Ok, this is a how to put a T56 into the place of a T45 in a 98 Mustang GT. I’m sure it applies to other 96-98s but I’d check first if I were you. Step 1. Buy a new T56,. with the ford Mod Engine Bell Housing. You will need two other things, a trimmed driveshaft, and a new cross member bracket. Don’t let some company mark this part up, You can get it from ford for ~$250 bucks (priced in mid-2008) and a $20 bushing (more on this later). Here is a picture of my new T56 with a Pro 5.0 shifter (optional).
I bought 1-T56, 1-Modded drive shaft, 1-Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch, Pro 5.0 Shifter, Shift ****, Cross Member Bracket, I think that’s it. All that was just under 4k. The new companies will sell you the Xmission, Driveshaft and crossmembers for right at 3k… at time of authoring.
Since the whole job for me cost just under 4k. and your thinking about doing this swap your not pinching pennies, there are lots cheaper options, but the spec T56 will be good to 400-500 ft.lb torque.. Dont Hold me to that. You can get the Viper spec T56 with beefed up internals for not too much more (um, I’m guessing here but 1k or so?) this will hold if you put twin turbos on your mod engine.
Tremec Stats:

 

I bought my stuff from AMP performance in Arizona. Now I have had difficulty with them but they never really did me wrong. I would not recommend them, but again they never really did me wrong. My only beef was they didn’t seem to have the patients for “stupid” questions. And didn’t ever seem to be as available after they had my money. Again I could be wrong, don’t let me discourage you, just thought someone may ask.

 

This is a picture of the new clutch I bought (to handle the new 5.4 DOHC I will be putting in) oh and a neato new shift ****. And the clutch align tool (plastic in the box there on the side)

 

The old T45 next to the new T56… Obvious right? Well they stand almost the exact same height, but the T56 is about an 1-2 inches longer. This is why you either need a pre-trimmed drive shaft, or have your’s trimmed and rebalanced (I’d say just buy one already done

 

Ok the thing to note down below is the old crossmember brackets. You’ll need to grind one of each down so you have a place to put the new ones…Look below to see what I mean. One extra thing about putting the transmisison in (addition to stuff below) the only other thing i didn't really cover is the throw-out bearing. I can not really go into detail but i can tell you this... there is not much too it. Pay attention to the way the old throw-out bearing is installed and install the new one the exact same way. That pivot arm from your old T45 will be reused in your T56.. and its a cake walk to install ... it pivoits at one point and slides on the transmission axel via the thowout bearing... Sorry I seem to be missing the pics of this. But just pay attention to what it did look like (take pics) and put it back just the same.


So putting the new clutch on was super easy. First you need to replace the pivot bearing inside the flywheel.. you can see it there in the pic above.. the silver center of the flywheel. (i'll get the part number for this later) you really need a pully for this... it should not be pryed out with just any screwdriver or jamming tool. The new (inexpensive ford piece) bearing will bang right in.. just use the exact same size socket place it over it and bang it in (softly). The clutch disk in the pic below fits loosly between the orange pressure plate mechanism and the flywheel. But since the shaft in the transmission fits through them both (flywheel and clutch disk) then you need to align them ... so stick the plastic align tool through the cluch disk then stick the plastic piece in the flywheel and turn it around till they both line up and press the pastic piece into the flywheen and then you just put the cluck pressure plate mechanism ontop and bolt it to the fly wheel. ... Done.



After you've done all that, the new transmisison will just slide up in place .. with some shimmying and shaking it should slide in. Maybe a little turn on the transmisison shaft to make sure everything is lined up.. then just bolt up the bell housing. Fun note: I didn't have the new crossmember bracket at the same time (Amp failed to send it with the package and I didnt realized it until we'd already pulled the old transmission) anyway, so I used the old crossmember bracket just to hold it vertically (no angular momentum counter support) and I drove it about 5 miles temp .. from the shop to the house to sit till the new bracket came in. i do not recommend this. My pivot bearing broke shortly after i got the xmission in (~100miles). I can't say for sure if that caused the it to break.. but i have no other explination.. So do not do this! in the mean time My car will sit until the 5.4DOHC is ready to go in.

 

So you can see I kinda did a **** poor job but it worked out well… I used a grinding wheel and a hammer and just hammered it flat. I bolted up the new cross member bracket and measured where to drill the four holes and away we went. Some interesting things to note here: if you look closely you can see 2 holes already in the frame rails (my car anyway) now while these holes exactly fit the new cross member brackets.. this is not where your supposed to put the new brackets. You need to break half the original crossmember bracket and put it there.




Heres a better pic. You can really see those two holes that came from the factory... Important here too, you can also see the bushing. That is all that comes in the busing package.. Those bolts that hold it to the transmission do not come from the package.. but you can get them from your local hardware store, and use the ones from your T45 for size reference, just make them shorter, and all thread. The holes and taps in the transmisison go all the way through so you can get something that will poke out a little .. 1/4-1/2 inch.

 

So below you can see the new bracket . Its three pieces, two brackets that bolt to the frame rail and the connecting piece in the middle. I’ll supplement this with a Ford diagram, with Part Numbers. Soon.

 

Then the bushing that attaches to the bracket are pictured below. It looks like something GM but ? My girl friend said she found it on the web for like $25 on JEGS.

 

Ok, thats all I got for now. I'll post a diagram of the cross members from ford but here are the part numbers (I believe these are from a 98 Cobra):
6A098 (Drivers Side Frame Bracket)
6A099 (Pass. Side Frame Bracket)
6A023 (Cross Member)

*OH Snap! I just remembered, they welded on a 1/4" thick plate to the cross member braket... so you may want to go with theirs? Its demensions were about 2"x5".. the goal was to cover the factory bolt slots on the bracket and it only had one hole in it for the bushing screw to bolt down to. I thought surely two holes would have been better, since the aftermarket bushing had 3 holes but meh...

 

Awsome write up dude! I like the pics to help identify and relate better.



I VOTE STICKY!

 

yeah, this deserves a sticky. it's a good guide to a T-56 swap.

 

Look at what i just found at the auto parts store today..

 

here's the diagram i promised: