97 Cobra: T56 Ordered!

Grappler · Mar 9, 2004

Just ordered the T56 conversion kit for my '97 Cobra. I'm pretty excited and just thought I'd post here. I am also having an aluminum flywheel, SPEC clutch and 4.10s installed at the same time. Exhaust will be done this week.

Grappler

99SVTAddict · Mar 10, 2004

Which T56? I just had the Viper T56 installed along with new solid axle and blah, blah, blah. I stepped up to 4.30s. I can't wait for spring.

Enjoy.

Grappler · Mar 10, 2004

99SVTAddict said:
Which T56? I just had the Viper T56 installed along with new solid axle and blah, blah, blah. I stepped up to 4.30s. I can't wait for spring.

Enjoy.

I went with the Cobra T56.. Wanted to save a bit of dough and already had my 10 spline clutch at the house waiting....

95 yellow 5 0 · Mar 12, 2004

Grappler said:
I went with the Cobra T56.. Wanted to save a bit of dough and already had my 10 spline clutch at the house waiting....

how much did it cost you? i'm planning on getting another cobra and putting a t56 in for the future.

99SVTAddict · Mar 12, 2004

Not sure on the 03 Cobra T56, but the Viper T56 came in around $2200. Plus you need a modified x-brace and shortend driveshaft...something else I'm forgetting too. Only thing I'm not 100% happy with is getting it into reverse...takes some muscle. Guess the wife won't ever be asking to drive it again...

AOD was a thought but that cost some $$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

DirtySanchez · Mar 12, 2004

99SVTAddict said:
Not sure on the 03 Cobra T56, but the Viper T56 came in around $2200. Plus you need a modified x-brace and shortend driveshaft...something else I'm forgetting too.

New clutch. The viper t56 has a 26 spline input shaft as opposed to the Cobra's 10 spline. The bell housing is also different.

My viper t56 came in at $3,326 including shipping from D & D, including a balanced aluminum driveshaft, modified x-member, and bellhousing.

Only thing I'm not 100% happy with is getting it into reverse...takes some muscle.

D & D said most people don't bother wiring up the reverse lockout either. I'm going to try it out and see how annoying it is. If it's too irritating, I might wire the lockout switch to my brake light circuit or find a shifter handle with a button on it that can be used for that.

Grappler · Mar 12, 2004

My transmission ended up being 2763 with shipping and the conversion kit. I plan to do the same as Sanchez and wire up to the brake light so I don't have to man-handle it into reverse every time.

95 yellow 5 0 · Mar 13, 2004

how much you think a shop would charge to install all that stuff?

so all together for all the parts necessary it should be about 3 grand?
i'm just wondering because if i do get a 96-98 i wanna try and get a 3-core ati procharger but i might only have $6k at most to work with unless i can get more money out on a loan and find a cheap cobra. you guys think the tkoII could handle 6-8psi? i just wanna run mid-high 11's and be able to drive daily.

DirtySanchez · Mar 13, 2004

95 yellow 5 0 said:
how much you think a shop would charge to install all that stuff?

~10 hours of labor for the tranny swap. Depending on your shop's hourly rates, you're probably looking at around $600.

so all together for all the parts necessary it should be about 3 grand?

That depends on what else you're doing in addition to the transmission. The T56 has taller 1st and 2nd gears, so your car will be much weaker off the line if you don't step up your rear end gears as well. If you're going to drop in a roots or twin screw blower, the stock rear might be fine, but if you're looking at a centrifugal blower, I suspect you'll be disappointed with the low end.

I would go with *at least* 4.10's if you're going to swap in a T56. That will put 1st gear at about the same combined ratio as 1st gear in the T45 with a stock 3.27 rear. Personally, I'm going with 4.56's.

Here's a url you can use to compare different transmission/rearend combos: http://www.svtoa-atlanta.org/cgi-bin/trans.cgi

i'm just wondering because if i do get a 96-98 i wanna try and get a 3-core ati procharger but i might only have $6k at most to work with unless i can get more money out on a loan and find a cheap cobra. you guys think the tkoII could handle 6-8psi? i just wanna run mid-high 11's and be able to drive daily.

If I were you, I wouldn't bother with the transmission swap until you kill off whatever's in the car when you buy it. There are a lot of other things you could buy for $3k that would make a bigger difference.

JBVobra · Mar 13, 2004

I think most NA cobras are going to slow down at the drag strip with a T56, especially if you choose a T56 with the 2.66 1st gear (like found in the 03 Cobra and F-Bod). I'm not sure what the first gear is in a viper spec T56, but I can't imagine it's any shallower than 2.66.

My '98 Cobra (9psi vortech, 450rwhp) had an '00 Cobra R T56 installed. That tranny had 2.97 1st gear and I ran 4.10s in the rear. It was a nice setup, but I still ran a little slower at the drag strip than with the stock T45 (3.37 1st gear). Of course, the T56 was exponentially stronger than the T45, and I was mainly after longevity than pure 1/4 mile potential.

