Thank you for making this video! Been wanting to do a manual in my 5.3 swapped 87 Monte SS and RUclips brought me to this video. Looks like the Ar5 is the winner for me!
Just scored a canyon AR5 from a u pull for $165 (including $35 core). I know this video is a few years old, but having a basic list of parts is a huge help.
You can get ahold of Nick Jacobs at m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02MQ3uNv37kCqnjtgnQEvX3q4D7ttrsBiuUfCf1NPAHt4Cn17FG7SSK3j9G3KsAJf1l&id=100072094501809 For an even better adapter now
Z32 300zx trans are a rly good option. Known for holding 700+ hp and adapter kit is only $595. Can get a trans for $200-$300. I've found the ebay stage 4 300zx clutch actually holds up rly well even with a lot of abuse and they're only $150
Guys, this is simple math. His comparison is cost of a junkyard trans (4L80e vs AR5) is roughly $200, the cost of a budget 4L80e converter is close to $500 vs $776 for the supporting parts to make the fabbot kit work. Arguing over the cost of purchasing the trans from ebay at his spreadsheet price of $400 is for the average lazy internet shopper. You can have LKQ ship from texas to arizona for free if you pick it up at their store. Instead of complaining in the comments, just go try it yourself. Use the grey matter between your ears to bargain shop and make things work for less.
In one of the earlier videos, you were looking for more ideas for the series. I suggest a video about front accessory drives. Stock vs. After market. What common GM frames have clearance issues with the PS pump or A/C compressor on the stock truck engines' brackets
JR I've been following you for awhile now and just found this older video. You are sooooo....... entertaining!!!!! "the man pedal" "do burnouts in the trailer park". "trade half your food stamps" thats some funny stuff right there, don't care who you are. Now get back to that new garage and make some more videos!!!
I know you posted this years ago but I’m going this route gonna follow most of your build. It’s going in a 97 f body. Gonna need a 3 pedal assembly the rest should be straightforward
It really is in an Fbody, Current Performance makes a universal harness if you don't want to pin yours out. Basically it feeds the dash, and your harness for anything.
Love the no nonsense breakdown as always bro.. my 80 series Land Cruiser has a transfer case, so tough luck finding an AR5 adapter for my use case, infact not cudnt even find a t56 adapter .... I reckon the 4L60e is the sensible choice for a novice.. Keep up the great work JR.. u inspire me no end.!!
The NV4500 is the go to 4x4 transmission. It's quite durable and has a low unsynchronized first. Advanced Adapters has what you need to put it in front of your HF2, or you can more easily adapt it to the part time case of a 60 series.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer Spot on Sir,, thats the goto manual tranny for the 80 series , and a 60 series transfer kit makes the job a world lot easier.. really appreciate the research and knowledge. cheers mate!!!
I went with a RS5R30A that came out of a 1990 300zx got the trans for 200 dollars but I had to travel to the next neighboring state and the gforce adapter was at the time $595 and a 50 dollar clutch its held up great behind my ls but the gforce adapter raised the price on it
Might be a swap I look into for my 65 impala I wanna swap from a power gluide and I’d like to be able dump the clutch and do big Smokey burnouts, might do that and leave it behind the 283 at first
Need an opinion on the SM465. Looking at a truck with one in it. Swapping the 305 out to a 5.3 in the near future. Not a racer, but something fun to screw around in sometimes. Maybe eventually swapping up to the TH400 or 4L80E, but want to run the stock trans in the short term.
It's a great truck transmission, terrible sport transmission. It's really a 3 speed effectively, giant spread between gears, slow to shift. But yeah, it'll work for the time being.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer Thanks for the reply. Pretty well what I expected. Might do some burnouts and maybe some highway pulls. Nothing crazy. Appreciate the input good sir
BLITZERKING1 38.. 65...120...146 and 190mph isn’t a good ratio?! Wtf? I have a single turbo 350z making 496hp on a CD009 and it’s working out pretty dam well for me lol My ECU fuel cut goes off well before my gear max out
I kept up with a guy on marketplace and caught a 4wd nv4500 for 800$ My nv3500 is eating power with only a 5.3. The Synchros are gone The deals are out there if youre willing to head to a bigger city or find someone to ship you a unit. I got a np241 for 300 shipped
I've heard the AR5 is pretty much the same as the AX15 that the Jeep used. There are kits available for that that in the end might be cheaper than the Fabot stuff.
