Manual transmissions and LT1s

ok you T56 gurus I gots a questions for you, Nick said something last fall that has been working my brain about dropping an LT1 in my silver 79 malibu, now they are plentiful and easy enough to find. now my question is this what manual transmissions other than the t56 would work behind one, keep in mind I'm putting this in a Malibu that is considerably lighter than a RMW, is there a Five speed that would bolt up? seems that five speed V6 93-02 camaros and firebirds are plentiful and cheap, would that transmission work behind an LT1 in a light car?

I'm just asking, and looking for ideas and concepts

I've thought the same thing. Keep the rear tires skinny enough and be gentle on the clutches and shifts and it oughta last a long time. The point is to make sure the transmission isn't the weakest link. Have something else be the "give-way."

Pat:

It has very little to do with wieght of vehicle but rather the rated input torgue and internal torgue the tranny is spec'd for. The T5 used in the rustangs are plentiful and can be built to take great gobs of power or the 5 speeds used in alot of trucks.

A good tranny man can stear you in the right direction and virtually any of the popular trannys have some sort of website/forum devoted to it. For the Malibu, why not the older Super T10 4 speed? Tough as nails and almost indestructable. Had one in my 76 Trans AM behind a 455. With 2.73 rears it got me a clean 25 MPG and could pump cash into the Goodyear tire company till 1/2 way through 2nd. Was hard on clutches and the factory Hurst shifter was a pain but nary a squeek out of the tranny.

On the other hand, a T56 with the right gears in the back would also be ideal for the Malibu, when coupled with the LT1. You could keep the tire companies solvent and still get great mileage on the highway.

Bill

I wouldn't put a T5 in anything. There's a reason why GM wouldn't put one in the Camaros with a 350. You could only get it behind the 305...

jayoldschool wrote:

I wouldn't put a T5 in anything. There's a reason why GM wouldn't put one in the Camaros with a 350. You could only get it behind the 305...

In it's stock form your absolutely right. Bits of tranny all over. For about $150.00 you can get a kit with some hardened parts that allow it to hold together behind some heavy power. Used it when we built the Cobra in 02 with the kids. The engine we built was dynoed at over 300 HP and the gear box held up really well.

Bill

Compare the weight of a Cobra to a Malibu...

jayoldschool wrote:

Compare the weight of a Cobra to a Malibu...

Again I say, it doesn't matter about the weight. Its the input and internal torgue specs that matter. Full throttle in first with the rear hooked, the tranny will be exposed to the same forces regardless of its in a go-kart or a dump truck. The trannys are matched to the driveline, not the vehicle.

The T5 came from the factory with anything from 175 ft/lbs (input torgue) to 300 ft/lbs. for some of the Mustangs (the 249 and 251s). The kit I referred to beefed it up to around the 425 ft/lb mark input and close to 950 ft/lbs internal.

Having said that, it is still just a cheap alternative. Certainly not the ideal tranny for the LT1. Spend the bucks a do the T56 or go old school with the Super T10.

Quick question. Didn't some of the Iraqabus come equipped with a 4 speed? Seems I saw a bunch with floor shifters and clutches back in the day, sitting on the docks in Toronto after Iraq found religion.

Bill

Yes, the Iraqi Taxi Malibus came with standards. Three speeds, though.

For the Yanks that have no idea what we are talking about, here is the story. My buddy's dad had one. They sold a bunch here in Ottawa through the Chev dealers...

Iraqi Taxi
In 1981, General Motors of Canada in Oshawa produced a special order of 25,500 4-door Malibu sedans for Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government The deal was reportedly worth well over 100-million dollars to GMCL. These special order Malibus carried the unusual combination of GM's lowest-power carburated V6, the 110 hp (82 kW) 229-cubic-inch (3.8 L) engine mated to 3-speed transmission with a unique on-the-floor stick shifter. All of the cars were equipped with air conditioning, heavy duty cooling systems, AM/FM cassette decks, front bench seats, 200 km/h speedometers, tough tweed and vinyl upholstery and 14-inch (360 mm) stamped steel wheels with "baby moon" hubcaps.

