranny and parts )  just kidding i know what that is all about .... Bud

[bn69stang]

Hey  BigNate what rpm / mph for cruising are you thinking ? , how tall a tire ? ..Bud

[fe66comet]

I am leaning torward a treated TKO 600 myself as my latest project is mini in nature LOL. Just to stuff a FE in there I am going to have to loose the A/c evaporator and blower housing and build a remote ducted deal, also have to go manual brakes and get rid of the booster. And last but not least a steering rack is the only way to clear the wider engine, it pretty much fills the whole engine compartment and then some. I am thinking of cutting the floor to clear the 12" bell housing and using a hydraulic throw out bearing from Tilton. If the T56 is that huge, no way I have room, I will end up with two 14" bucket seats between a 18" round pipe cut in half for a tunnel LOL.