'69 Barracuda T56 swap, floor, cross member

[340sFastback]

Clutch, brake, and gas pedals are in. Takes a lot of jiggling around its tight up there and pivot tolerances are tight no slack not easy at all to get clutch brake pedals into place. Challenging to get the horse shoe nut/bolt on left side. But C clip on right side not bad. I greased everything up good before installation. These are Silver Sport reproduction pedals and the pedal bezels I bought from some reproduction parts vendor. My automatic brake pedal had the bezel so wanted to retain the pedal bezels.

There is a little rectangular rubber bumper for the clutch pedal that goes on mount I believe I bought that from Brewers since Silver Sport didn't provide that in there kit.

 

[340sFastback]

Moved the washer fluid reservoir forward 1 inch and mounted the clutch master cylinder reservoir behind it to make it less obvious. The reservoir mount bracket holes lines up with the wire retainer holes so no drilling for mount bracket was needed. Ran hose from reservoir to master cylinder. I did have to put a bend in the mount bracket since inner fender is angled and wanted reservoir straight up/down angled.

 

[340sFastback]

Set up dial indicator and took measurements with the .007" offsets at the 4 o'clock position which is where they were when I had that aluminum bell housing (first picture). With the steel bell housing it was out of alignment. Ended up with .007" offsets at the 7 o'clock position and that allowed runout to be within specs (second picture). I removed bell housing and reinstalled and measurements did not change.

Note I am using 3/8" studs in the top three holes (second picture) because I was not able to get my hand up there to get bolts in without cross threading. Studs are 3/8"-16 2" long from McMaster-Carr rated at 150,000 psi tensile strength. Nuts and washers 3/8" grade 8. I am also using grade 8 flanged bolts on the two lower holes. Quick Time provides allen head bolts and no way could I fit an allen socket up there so that hardware wasn't used.

 

[340sFastback]

I eliminated the second rod that is usually used by using a metric bolt and two nuts to attach dial indicator to the primary rod. This and one bolt removed from the flywheel so that magnetic base sits on the bolt inner surface of the flywheel. This resulted in very stable consistent dial readouts which removes guesswork saves a lot of time.

 

[340sFastback]

Clutch, bell housing, and starter bolted in.

 

[340sFastback]

Bought two M10 1.5 pitch bolts 4 inches long, cut heads off, rounded tips, cut a slot for screw driver, and used them for alignment pins screwed into the bellhousing to guide the trans in.

I put the trans in 3'rd gear and had my son turn the engine via the balancer bolt while I was under the car wiggling the trans into the clutch and pilot bearing. I was able to get the trans fully seated against the bell housing. Then I put in a bolt on each side and ran the alignment pins out.

 

[340sFastback]

Got all the trans to bell housing bolts tight and jacked up and put cross member in place. Still need to hook hydraulic line to master cylinder and bleed it out along with a long list of other things to do. But the 6 speed is finally in the car after 9 months of work....

 

[TT5.9mag]

Very nice work!

 

[purplehazenils]

Just read the whole thread, super clean work, thanks for documenting!
I have saved a lot of photos for reference when I do the same swap.

 

[340sFastback]

I hooked the hydraulic clutch line to clutch master cylinder bled out clutch. Has a nice solid feel to it. Only around 3/8" of play at the top then it starts to push on pressure plate. No leaks seems to work consistently.

Got my 29 spline 1350 pinion yoke with straps and new seal. I have an 8 3/4 489 case which was bought from Randys Ring and Pinion as a complete 3'rd member 15 years back or so with 7290 yoke on it. Will be looking to maintain pinion bearing preload measuring before and with tires and brake drums off the car, sneak up on preload by slowly tightening pinion nut, measure preload, repeat, etc etc.

Once I get that yoke swapped then measure get drive shaft ordered. Then we are going to start to see the 6 speed part of the build make some real progress......

 

[TT5.9mag]

Then we are going to start to see the 6 speed part of the build make some real progress......

What? Seriously you’ve MADE real progress, and done excellent work, and a great write up. I’m using this thread as “instructions” when I do the T56 magnum install in the near future.

 

[340sFastback]

So started out removing rear wheels and brake drums, all popped apart easy since its all low mileage stuff no rust. Took an inch pounds torque wrench spun yoke and zero inch pounds to rotate? Yet rear was silent and in excellent working condition when car was running less then 10K miles since total rebuild. Its a Randy Ring and Pinion 489 case 29 spline 7290 yoke. Yoke had nice smooth feel to it when rotating all seemed well before I took apart.

So used impact to run nut off and 7290 yoke pulled right off. Changed seal, put High Temp Thread Sealant into yoke spines, put blue loctite into nut, ran nut down with impact set on low setting. Then torqued to 150 ft/pounds. Removed holding tool still no inch pounds to rotate. So went ahead and torqued to 175 ft pounds. Still no inch pounds torque to rotate. But rotation was nice felt like it did with old yoke. 1969 Factory Service Manual for 489 case for seal replacement says min nut torque is 170. I went to 175 so I feel its good should not be any issues.

Holding tool is 5/16" thick, two holes drilled, and a small half circle to clear the socket. Metal used to be a frame for a pull behind lawn roller, you know, one of those steam roller looking things you fill with water from Sears to smooth out rough lawns? Kept that steel around for a few decades now came in handy today!