Now, this is the video I've been waiting for. I still think I can put a manual transmission in for less money. For example, I'd cut the adapter plate out of a piece of plywood, then instead of putting in a clutch paddle, running lines, and messing with all that foolishness, I'd just put some grease on the flywheel, start it in neutral and power shift from there on. But on a serious note, the Wikipedia page only says it can only take 260 ft·lbf (353 N·m) of torque. Has anyone gone above that number on that transmission or does anyone here know how much further they comfortably go on it? Are there any cheap mods you can do to it to make it handle more power? And if you're ever shopping for a AR 5 adapter plate on eBay be careful because I might be cutting some out of plywood, spray painting them Silver, and selling them on eBay for like 65 bucks. Edit; I just re-read my question and realized how stupid it was so just to clarify. I see that he mentioned 700 foot-pounds in the video. However, I was wondering what's a number that'll actually last, and would 700 hundred foot pounds be constantly breaking the fifth gear? Will it break if you put it in a heavy truck?
It's still a fairly new swap, so it's hard to say. It can definitely handle for more than 260 ft/lbs, as the older versions hold up extremely well in Supra builds. The guy from Fabbot is daily driving his in a turbo Colorado trying to find the limit. For the average cam, turbo LS build it would seem to be more than sufficient. I wouldn't put one in my crew cab Silverado though. It's a sport trans, not a work trans .
For a super mild cam and tune how about a nv 3500 or the muncie the few years before could be really cheap but how well would they hold up for a daily driven s10 with an occasional flog fest?
@@TheDrivewayEngineer I was going to use a 4l60e however, I read that the "65" is stronger. The 4L80E is to large physically to fit (without major mods) under my chassis.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer I agree if you plan on blowin the tires alot the clutch goes out quick...but with regular driving habits it will do the job...been swapped 4months now with no problems
@@furoshus the nv3500 ended needing rebuilt. So i went 4l60e, 5speed is rebuilt and ready now. I've got all parts to do the swap. I'm just waiting on the Truck Norris cam and springs to come in the mail.
you are missing the situation. I have a '56 Pontiac with a 3 speed stock transmission. Sold on an LS. dohner. i would like to keep it as original as possible.
So we found a barn find 67 Camaro convert with glide. 327 skipped time and doing ls swap. Wife's car and she would like to shift. BTR nsr cam otherwise stock with LS1 controller and carb set up. Definitely consider this. Thanks JR
With that setup I would definitely consider the AR5, totally appropriate for the updated but still classic vibe you're after. And it doesn't shift like a dump truck lol.
The Driveway Engineer any particular stall you prefer? Any particular cam you recommend. Yesterday I just got my first 5.3 with 862 heads. Is going into a 1969 Buick and getting as much info from your videos as possible, just requested to join yourFB group too. I remember you said something about (Eljin?) cam but can remember clearly. Any help is greatly appreciated and thanks again for your great videos.
I just bought mine from circle D torque converters. Getting ready to install on my 07 yukon denali. They'll answer your questions and give you some suggestions.
Some people have success just ignoring it, the idle tables and stuff should really be tweaked so the PCM can ignore things like not getting a VSS signal to change idle speed though.
The point of building a old hot rod is having a standard transmission automatic transmission is boring but I wish to fuck I had never watched this video and went this route!!!! I should have bought a fucken t 56 This has been nothing but a fucken headache
@@claytonhaske I finally figured out that you can’t use a LS1 self adjusting clutch!! Fabbot couldn’t help me when I called them ten times cause I couldn’t get the clutch to bleed I was so frustrated!! Finally an old transmission guy here In SLC pointed me in the right direction and I finally figured it out
LOJ conversions (lojkits.com) makes an adapter for the EA200 (Nissan Frontier 6 speed) $999 for their kit, seems interesting but I'm still researching.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer yeah the 3rd and 4th v6 manuals are weak... what about the 5th gen camaro v6 manuals? Super cheap, but I can't find ANYTHING on them.
