Six-Speed for Early Camaros

The T56 six-speed used in 1993-and-up Camaros and Firebirds presents car crafters with a readily available manual overdrive trans beefy enough to survive behind classic musclecar engines. With its 2.97:1 First gear, the 1993 T56 is conservatively rated with a torque capacity of 400 lb-ft; 1994-and-up 2.66:1 First-gear T56s are capable of withstanding at least 450 lb-ft. Borg-Warner distributors offer a special aftermarket T56 that bolts to a standard factory T5 manual trans bellhousing, but since it’s quite pricey ($2,295 at Rockland Standard Gear), many car crafters grab the widely available production versions from the wrecking yard (typical price: about $1,500). Adopting the production version takes some real “engineuity,” as shown here on two 1967-1969 Camaro retrofits performed by RPM Engines & Machine and John Wilson at West Coast Connection.