Will be ordering driveshaft now and once that comes ALL parts to get the car moving under its own power will be on hand.

The 1350 yoke and u-bolts are Strange from Summit Racing.

 

[340sFastback]

Wired up the reverse lockout module. Hooked 12 volt battery to it and was easy to shift into reverse.

I drilled a hole in each corner of the trans mount so I could zip tied the wires up out of harms way.

You can also see how the speedometer cable comes down and goes in between the trans and trans support to keep it away from where the exhaust pipe will be.

Trans mount and trans cross member bolts are tightened cause trans install is now complete except fill with fluid.

 

[340sFastback]

Here is how the speedometer cable is routed. Silver Sport did not give any instructions but the cable they provided was the correct length the way I routed it very good fit. Its hooked to the speedometer in the dash too.

I also zip tied cable to clutch master cylinder to keep it away from header tube.

Starter cable routed and fastened to the firewall and inner fender.

 

[340sFastback]

Drive shaft arrived. Looks to fit good. Still need to tighten U Straps at rear yoke.

I have a three day weekend. So looking to get fuel and brake lines run along insides of sub frame connectors. Then exhaust can go back on.

 

[mygasser]

i'd make tightening the straps on that rear yoke your very next job. it's the sort of thing (from experience) that you look and see it's in place, think it's done and it gets left loose. it's not something you want to be loose on your first test drive.
neil.

 

[340sFastback]

i'd make tightening the straps on that rear yoke your very next job. it's the sort of thing (from experience) that you look and see it's in place, think it's done and it gets left loose. it's not something you want to be loose on your first test drive.
neil.

Yes that and fill that trans with fluid. I did top off the rear axle with gear oil since some leaked out when I changed yoke/seal.

 

[340sFastback]

Bent up and flared a custom rear brake line that runs up the inside of the sub frame connector. Also hooked up emergency brake cable which also runs inside of connector. This routing deviates from original because sub frame connector allows the more cleaner front to rear routing instead of the original criss cross under the car type tying.

Since the fitting back by the axle was leaking squirting fluid out everywhere till I smoked it down the brake pedal is real firm now. So I will put off pressure bleeding until I can drive it over to my other garage 10 feet away with the two post lift then pop all the wheels off and bleed entire system.

 

[340sFastback]

Got the fuel line fabbed up and installed. Had to reuse the section back by the tank and use a 3/8 compression fitting to hook it to the new line. Was not able to duplicate the complex bends coming off the fuel tank, around the shock, and onto the frame rail. Up front was able to route it as far away from the header as possible. Fuel pump is now connected to the gas tank. I think it turned out pretty good.

 

[mosleyme]

Got the fuel line fabbed up and installed. Had to reuse the section back by the tank and use a 3/8 compression fitting to hook it to the new line. Was not able to duplicate the complex bends coming off the fuel tank, around the shock, and onto the frame rail. Up front was able to route it as far away from the header as possible. Fuel pump is now connected to the gas tank. I think it turned out pretty good.

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I would look at doing some Adel type clamps to anchor and make sure that fuel line never comes into contact with the edges of that pass through hole.

 

[340sFastback]

I would look at doing some Adel type clamps to anchor and make sure that fuel line never comes into contact with the edges of that pass through hole.

I had to take the line completely off and add a few bends then put it back on. I was able to get the fuel line centered through the cross member and added a clamp. There is zero chance now of line hitting cross member. Thanks for the advice.

 

[340sFastback]

Filled trans with fluid and tightened ujoint bolts on rear yoke. Cleaned off exhaust flange surfaces, wiped dust grime dirt off of tail pipes, then hung the exhaust. All bolts in but loose for now. Clears trans cross member plenty of room. But insufficient clearance between pass side muffler and the bigger 1350 pinion yoke. Then my wife started complaining about something so will have to come back to fixing that pinion yoke to muffler clearance issue later. But hey H Pipe clears the 6 speed so thats pretty awesome right?

 

[purplehazenils]

Great work as usual. What speedometer cable did you use? Does silver sport have one that works with the original instruments? I assume an adapter to change the gearing will be needed later on.

 

[340sFastback]

Great work as usual. What speedometer cable did you use? Does silver sport have one that works with the original instruments? I assume an adapter to change the gearing will be needed later on.

Silver Sport provided the speedo cable and speedo gear that goes into trans. I have original speedo in dash. I told Silver Sport rear tire diameter and rear gears so speedo gear is supposed to match. Post 213 and 214 show speedo cable routing.

 

[340sFastback]

To address the muffler to pinion yoke clearance issue I loosened the H Pipe clamp and was able to pull it apart 1/8 inch or so. This allowed the mufflers to spread apart by rear yoke to provide good clearance. There is more clearance now between yoke and passenger's side muffler compared to when car was last together with the 7290 yoke.

Downside is passenger's side tail pipe above axle is only 1/8 inch away from frame rail. I don't think its gonna hit because TTI hangers are very rigid that system doesn't move around back there. But if it does I have a two post lift in other garage. So I'll deal with that once the car is able to move over to other garage under own power which is not too far away.