Your prices are off here man. The adapter is $420, not $75-119. That $420 is the base price of the kit. The $118.97 was to add a bellhousing. You'd need to tack on another $400 or so on your price. The reason people fuss over OEM clutch slaves comes when you try to tie the line from the master to the slave. A lot of slaves have to be adapted to use a generic master like that.
@@trashbandit2449 yeah lol. I think he was getting how much it costs if you already had the transmission. Also most people are going to have to do something about the shifter as most of them I've found the shifter is missing. If the transmission is $400 and the kit is $420 you'd be over his price right there. I actually did an AR5 swap on my truck, got the trans for $250, used a modified T5 ebay shifter for like $35, clutch and flywheel kit was ~ $250, fabbot kit was $420, used the slave that came with the trans, $50 master, a little for the lines, bellhousing from the 4l60e I was using before.... ended up a little over $1100 or so.
Just found my nearest LQK...4.5 hours away!! But they have 6.0 for less than 300 bucks! I see a road trip soon! Thanks for the tip.
That's awesome!
Half their food stamps😂😂😂 that was hell funny man
Thank you for making this video! Been wanting to do a manual in my 5.3 swapped 87 Monte SS and RUclips brought me to this video. Looks like the Ar5 is the winner for me!
Just scored a canyon AR5 from a u pull for $165 (including $35 core). I know this video is a few years old, but having a basic list of parts is a huge help.
You can get ahold of Nick Jacobs at m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02MQ3uNv37kCqnjtgnQEvX3q4D7ttrsBiuUfCf1NPAHt4Cn17FG7SSK3j9G3KsAJf1l&id=100072094501809
For an even better adapter now
Z32 300zx trans are a rly good option. Known for holding 700+ hp and adapter kit is only $595. Can get a trans for $200-$300. I've found the ebay stage 4 300zx clutch actually holds up rly well even with a lot of abuse and they're only $150
The adapter costs more then the transmission that’s stupid
Still cheaper than a T56 lol
I have observed you are one of the few you tubers who gets almost no dislikes to your vids.. my compliments bro!
Thank you!
Guys, this is simple math. His comparison is cost of a junkyard trans (4L80e vs AR5) is roughly $200, the cost of a budget 4L80e converter is close to $500 vs $776 for the supporting parts to make the fabbot kit work. Arguing over the cost of purchasing the trans from ebay at his spreadsheet price of $400 is for the average lazy internet shopper. You can have LKQ ship from texas to arizona for free if you pick it up at their store. Instead of complaining in the comments, just go try it yourself. Use the grey matter between your ears to bargain shop and make things work for less.
The trans has been my holdup, if you do find a cheap T-56, you will probably have to rebuild it, not that bad, but more money!
You can get a 2000 stall converter for $200 +core. Ask for 2500 express van with 4.3 and 4L80
That converter stalls 2600, a stock LS 4L80 is 2200.
Any aftermarket cam of size is going to want 3k + in stall.
I am doing a LT5.3 swap into my 2009 2.9 5 speed. I plan on using Fabbot kit to install it. Will keep you posted.
Update?
@@TrumpsEarBandage due to a job loss I had to sell my engine. Now doing catch up on bills. So i am out for a while...
In one of the earlier videos, you were looking for more ideas for the series. I suggest a video about front accessory drives. Stock vs. After market. What common GM frames have clearance issues with the PS pump or A/C compressor on the stock truck engines' brackets
Interesting. Another option is the cheap LUK LS7 clutch/flywheel setup. Good for over 500hp and affordable.
JR I've been following you for awhile now and just found this older video. You are sooooo....... entertaining!!!!! "the man pedal" "do burnouts in the trailer park". "trade half your food stamps" thats some funny stuff right there, don't care who you are. Now get back to that new garage and make some more videos!!!
I know you posted this years ago but I’m going this route gonna follow most of your build. It’s going in a 97 f body. Gonna need a 3 pedal assembly the rest should be straightforward
It really is in an Fbody, Current Performance makes a universal harness if you don't want to pin yours out.
Basically it feeds the dash, and your harness for anything.
I love the humor.
Ford t5 with sbc bellhousing adapter plate works great.
Love the no nonsense breakdown as always bro.. my 80 series Land Cruiser has a transfer case, so tough luck finding an AR5 adapter for my use case, infact not cudnt even find a t56 adapter .... I reckon the 4L60e is the sensible choice for a novice.. Keep up the great work JR.. u inspire me no end.!!
