Since I finished my V6/5 speed I have been looking for a good deal on a V8/6 speed project. I found one on craigs list. A 93 Z28 6 speed. The motor was blown . A young guy owned it and was trying to fix it (he only drove the car 2 weeks). He had it all torn apart everything bagged and tagged but I think he was in over his head. His mom wanted it out of the yard.

It is a 98-02 SS clone. Someone spent a lot of money getting it close. The dash is a quick give away but you can tell they put in some effort into it. The only down side to the project is that it showed up in boxs and I am not a LT1 expert.

Features
98-02 front clip real SS hood and rear deck
Bilstein shocks all around
Lower springs (1-1/2" I thinK)
Adjustable Pan Hard bar
SLP headers.
Hurst shifter (Leather SLP grip)
18" Rims (need new rubber)
Moonson system (not installed)
Halo headlights
Very nice interior






Waiting to get worked on

 

So obvious solution to "I am not sure how it goes together" issue is to buy a complete motor to drop it in. What are the chance of finding a low miles 93. I got lucky once again. I found a 93 Z being parted out. The Guy posted it as a Covette Motor and trans low miles but no price. I called him and set up a look see. He had a stack of receits which set off all kinds of bells in my head. Turns out the car was high miles but the motor/trans came from a 93 trans am with 21K on it. They went thru it, all new gaskets installed a GM performance cam? , Did a mail order tune 11,000 mile later hit a tree. We worked out a deal and I got Engine, tranny, clutch and hydralic system (it was all new) Rims and tires and the Granaelli fuel pump with tank. So now I have 2 T56's



Rims and tires


Master and slave (still have the GM stickers on them)

 

VERY NICE!!! Mind parting with those wheels thats on the car now? I like the way they look. Whats a good price range for you? I like the range of free30 personally. Just kidding. Yeah I say they did a good job of making it look close to a SS. Plus they did most of the work for you All you gotta do is drop the new motor and trans in. That's definitely a lucky find.

those other tires look like they got good tread left on them. Close to new perhaps? Is this the whole project or are you gonna finish making it a SS clone? Get the dash and little odds n ends to finish it out.


Since you have a spare trans, if something goes wrong with one, you have yourself the back up. Good deal!! You lucky dog!

Thats it! Im moving to wherever you are so i can get in on some this action.

 

Looks great, and with the new engine and trans you probably got into a complete car for much less than what it would have cost outright. Looking forward to seeing the project develope.

 

I sure could use one of those trannies.

 

These are the less desirable 93’s transmission. They have better gearing but cannot handle the torque that the 94 up can handle. There are two versions for 93. The M28 and the M29. I know the hi miles one is a M29 (good for 400 Ft-lbs of torque with 2.97:1 first gear). I have to check the new trans to see if it is the M28 or the M29. I am hoping the new low miles trans is a M29 also. I might be looking to sell one of the trannys when I am done or I may put it in my 67.

My 18” rims are not for sale. The rims I just got, he all but threw them in to make the deal. I think I paid $100 for them. I will use them for all the test drives and to work the bugs out and as backups since this will be my daily driver when it is done. I will need to do some paint work on the car. I think I may just stick the motor in just to check everything out and see what all needs attention.

Edit: Here is the info on the 93 T56. I assumed my 93 had 3:42 now I guess I better check.

93 F-body with (M28) 6 speed Torque rating 360 lbs-ft. Has 2.73's - GU2
1st: 3.36
2nd: 2.07
3rd: 1.35
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.80
6th: 0.62

93 F-body with (M29) 6 speed Torque rating 400 lbs-ft. Has 3.23's - GU5
1st: 2.97
2nd: 2.07
3rd: 1.43
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.80
6th: 0.62

94+ F-body with (MN6) 6 speed Torque rating 450 lbs-ft. Has 3.42's - GU6
1st: 2.66
2nd: 1.78
3rd: 1.30
4th: 1.00
5th: 0.74
6th: 0.50

 

Good info on the trannies! Always wondered how the various T56's compared. I think most of them would be fine for daily driving, and an occasional outburst of testosterone.

 

It all makes sense. The steeper (higher numericaly) the first gear the lower the torque rating will be. I would use anyone of those. I could as long as I didn't run slicks and drop the clutch hard.

I could just see an M28 w/ a 3.36 first gear in my car. 3.73's and 450+ ft lbs. I would be able to toast the 315/35ZR17's pretty easy.

 

You know that means that a 93 M28 with the stock (94 up) 3.42 rear is the same first gear "final drive" as running 4.11 on a 94 Z. Nice to know for us guys not pushing much more then stock motor.

 

I got the cars moved around and put the 67 to bed for the winter. A am 90% sure I will pull this motor back out of the car after I have driven it and I see where everything is. My plan when I started working on it this week was it install the headers and since I had a new in the box set of napa wires I was going to put them on. Engine ran nice before it was pulled. Now I am thinking new plugs should go in also. I pulled one plug out and you can tell it was firing but maybe a little rich. Also I have a nice set of GM roller rockers sitting here but I am thinking with out the supporting springs that is just a no no. Where to draw the line is always the biggest headache on these projects for me.

Pretty clean but not Mobil one clean


Roller rockers just sitting there waiting



I am leaning toward cleaning\ regaping the plugs and letting to rockers be so I can track down why the plugs are a little rich. Once I am sure everything is running right put in new plugs and then maybe play with the other stuff.