Installation Part 2:

3. Have your driveshaft shortened. My original driveshaft was 29 ½" centerline of u-joint to u-joint.

I cut it 5 ¼", leaving it 24 ¼" from C/L of u-joints. You MUST do your own measuring. Do not use my exact measurements.

4. Bolt the transmission to the adapter plate/bell housing (bolts are 15MM metric). Slide the yoke on the output shaft. Push the yoke in all the way, and then back it out where you have some play. I backed mine out about ½". Check with the person doing your driveshaft, as to how much this play should be for a Corvette. Take a measurement from the front of the bell housing (where it bolts to the block) to the centerline of the u-joint. (The center is the middle of the u-joint, when properly resting in the yoke.)

Subtract the previous measurement you took in Removal Step #1, from the new measurement, with the T-56, and you will have the proper amount to shorten the driveshaft. Have the driveshaft shortened, balanced, then install it.

5. Once you have the transmission bolted to the bell housing and motor, jack it up into position. Remember to get the transmission back on the same plane you had identified earlier in Removal Step #1. You are now ready to build the cross-member. I used ¼" steel plate and 1 ¼" tubing. Mine is built high enough to allow the exhaust pipes to pass under it. Cars with catalytic converters might have to alter the design or re-pipe the exhaust, if a design like mine is used. Notice in picture below how much I offset the transmission mount holes in order to get the transmission output shaft/yoke centered in the tunnel. I now have ¼" on both sides.

NOTE: You might need to loosen your motor mount bolts (all of them), or expand the mount tabs a bit to allow the motor/transmission to move freely toward the center. The drive shaft pre-load angle will increase slightly, between the yoke and driveshaft. Build and install the cross-member.

Bolt up driveshaft.

6. Relocate the parking break pulley. The picture below shows where I relocated mine. A small bracket was built that bolts to the transmission tail shaft housing. The pulley bolts to this bracket. I was left with about ¼" clearance between the cable and the yoke. Also, my cable rests against the output shaft housing. You can position your pulley outward a little more and prevent it from resting on the tail shaft. As I said earlier, this was my cross-member design. You might come up with a lot better design for your cross-member and eliminate the clearance issues entirely.

7. Install the speedometer gear housing/insert from your old manual transmission. I had to fabricate a new hold down for the housing, as I did not have my old one. The hold down bolthole has metric threads. The speedometer cable will now be located on the driver's side.

8. Install about 4 quarts of the specified automatic transmission fluid.

9. If you have back up lights, there is a plug on the passenger's side, but you will need to obtain the proper connector and extend the wires to reach.

10. Put the console back together and measure your console cover plate for cutting. I merely increased the open area, by cutting out a piece under the shift pattern insert, which is more in the center of the console cover plate. I fabricated two aluminum pieces with mounting lips and riveted them to the bottom lip of the console, where the original boot used to attach. Then, I covered the fabricated pieces with thin, brushed aluminum. I reused my old shifter boot. It might be easier to cut a new hole in an automatic console cover plate, as it has more surface on both sides of the new hole to work with and fill. It would eliminate fabricating the two aluminum pieces. Allow yourself to be creative with this step.

11. Install a shifter. I had an old Hurst shifter arm. I cut 2" off the bottom, bent it toward the driver's side about 10-15 degrees, drilled two new holes and bolted it on.

12. Adjust your clutch and check that everything is tight and in place.

13. I would suggest you test the drive train on the jack stands, before you put it on the ground.

14. Lower the car, start it, put it in gear and have fun. Break in is 500 miles.

15. Good luck.