The NV4500 is the go to 4x4 transmission.
It's quite durable and has a low unsynchronized first.
Advanced Adapters has what you need to put it in front of your HF2, or you can more easily adapt it to the part time case of a 60 series.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer Spot on Sir,, thats the goto manual tranny for the 80 series , and a 60 series transfer kit makes the job a world lot easier.. really appreciate the research and knowledge. cheers mate!!!
I'll never use, but appreciate the break down
I have had good luck with centerforce clutches,
I went with a RS5R30A that came out of a 1990 300zx got the trans for 200 dollars but I had to travel to the next neighboring state and the gforce adapter was at the time $595 and a 50 dollar clutch its held up great behind my ls but the gforce adapter raised the price on it
Might be a swap I look into for my 65 impala I wanna swap from a power gluide and I’d like to be able dump the clutch and do big Smokey burnouts, might do that and leave it behind the 283 at first
Need an opinion on the SM465. Looking at a truck with one in it. Swapping the 305 out to a 5.3 in the near future. Not a racer, but something fun to screw around in sometimes. Maybe eventually swapping up to the TH400 or 4L80E, but want to run the stock trans in the short term.
It's a great truck transmission, terrible sport transmission.
It's really a 3 speed effectively, giant spread between gears, slow to shift.
But yeah, it'll work for the time being.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer Thanks for the reply. Pretty well what I expected. Might do some burnouts and maybe some highway pulls. Nothing crazy. Appreciate the input good sir
Excellent info, thanks for posting this.
Hey JR. will the bell housing from 4L65’s work for the AR5 swap too? I see a lot more of them on the 4x4 Tahoe and Yukons.
Yes, same thing
@@TheDrivewayEngineer thanks
Really useful info, JR. Thanks ever so much.
thoses are in Toyota Tacoma 1999, Jeep TJ 1997, Jeep call them AX5 and AX15 I've mated it to an Old AMC 360
Run a CD009 350z transmission with adapter. $500 trans and can hold 1200+ hp
500 trans, 600 adapter, it's not exactly a bargain either.
CD009 gear ratios are not ideal for a LS. I'm using a $120 Z32 5 speed with a $600 adapter
BLITZERKING1 38.. 65...120...146 and 190mph isn’t a good ratio?! Wtf?
I have a single turbo 350z making 496hp on a CD009 and it’s working out pretty dam well for me lol
My ECU fuel cut goes off well before my gear max out
@@BLITZERKING1 is that the non LS t56 trans. Pre 1996?
@@4EyeFoxbody No. I'm using a 1990 300zx NA transmission and I'm making 567whp. You can't use the LT1 T56 unless you swap input shafts afaik
Ive been looking for a cheap manual option that will hold power for my 460 ford, this may be the ticket if I can find a bellhousing
That would be interesting, QuickTime has a variety of 4l60 adapter bells, they might have that crazy one lol
I kept up with a guy on marketplace and caught a 4wd nv4500 for 800$
My nv3500 is eating power with only a 5.3. The Synchros are gone
The deals are out there if youre willing to head to a bigger city or find someone to ship you a unit. I got a np241 for 300 shipped
Great vid JR. Cool 411.
I've heard the AR5 is pretty much the same as the AX15 that the Jeep used. There are kits available for that that in the end might be cheaper than the Fabot stuff.
Not at pretty much the same.
It's very similar to the older R151, different nose cone and input shaft.
Novak has a bell for it.
"...so ya can do all the cool stuff you want in the trailer park." 😂😂😂
Love the content buddy
Thank you!
Great content as always..Thanks much!!!
Now, this is the video I've been waiting for.
I still think I can put a manual transmission in for less money.
For example, I'd cut the adapter plate out of a piece of plywood, then instead of putting in a clutch paddle, running lines, and messing with all that foolishness, I'd just put some grease on the flywheel, start it in neutral and power shift from there on.
But on a serious note, the Wikipedia page only says it can only take 260 ft·lbf (353 N·m) of torque.
Has anyone gone above that number on that transmission or does anyone here know how much further they comfortably go on it?
Are there any cheap mods you can do to it to make it handle more power?
