THE VICTIM
So an update on the Tranny... Things have gone ok, not everything has gone as people have said it would... So First things first, never take your Tranny to AAMCO, they Screwed me over big time, and i will never take any of my vehicles back as long as i live, and called the better buisness beureau on them... But to get on with how to do the tranny install...(i'll add pics later)
Feel free to add any details, i wasn't going to write this, but then i was talking with my brother, and after all the problems we've had, i felt it would be best to just put this on here, so somebody else doesn't have to deel with the problems that are usually over looked.( soo it's been over a month since i've pulled the tranny off)
How to take out the old Tranny (For a 04 Silverado 5spd)
One thing I always stress is when taking out bolts to put them in a baggy, label them and put how many there is, then put them in the bed of the truck, or in a box...
1. Take out your old Transmission, don't forget to disconect the slave cylinder from the master cylinder... just push on the little white sleeve that's in between the connection... Push it towards the steel braided line... and the line will disconect, some fluid will come out..
2. Take off your driveshaft, some fluid will probably come out of the tailshaft, so you might want to drain the tranny first
3. Take off the shifter from the inside, and the boot...
4. Start unbolting the tranny from the motor.. Theres 8 bolts...
5. Undo the Trans crossmember, and start pulling the old tranny out, it may need some coersing....
6. Unbolt the Clutch and Flywheel..... Impact works best for taking both off..
Install
I'm not sure of some of the details here, because i had AAMCO install my Flywheel Clutch and pressure plate, but i'll go from the best of my knowledge, correct me if i'm wrong..
1. The pilot bearing needs to be installed... A socket of the same size as the pilot bearing, and a rubber malot work good to get it in, from what i've heard.
2. The flywheel, clutch disc, and clutch need to be aligned as you bolt it all up... There's plastic aligning tool out there, but i've heard the clearances aren't tight enough on some of them...
Side Note
The T56 is out of an 02 Camaro... Its going into and 04 Silverado....
I have the center seat on my truck, and wanted to keep it, and didn't want to go the route of putting in a center console soo.
1. I talked to keisler, and they sent out a kit that can be installed to move the shifter location from the tail of the Transmission to the center
2. On the truck itself, you will have to cut the Back of the hole(if your truck was a manual to begin with) about 2 inches give or take to allow for the location of the new shifter assembly, but its alot better than the 16 inches back if you had left the shifter in the original place..
Obviously, i haven't cleaned up the whole, or painted it yet, but you get the idea
Back to Install
3. After you get the Flywheel, and Clutch Assembly on there, it will be time to move to the Transmission...
4. Get your New Slave Cylinder...Thats goes to The T56... You will notice the Fittings are on there in reverse of what your stock 5spd had... Me and my brother simply removed the the little pin on both, and swtiched the hose.... I'll take a picture so you can see what i mean... Make sure you hit it out the right direction too, as they were pressed in there from one side, and will only come out that side.
5. Bolt the Slave cylinder back on the Tranny, with the bleeder valve towards the drivers side...
Sensors
6. You will no longer need the Skip Shift Solenoid( this makes it so that when your cruising below 19mph and using less than 35% throttle you can't shift from 1 to 2 instead, you have to go straight to 4th... Its for gas mileage something... blah blah blah..).. So you can leave it if its on there.... But for me it wasn't even on there, so i am currently looking for a plug to fill the hole
7. You will probably want to put the reverse lock out on a switch, the most common is hooked up to the brakes, because your usually on the brakes when you go to put your truck in reverse... (the reverse lockout switch when in the open(off) position makes it very difficult to put into Reverse(In the T56 The reverse gear is the same as the Forward moving gears, so you could put it into reverse by accident while going forward and it won't grind..), but it can be done.. whith the Reverse switch closed (on) it becomes much easier to put into reverse..)
8. The VSS and Backup light Switch are the only ones... For me at least on my truck that were going to hook to my existing wiring harness, although i did have to buy some pigtails to lengthen them.. I found them on ebay for about 10.00's each... I Soldered the ends, and put a piece of watertight shrink tubing on there, then Taped it all back up
9. Time to put the tranny in...Some say its the hardest part of all... So far i would have to agree, its driven me crazy trying to do it...
First i broke my bellhousing... I had the Transmission all up in there, the bellhousing bolted to the block, i put two bolts in the tranny to the bellhousing, to help keep it aligned while wiggling the tranny, trying to get it slide back in... well it broke the bellhousing... I went and got it welded... Next night, same result...
So now i've opted to put a scatter shield on which will be much safer anyway... O But wait you wanted to keep your hydraulic clutch right... Well there's a couple options.. call MCleoud order one from them, then when you get it, you have to cut it up, so that your slave line, can go through it.... and some other stuff... Well i found one of the only(newest) companies that makes one that will work with hydraulic clutches, the company is call Quicktime, and for the T56 To LS1 your going to want the RM8020... It comes with a Steel block shield too
So i finally figured out why the tranny wouldn't go in.. The guys down at AAMCO screwed me, and put in the wrong pilot bearing.... Thank goodness for local shops.. I took my Truck out to Rick at SYNERGY MOTORSPORTS, and right away, said it didn't look like the right pilot bearing... Sure enough when he pulled it all apart, it was the wrong one, so he's gonna put the right one in, and finish everything up for me.... I'll put some pics up of the finished product when i get her back.
One thing i strongly Recommend after doing this install, is to DOUBLE check all your parts... For me, i had the wrong pilot bearing, and the first Slave Cylinder i got was broken... it wouldn't compress all the way... And whenever you get an estimate from someone, make sure its in writing, not just word of mouth. . . Live and Learn i guess. . .
Part Numbers
1. Kiesler kit: Receipt says T56FS (front shift conversion kit for T56) $199.00
2. Pigtail Extensions: Ebay Type in T56 Vehicle Speed Sensor Connector LT1 LS1 Wiring VSS $9.75
AND T56 Backup Switch Connector LT1 LS1 Wiring Wire $10.50
3. Quicktime Bellhousing RM 8020 399.20
4. Transmission itself $1400.00 Out of an 02 Camaro SS
5. LS7 Clutch from Speed inc... $529.99 Comes with Flywheel Clutch, and Pressure Plate
6. New slave Cylinder from carquest... $114.00
7. Pilot Bearing . . . 31.00
Quit Fooling AROUND DANG IT!! LOL
2004 4.8l 6 speed manual 2wd 
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