I'm pretty close to being done with my T-56 swap but a problem has come up. The solution for my crossmember will not work. I contacted a certain company (won't say who at this point) and talked to them about an adjustable crossmember mount that they sell. They said it would work with my TH400 crossmember and the T-56's mounting pad would be the same distance to within a half inch or so. Well, they were right about the distance but the height is waaaaaaaay off. Like 3.25 inches off and it would put my transmission through the top of the tunnel. I was thinking about making a solid motor mount/adapter plate (1/2 steel, 1/4 inch poly-eurathane) but when I talked to a friend of mine who is a fabricator at a local performance shop he said he would have some worries about it cracking the tailshaft. So I'm scratching that idea.

I was thinking about getting a universal crossmember from Summit/Jegs like this one:

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/TRD-6559/

With this I would be able to use the stock trans mount also if I wanted.

My only question is do you guys know how sturdy these are and if there's anything I need to be aware of. When I did a search on Ebay there were some similar tubular crossmembers like this and they said you had to use motor mount plates with their product which makes me feel as if they're not as sturdy as boxed steel or stock crossmembers.

Any ideas? I looked at ATS but their crossmembers are 300+ bucks for this and I'm about tapped out on funds for this swap. I have just enough to get the new driveshaft shortened and balanced, the crossmember listed above and all my little odds and ends (trans fluid, misc bolts if needed, etc.). I just don't have the funds right now to add in a 300+ crossmember that's a supposed sure fit. This is the only problem holding me back right now. Everything else is installed and ready to go.

 

That mount from Summit might work, but that's going to make you hang the exhaust lower to clear it.
Do you happen to have any pictures of the trans in the car; a close up of the tail and the crossmember mount area? Was that T56 out of an F Body?

 

Yeah, the T-56 is out of an 02 Z28. I don't think I have any pics below the car right now but I can get some when I get home. I'm going to run by a local machine shop here in a minute and see how much it will cost them to fabricate a crossmember from the original's specs but with a drop and not have them weld on the mounting plate just yet. That way I can bring it home, mock everything up and set the ride height of the transmission and then mark the mounting plate's height. Take it back to them and let them weld it since I don't think my 110 will penetrate like I want it to.

 

Since it's a Camaro trans, it would have mounting holes on the side of the tail from where the torque arm bracket was mounted. My thought was to see about fabbing a trans mount bracket to install a mount vertically to the left of the trans, instead of the one under the tail which is jacking it up too much. If you went that route, you would have to use a urethane mount because both halves are locked together. A rubber mount would tear apart.

 

Well, I went to the machinist this morning and we sat and talked about possible scenarios and it seems like we will be able to use the stock crossmember and just drop the pad about an inch and not have to notch it. I can then use the stock T-56 trans mount also. I'll go home this afternoon and cut the mounting pad off and get the measurements for the mount height. They said I could reuse the mounting deck and knock a new hole in the center between the two holes for the TH400 or they can make a quick pad for me but they'll figure that out when they do it. So it sounds like it won't be too bad.

Here's a pic I took really quick from my phone before I left the house...

 

Bleh...

So, I cam home, cut the mouting pad off the crossmember with the torch and shoved the crossmember up under car.



With the mounting pad gone I was able to get further but it just made me realize that it probably wasn't going to work. The base of the stock transmission mount comes flush with the bottom of the crossmember. Plus, I would have to pull the crossmember back about an inch to get it to clear the stock mount's little metal brace. I could probably get around that with an aftermarket polyuerathane mount that's just the block but that doesn't help me with the height problem.


On a good note, I did my pinion/output shaft angles and they're within 1 degree of each other and that's with me eyeballing them and then pulling out the angle finder.



First one is the pinion and the second is the output shaft on the transmission.

 

Why not just use your old crossmember by cutting the center section out, then use the center section of a late model crossmember to fit in the middle? You could bolt your crossmember in to your car after cutting the section out, then the donor could be bolted to the trans with the mount on it. Once you've got the tranny jacked into the proper final height, just tack it with your small welder. Then remove it all, and take it to the local weld shop and have them do all the final welding and bracing to complete the install.
If the two wont quite line up, you can still do this, but tack a plate on the end of the stock sections where you cut, then tack the center section to the same plate.

 

Originally I wanted to keep the crossmember stock so that way if I wanted to go back to the TH400 it would just be a really quick swap of parts. Keep all the original parts to one side with the whole T-56 drivetrain separate.

I guess I could do it that way. Are you talking about using a T-56 crossmember out of a 98+ car? They're non-symmetrical and won't work like that. I think I can use a TH350 with the single hole mount line mount pad. I'm sure I can find one of those up at the local yard without a problem.

I think the main thing is that I'm just so close to getting it off the jack stands and out on the road again but this one thing's just stopping me.

Your idea is a good one and I'll probably end up doing that. A new question I have though is the transmission seems to sit to the passenger side by a bit. On the driver's side it has about two to three inches of clearance in the trans tunnel at the yoke and on the passenger side it has about an inch to an inch and a half. At first I thought it was just cocked funny but when I shoved the TH400 crossmember up and under there I noticed it was off center also but not as bad as the T-56. They're not supposed to be centered 100% right?

 

Sorry Kyph, but I can't say much about newer 4th gen Camaros. I just don't know them at all. Is the output shaft centered, or is it also offset? Might be they do this to keep the u joints lubricated and constantly moving.

 

I don't know if this will help Kypher but for what it's worth,,,
At our shop we started using seamless round steel pipe to fabricate our trans crossmembers. To shape them to fit we use our exhaust pipe bender, it works great. We can even put a relief in each side for the exhaust to keep it tight to the bottom of the car and usually can make it mount to the original holes.