And if you're ever shopping for a AR 5 adapter plate on eBay be careful because I might be cutting some out of plywood, spray painting them Silver, and selling them on eBay for like 65 bucks.
Edit; I just re-read my question and realized how stupid it was so just to clarify.
I see that he mentioned 700 foot-pounds in the video.
However, I was wondering what's a number that'll actually last, and would 700 hundred foot pounds be constantly breaking the fifth gear?
Will it break if you put it in a heavy truck?
It's still a fairly new swap, so it's hard to say.
It can definitely handle for more than 260 ft/lbs, as the older versions hold up extremely well in Supra builds.
The guy from Fabbot is daily driving his in a turbo Colorado trying to find the limit.
For the average cam, turbo LS build it would seem to be more than sufficient.
I wouldn't put one in my crew cab Silverado though. It's a sport trans, not a work trans .
Your comments are great lol
For a super mild cam and tune how about a nv 3500 or the muncie the few years before could be really cheap but how well would they hold up for a daily driven s10 with an occasional flog fest?
They put them in Silverados with 4.8's and they lasted 200k
Seems like a viable option for me
Since you've recorded this they raised the price of the trans to like 900$ lol
I recorded it today, they're 200 bucks on ebay plus shipping right now
@@TheDrivewayEngineer oops i was looking at silverado not colorado.
I got mine for 300 with like 60000 miles on it and 3 months warranty
@@vandettabuilds6641 where? Lkq
like 600 keep on whit the grat videos
Doing a manual swap on my tahoe. What flywheel, clutch, master and slave would you recommend
I'd probably just use stock shit
I stumbled across a 4L65E trans. This sounds like a good choice for my Camaro, Thoughts?
Mediocre, not the strongest thing out there. They work ok at stock power levels not being abused.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer I was going to use a 4l60e however, I read that the "65" is stronger. The 4L80E is to large physically to fit (without major mods) under my chassis.
The 65 is just a newer 60, it's marginally stronger. It will fail in the same way most likely, burned 3-4 packs.
With this kit you put together it will bolt up to any engine that came with the 4l60e? And the input shaft will sit correctly?
No.
If you use an LS 4l60 bell, it will bolt to any LS.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer what’s the difference between the 4l60 vs the 4l60e? I’m on their website and it says it supports the 4l60e not the 4l60
I'm runnin a nv3500 from a 92 chevy 1500 in my 82 c10 with 5.3...just need a 4.8 flywheel.
Yes, it's an easy swap, but not necessarily a good one.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer I agree if you plan on blowin the tires alot the clutch goes out quick...but with regular driving habits it will do the job...been swapped 4months now with no problems
How did you get the slave cylinder to clear the pan?
@@furoshus the nv3500 ended needing rebuilt. So i went 4l60e, 5speed is rebuilt and ready now. I've got all parts to do the swap. I'm just waiting on the Truck Norris cam and springs to come in the mail.
you are missing the situation. I have a '56 Pontiac with a 3 speed stock transmission. Sold on an LS. dohner. i would like to keep it as original as possible.
I have no idea what you're talking about here
I just wana do silly stuff.. Can I do burnouts and slides and all that stuff with an auto just as well?
I manage with mine lol
So we found a barn find 67 Camaro convert with glide. 327 skipped time and doing ls swap. Wife's car and she would like to shift. BTR nsr cam otherwise stock with LS1 controller and carb set up. Definitely consider this. Thanks JR
With that setup I would definitely consider the AR5, totally appropriate for the updated but still classic vibe you're after.
And it doesn't shift like a dump truck lol.
what would I need to mate an NV4500? I already got one in the truck.
What would be a nice fun to drive torque converter that you would recommend for an 5.3 with a 4l80e trans?
I get my converters from Ryan Jans at Florida Converter
The Driveway Engineer any particular stall you prefer? Any particular cam you recommend. Yesterday I just got my first 5.3 with 862 heads. Is going into a 1969 Buick and getting as much info from your videos as possible, just requested to join yourFB group too. I remember you said something about (Eljin?) cam but can remember clearly. Any help is greatly appreciated and thanks again for your great videos.
I just bought mine from circle D torque converters. Getting ready to install on my 07 yukon denali. They'll answer your questions and give you some suggestions.