One other thing to note, regardless of which T56 you choose, there will be an additional weight penalty as compared to a T45. Not a lot, but when you already have a rather heavy car, every little bit will make a difference.

Grappler · Mar 13, 2004

DirtySanchez said:
~10 hours of labor for the tranny swap. Depending on your shop's hourly rates, you're probably looking at around $600.

The shop doing my install called D&D Performance and they gave him the 4-5 hour range for the tranny swap so 10 sounds a bit high. It's pretty much a straight bolt-in (For the Cobra version) with the exception of drilling a couple of holes.

Click to expand...

95 yellow 5 0 · Mar 13, 2004

DirtySanchez said:
That depends on what else you're doing in addition to the transmission. The T56 has taller 1st and 2nd gears, so your car will be much weaker off the line if you don't step up your rear end gears as well. If you're going to drop in a roots or twin screw blower, the stock rear might be fine, but if you're looking at a centrifugal blower, I suspect you'll be disappointed with the low end.

I would go with *at least* 4.10's if you're going to swap in a T56. That will put 1st gear at about the same combined ratio as 1st gear in the T45 with a stock 3.27 rear. Personally, I'm going with 4.56's.
QUOTE]
what would you do with $5-6k leftover (possibly alittle more if i can take out some extra on used car loan)? i don't wanna get a supercharger then have the trans. go right away, cuz im in college and saving money isnt something i do. so a t56 with 4.10 will drive about the same as a t45 with 3.27s? my 96 had 4.10s and gas mileage was fine. if i did supercharge (what one do u think is the best/cheapest for the money get high 11's?), would the T56 make 0-60 that much slower? how much would it effect the 1/4? so you think i'd need 4.30's or lower with a t56 + s/c?
sorry for all the random questions... i'm just tryin to figure out reliability, performance, and if i can afford all this. i originally wanted to sell the WRX and get a new mach or find a used 03 cobra for $25k which i found a couple that are far away. but i could pick up a 96-98 for pretty cheap, have a much lower payment, lower insurance and possibly afford s/c and trans. swap. thanks for the info so far though. that site is real nice.

DirtySanchez · Mar 13, 2004

95 yellow 5 0 said:
what would you do with $5-6k leftover (possibly alittle more if i can take out some extra on used car loan)?

Well, take this with a huge grain of salt because my car is nowhere near 11's, but here would be my shopping list:

Weld in subframe connectors
Short throw shifter (I like the Steeda triax)
4.30's
Slicks and skinnies
Off road H/X-pipe
Underdrive pullies
C&L MAF
Weld in mufflers or a full catback
Roll bar or cage (you'll need at least a bar to run 11's in a coupe)
K&N
125 shot of N20
Chip and tune

All that should come in well under $6000. If you do the labor yourself, you could probably come in under $6k with a blower instead of nitrous.

There's probably also quite a bit you can/should do to your suspension, but I don't know much about dialing in a solid axle rearend.

i don't wanna get a supercharger then have the trans. go right away, cuz im in college and saving money isnt something i do. so a t56 with 4.10 will drive about the same as a t45 with 3.27s?

Yeah, at least in first gear. 2-5 will be stronger than stock.

so you think i'd need 4.30's or lower with a t56 + s/c?

That depends on the blower. If it's a centrifugal, 4.30's with a T56 should be just fine. 99SVTAddict seems quite happy with that setup. If it's a roots or twin screw, you might want to go with 3.55's like the 03 Cobras have.

DirtySanchez · Mar 13, 2004

JBVobra said:
I think most NA cobras are going to slow down at the drag strip with a T56, especially if you choose a T56 with the 2.66 1st gear (like found in the 03 Cobra and F-Bod). I'm not sure what the first gear is in a viper spec T56, but I can't imagine it's any shallower than 2.66.

Yep, it's 2.66. Gears 1-4 are the same between the 03 Cobra and Viper T56. The viper has .74 and .50 for 5th and 6th, as opposed to .80 and .63 for the Cobra. That 6th gear will allow me to cruise down the highway with a 4.56 rearend at hardly more RPM than my stock tranny and rear.

My '98 Cobra (9psi vortech, 450rwhp) had an '00 Cobra R T56 installed. That tranny had 2.97 1st gear and I ran 4.10s in the rear. It was a nice setup, but I still ran a little slower at the drag strip than with the stock T45 (3.37 1st gear). Of course, the T56 was exponentially stronger than the T45, and I was mainly after longevity than pure 1/4 mile potential.

There's a lot to be said for a transmission that doesn't break on the strip. I'm hoping that by going total overkill on my new tranny and clutch, I won't have to replace them again for a long, long, long time.

97 Cobra: T56 Ordered!

Grappler

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