However only 13,000 units ever made it to Iraq, with the majority of the cars becoming taxis in Baghdad (once the cab-identifying orange paint was added to the front & rear fenders). However in 1982 with the balance of ~12,500 additional Malibus either sitting on a dock in Halifax or awaiting port shipment in Oshawa, where they were built, the Iraqis suddenly cancelled the order.[3] Excuses reportedly included various "quality concerns" including the inability of the local drivers to shift the finicky Saginaw manual transmission. This issue was eventually identified as being due to an apparent clutch release issue that eventually required on-site retrofitting by a crew of Canadian technicians sent to Iraq to support the infamous "Recall in the Desert". Later speculation was that the Iraqis were actually forced to back out for financial reasons, due to their escalating hostilities with Iran requiring the immediate diversion of funds to support the ramping Iraqi war effort. Then GM of Canada President Donald Hackworth was initially quoted as stating GMCL intended still try to sell the Malibus overseas in other Middle East markets; however in the end, the orphaned "Iraqi Taxi" Malibus were all sold to the Canadian public at the greatly reduced price of approx. $6,800 CAD and over the years have acquired a low-key 'celebrity' status.

I have seen these cars through my own scope. Shot a couple too. Now I know how they got there.

Jay you only got part of the facts on the Iraqi Malibu.

The truth is that back in 81 dues to strikes with some of GM's suppliers GM was delayed in getting the secound shippent sent out to Iraq. The vehicles where actually given to Iraqi war veterans, many of whom used them as taxis.
Toyota got wind that GM was late in getting their shippment of cars into Iraq on time, so they came in and under cut GM and filled the void with thier Corrollas. That left GM with these Iraqi Malibus. GM negociated for over a year trying to get sadam to take them reguardless of Toyota's recent dealings. Alas Sadam did not want what were now 18 month old vehicles but did take shippments of the new A body Celebrity sedans because those vetrerans who took delivery of the Corrollas felt cheated, and if you remember what 1981 toyota corrollas were like in base trim down, you too would feel cheated when compared to the chevy of the day, and it's not like fuel prices were an issue in iraq at the time.

GM Could not sell these Iraqi Malibus in the USA since they would have to do to many modifications to the vehilces to meet US spects, where as they only required minor modifications to meet Canadian spects that could be done at the dealer ships. In early 83 they were first offered to GM employees for only $2800.00 Candian dollars Hence why they were plentiful in places like Oshawa, Windsor, Oakville, St Cathrines, and St Therese in quebec.
Once they ran out of willing employees to sell these 2 year old malibus to they then sold them at Canadian Chevy dealers for $5500.00 Canadian dollars.

They had a few more options that Jay forgot mention, black body side mouldings, the wide wheel well chrome, bumper rub strips and bumperguards.

My love for the 78-83 Malibu is far deeper than my love of the 91-96 B body long roofs. The car I my driver's license was my sister's new 80 Malibu landau coupe that I bought from her in 1990 and still own, I also have my sliver euro spect malibu coupe that this thread is helping me work out a drive train for ( I do have a Caddy 500 and hydormatic 400 ready for this malibu, but I think that an LT1 with a T56 could be fun too) I also still own my 82 GMC Caballero which is nothing more than a malibu ute, I've owned and parted out many malibus and lemans through the years too.

Krzdimond wrote:

I have seen these cars through my own scope. Shot a couple too. Now I know how they got there.

You Bastard!

Quote :

Jay forgot mention

lol, not me... Wikipedia. I only remember the stories from when I was a kid. My dad looked at one at Tubman Chev Olds, but he bought an 81 Impala Sport Coupe instead.

They must have spec'd some for high ranking officials as well. The guy we bought the factory from in Campbellford had three of them in his barn, complete with the 267 V8, Automatic, buckets, center consol, power windows etc. The rads looked like something out of Nicks truck and the HVAC components were big enough for the central air in my house.

He claimed they were Iraqabus but who knows. I do know they were not bought through a dealer as the cats were missing and no EGR. They were also parked at the back of his barn out of sight. Maybe a midnight run into Oshawa with a wrecker and a set of bolt cutters .

Bill

convert2diesel wrote:

They must have spec'd some for high ranking officials as well. The guy we bought the factory from in Campbellford had three of them in his barn, complete with the 267 V8, Automatic, buckets, center consol, power windows etc. The rads looked like something out of Nicks truck and the HVAC components were big enough for the central air in my house.

He claimed they were Iraqabus but who knows. I do know they were not bought through a dealer as the cats were missing and no EGR. They were also parked at the back of his barn out of sight. Maybe a midnight run into Oshawa with a wrecker and a set of bolt cutters .

Bill

Of course they GM did do that, but where are they now?

buickestate wrote:

Of course they GM did do that, but where are they now?

Knowing the individual, probably somewhere in Europe.

Bill