I have a 95 Firebird Formula... What would I need different? Lt1 clutch? It has an 4l60 now...
It's a totally different swap, for you TRY transmissions are about half the cost.
No idea what it takes to put an AR5 behind a Gen 1.
If by doing this, does anything have to be done to the ECM to run a manual transmission? Or just a plain flash of the ECM is all needs to be done?
Some people have success just ignoring it, the idle tables and stuff should really be tweaked so the PCM can ignore things like not getting a VSS signal to change idle speed though.
@@TheDrivewayEngineer ok cool... Thanks for the response... 👍🏽
@@MrMoe82420 u have to give green wire signal from trans
I got a 95 Silverado 5.0l 5spd stock, I’m ls swapping and I don’t know what transmission to go with. Any thoughts?
The one that's in it is a good start lol
The point of building a old hot rod is having a standard transmission automatic transmission is boring but I wish to fuck I had never watched this video and went this route!!!! I should have bought a fucken t 56 This has been nothing but a fucken headache
Damn brother, sorry to hear about that. What problems are you running into?
@@claytonhaske I finally figured out that you can’t use a LS1 self adjusting clutch!! Fabbot couldn’t help me when I called them ten times cause I couldn’t get the clutch to bleed I was so frustrated!! Finally an old transmission guy here In SLC pointed me in the right direction and I finally figured it out
@@vandettabuilds6641 well, I'm glad to hear you got it figured out brother!!!
@@claytonhaske thank you!!!
Im new to ls swaps i have a 3rd gen camaro would this fit in my car? Im thinking of getting a 5.3 out of a junkyard
Yes
@@TheDrivewayEngineer I’m getting ready to put this AR5 into my 92 Camaro up against a LQ4
I am in a 65 volvo Amazon 122s
LOJ conversions (lojkits.com) makes an adapter for the EA200 (Nissan Frontier 6 speed) $999 for their kit, seems interesting but I'm still researching.
I wish you were my neighbor .
What do you think use a nv3500 thks
See how this video isn't about an NV3500? That's what I think
What about the adapter for ar5 to 4l60e plate
What about it?
@@TheDrivewayEngineer you didnt include it in the 775 total im guessing...
I definitely did
Uncle brother
Does anybody else make the adapter for the bell housing or am I stuck paying 400 for the adapter from fabbot?
Fabbot invented the whole thing...
So no, no one else has copied their R&D and undercut them yet
Somebody needs to figure out how to use the f body v6 5speeds there all over in the west in pic a part or pic n pull
It's just a T5, that info is out there everywhere.
Expect it to last 1 clutch dump lol
@@TheDrivewayEngineer yeah the 3rd and 4th v6 manuals are weak... what about the 5th gen camaro v6 manuals? Super cheap, but I can't find ANYTHING on them.
Your prices are off here man. The adapter is $420, not $75-119. That $420 is the base price of the kit. The $118.97 was to add a bellhousing. You'd need to tack on another $400 or so on your price.
The reason people fuss over OEM clutch slaves comes when you try to tie the line from the master to the slave. A lot of slaves have to be adapted to use a generic master like that.
The fact that 425 is the base price is literally the first line on the spreadsheet...
@@TheDrivewayEngineer Then how does you math add up to $775?
$419 + 400 + 64 + 117 + 75 + 50 + 50 = $1175
I understood his spreadsheet
@@TheBreaded that's what I'm stuck on. He never added the actual adapter. Still not a bad price though
@@trashbandit2449 yeah lol. I think he was getting how much it costs if you already had the transmission. Also most people are going to have to do something about the shifter as most of them I've found the shifter is missing. If the transmission is $400 and the kit is $420 you'd be over his price right there. I actually did an AR5 swap on my truck, got the trans for $250, used a modified T5 ebay shifter for like $35, clutch and flywheel kit was ~ $250, fabbot kit was $420, used the slave that came with the trans, $50 master, a little for the lines, bellhousing from the 4l60e I was using before.... ended up a little over $1100 or so.
How fast is rock Auto in there shipping ? Anyone know
3-5 days, fairly quick
😂
Weak? Stronger than a 4L60E
I've never once recommended anyone use a 4l60 for anything other than the bellhousing to run a AR5 😂