T56 Bearing retainer for LS1 or Viper possible?

[Socrates]

Does anyone make a bolt on bearing retainer that will mate with the LS1 or Viper T56, making a mechanical clutch setup possible? Seems something should match up or be made to fit using the 2 bolt holes the retain the factory slave, maybe even a modified T5 or Muncie collar?

I'm converting a T56 behind a Pontiac V8 with the McLeod Modular Bell housing and the factory LS1 Slave/CSC is a good 0.600 too thick to fit, so I need a work around, preferably one that uses common parts, not a $600+ aftermarket slave/MC setup that I've been able to find thus far. I'm looking for a setup that is both affordable (not that adding $700 to each clutch job wouldn't be fun) and procurable at a local parts store, as a simple mechanical throwout setup would be. The McLeod modular bell will take a clutch fork, it seems, so I'm thinking that fabbing a mechanical setup may be the way to go. Any suggestions?

[86Cutlass383SR]

The Aftermarket T56 I have has a setup that uses a .5" steel adapter plate and uses a T5 bearing retainer.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/10/th_AftermarketT56-1.jpg (http://s683.photobucket.com/albums/vv199/86Cutlass383SR/?action=view&current=AftermarketT56.jpg)


I'm not sure anyone makes a plate like this for your tranny but if you or anyone is good at fabrication it shouldn't be to difficult to make. It would probably have to be custom fabbed for your setup anyway. The plate bolts to the bellhousing with counter-sunk bolts with the bearing retainer going into the bell. Then the trans bolts to the plate with the input shaft sliding through the retainer. Bellhousing-wise it's just like a conventional mechanical linkage 4 speed but you bolt up the plate and then the 6 speed instead of the 4 speed.

[Mkelcy]

Does anyone make a bolt on bearing retainer that will mate with the LS1 or Viper T56, making a mechanical clutch setup possible? Seems something should match up or be made to fit using the 2 bolt holes the retain the factory slave, maybe even a modified T5 or Muncie collar?

I'm converting a T56 behind a Pontiac V8 with the McLeod Modular Bell housing and the factory LS1 Slave/CSC is a good 0.600 too thick to fit, so I need a work around, preferably one that uses common parts, not a $600+ aftermarket slave/MC setup that I've been able to find thus far. I'm looking for a setup that is both affordable (not that adding $700 to each clutch job wouldn't be fun) and procurable at a local parts store, as a simple mechanical throwout setup would be. The McLeod modular bell will take a clutch fork, it seems, so I'm thinking that fabbing a mechanical setup may be the way to go. Any suggestions?

Check out the McLeod aftermarket front intermediate plate.

[Socrates]

Thanks so much for the replies. I've seen the Mcleod plate with the collar, though was hoping for a more direct approach. I'm surprised there isn't a simple bolt on bearing retainer/collar available. Anyone see a reason why I couldn't mount the T5 or Muncie collar to the LS1 or Viper T56 directly without the extra plate with the extra weight and expense it brings? Suppose I could just make my own plate out of 1/4 steel plate, though wouldn't I get into trouble either way with centering the trans/input shaft or indexing the bell where I wouldn't have any issue with just the McLeod modular bell directly bolted to the T56 without a plate, right?


What would prevent bolting the TKO retainer directly to the T56, using the part linked to below? Don't they use the same bolt pattern on the front plate???

http://www.thegearbox.org/catalog/item/7165242/4354364.htm

[Mkelcy]

This is a front intermediate plate:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/10/img0342l-1.jpg

You have two issues: what guides the throwout bearing (your hoped for bearing retainer) and what does the clutch fork pivot on (the remaining issue)?

PM me if you want more info.