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I would think someone has done this before but nothing came up when I searched the forums. I have a slightly modified 97 that I want to install a c6zr1 drivetrain in minus the engine. I’ve replaced the clutch and slave before so I know how to drop the transaxle and re install. I thought I remember reading that the c6z06/ZR1 has slightly different cradle mounts in the rear end and some vendors made adapter plates to make it fit. I’m unsure at this point if that is true and if there’s any other parts I’ll need to complete the swap. The car has Pfadt coil overs, Johnny O’Connel sway bars and c6z06 brakes, and 150shot already installed. I don’t think any of these parts will cause and issue since they’ll work on c6’s as well. I’m planning on upping the juice once I install the new drivetrain to blow the motor so the wife will allow me to build an ls9 with a 24x so it’ll work with the car. Anyway if you’ve done the swap before or know what is needed please chime in and here’s some pics of the parts and the car, I’m also looking for a wide body kit since my wheels stick out with the brakes. Cheers
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
C5 of Year Winner (performance mods) 2019
you will need a cradle but there are 2 different ones, one has one pair of mounting holes on each side for the diff mounts and the other cradle has 2 pairs of mounting holes on each side... I don't know if this is 100% accurate or not but I have heard that the cradle with 2 pairs of mounting holes will allow you to use factory c6 mounts but again I cannot confirm that... the cradle I used had one pair of holes so I had to use offset mounts from rkt56... I would not want to use factory mounts on a high powered car that is being raced so I would definitely get a good set of aftermarket mounts whichever way you go... a friend of mine is actually wanting to build a conversion for the c5 cradle so you don't have to use the c6 cradle and it will also keep the wheels from being pushed back into the wheel well, he is also working on some lower control arms for people that already have a c6 cradle and need to get the wheels back into the oem position to run a big tire or need to get more positive camber in the rear alignment... you will have to reuse your torque tube and a small piece will need to be notched where it bolts to the trans to clear the trans fluid pump... you can also reuse all of the suspension components that are already on your car... the cradle may need to be clearanced a bit on the passenger side I believe in order for the diff to bolt down completely, you will see what needs to be done when you actually get to installing it... if you want to run trans and diff coolers you will need to make lines for those and if you don't want to use them you can loop the fluid pump line on the trans and use plugs on the rear diff case and side cover to delete the diff cooler and install a c5 front diff cover... sorry if that seems all over the place, I was just typing things out as I remembered them when I did my swap
Thanks for the responses. I spoke with RTK, I have the c6 cradle so all I need is the mounting brackets. I’ll post pics hopefully before Christmas of the finished install as long as the weather cooperates.
11-14-2018, 07:53 PM
Install C6ZR1 poertrain minus engine in C5
