If you have a 3.73 or 4.10 rear end gear, first gear is probably going to be a useless tire smoke generator.

Gm G Body T5 Swap Driver To An

Thats why Travis is on a mission to transform his Monte Carlo from an underpowered, ill-handling daily driver to an Autocross hero.

A self-described GM guy through-and-through, Travis is a regular on the site OppositeLock, has documented his project on his Instagram page (sslow6.0), and will give us a first-person account of his build here as a guest writer.

Although hes thought about selling it from time-to-time, Travis has held on to it for sentimental reasons, even though the car has often sat idle.

After his girlfriend inspired him to try Autocross for the first time, Travis started to look at the Monte in a whole different way.

It turned out that the throttle valve had gotten stuck inside the transmission.

Before I decided to tear the transmission down, I figured Id try to let car heal itself.

I opened and closed the throttle manually a few times, letting it spring closed.

Automatics definitely have their placein many cases a well built automatic is faster down the dragstrip and even around a road course.

The TKO600 is a strong, simple 5-speed, but its pricey and can require lots of aftermarket parts to function behind an LS V8.

Theres also your older 4-speed boxes, like the Muncie M21M22 and the Saginaw T10; however, overdrive is a nice thing to have if youre going to be road tripping your car.

These are some of the most positive shifting, durable, and properly geared transmissions out there.

Despite the fact that a new T-56 Magnum is more than 3,000, I had decided I would just have to bite the bullet until I saw a Facebook ad for a company called FABbot Fabrication.

However, the actual strength of a manual transmission is based on a few things.

On the T-56, the centerline distance between them is 85mm, and on the TKO600 its 83mm.

The TKO600 uses a beefy 26-spline input shaft and a 31-spline output shaft.

The T-56 Magnum uses a 26-spline input and a 31-spline output, but the F-body T-56 uses a 26-spline input shaft and a 27-spline output shaft the same spline count and diameter as the AR5.

The AR5 is very similar in function and design and can be thought of as an upgraded and improved Toyota Supra transmission.

After looking up the price of an AR5 from a Chevy Colorado at my local LKQ, I thought it might be a very real possibility.

The first thing that I sought was the insight of Matt Grunwald, the owner and operator of FABbot.

He said that he had swapped an AR5 into an LS-powered RX7, and was making high 11-second passes with 1.6-second 60-foot times on slicks until the stub axle broke.

So far traction issues have been his biggest issue in making that goal.

Gm G Body T5 Swap Plus Horsepower Dyno

The AR5 held up to 800-plus horsepower dyno tests, but broke third gear on slicks at the track.

So I went to my Local LKQ and picked up two AR5 transmissions for less than 350.