'55 Chevy Hardtop Project, Page 7....
T56 tranny mod...
Using a 1993 T56 six speed, needs the shifter moved forward to
clear the bench seat....
Pulled the shifter off and looked inside, there's a shifter shaft with a
fitting on the end that has a cup on it that the ball on the end of the
shift lever fits into...
There's a switch there that is activated in reverse to light up the
backup lites...
Once this is removed, then the bolts holding the tailshaft housing on
to the main case are removed and the tailshaft housing can be
removed...
With the rear housing off, you can see the reverse gear set, and on
the mainshaft the magnetic speedometer indicator...
This is the idler gear for the reverse gear set....
Below is the shifter shaft, it runs all the way through the
transmission.
In front of the reserse gear set is sixth gear and fifth gear. You can
see the shifting fork for the reverse gear, it is on a secondary shifter
shaft that is activated up front in the main case by the primary
shifter shaft...
All these gears have to be removed, then the main case can be lifted
off of the front gear box base...
With the main case off you can see the mainshaft, the front portion
of the countershaft, the primary shifter shaft, and the shorter
secondary shifter shaft that shifts the 5/6 gear sets and reverse,
and 1st through 4th gear sets.
This mechanism that connects the primary shifter shaft to the
secondary shifter shaft is pretty complex, I don't pretend to
understand how it works...
The primary shifter shaft can now be removed, and the special piece
from Keisler Engineering that is mounted in the middle under the
forward inspection opening can be installed. I forgot to get a shot of
that modification, but it puts a special piece in the middle of the
shaft, under the forward inspection plate, with a socket for the ball
of the shifter to fit into. A section of the shaft is cut out to allow the
shifter ball to fit into a socket such that it can operate the shifter
shaft. As that forward opening in the main case is a different shape
then the rear shift lever opening, a special shifter base from Keisler
Engineering is provided.
As parts are removed, they are washed, dried and laid out in order
of reinstallation to make things easier...
For this modification only 5th, 6th and reverse need to be removed,
then the main case is lifted off vertically. 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th
remain on the front base plate...
The rear portion of the main case, where 5th, 6th and reverse are
located...
The front portion of the main case, where the first four gears are
located...
After the modified primary shifter shaft is installed, then everything
goes back together...
Now, just mount and seal up the shifter, put it back in the car, put
on a stick, and drive 'er.....
More later....
Just showing the removed old piece compared to the new piece...
The original shifter ball socket is moved to the end of the new shaft,
so it will operate the reverse lights....
I've now swapped out the shifter shafts, this is the new shift lever
ball socket that came on the new shaft, in the new forward location.
This piece can be installed on the original shaft after some precision
cutting on the original shaft, but I just ordered it already installed
on a new shaft....
Here you can see the original shifter shaft still in the tranny, and the
new one next to it. The end piece on the original where the shift lever
was, also controls the backup lights, so it needs to be moved to the
new shaft....
You can see the opening where the original shifter was, the new
shifter is about 9" forward, and should clear the bench seat in my
'55...
I've used this particular shift lever before, have one on the Doug
Nash in my '55 gasser, had to cut the base and angle the whole stick
slightly forward so it would clear the bench seat in 2nd, 4th and
reverse. Might have to do the same to this one !!
More later....
LATER: Found a few more photos, thought I'd post 'em
Got a new shift lever I like, it should clear the '55's bench seat just
fine....
