Vettechris996

Last fall I began having transmission/clutch issues with my 02 Z06. It actually started earlier in the season when I had the clutch stick to the floor on a trip down the quarter mile. From that point on, even with changing the clutch fluid in the reservoir the pedal was never right. Even if you pushed the clutch in and rev'd it the pedal started to feel crappy. I also noticed the clutch slipping on high RPM shifts. I drove it for most of the season this way which turned out to be a bad idea! As it turns out the sloppy clutch engagement/hydraulics were really beating up the trans internals. Finally it got stuck in gear on a hard 3-4 shift and from that point on I knew it was coming out. I drove it gently for a few weeks and eventually it got stuck in 4th to the point it wouldn't come back out with any amount of force. Thats when the car went under the knife. I almost tore into the trans myself but I decided to ask around and I got in touch with Rick at RKT56 and I realized it would be well worth paying someone with experience to take care of this one! I tore the drivetrain apart and shipped the trans to Rick where he discovered that all three synchro keys in the 3-4 synchro were destroyed. Also over the course of driving the car for the season with the bad clutch setup I damaged the 1-2 synchro, the 5-6 synchro, 2nd gear, 3rd gear, and reverse. Rick sent me a ton of pictures and I had him proceed with replacing everything and building it up per his specs with billet keys, bronze pads, etc per his basic upgrade package. About two weeks later I got the trans back all ready to go! Rick made the process easy and was top notch when it comes to communication through the process. In the meantime I decided to buy a Mantic ER2 single disk from Rick for the car. I also tore into the diff and replaced both output shafts and clutch packs with C6Z parts. I pulled the prop shaft from the torque tube with the intent of replacing the couplers but the stock units with around 35k miles looked too good to replace. Over the course of the new england winter I put everything back together on jack stands and finally had the car ready to drive for the spring. So far I've put about 1500 miles on it and everything feels AMAZING. The Mantic clutch drives just like stock and it grips hard when you ask it to! The trans feels great, shifts smooth and just feels great. According to Rick I still have some more miles to really get the billet keys broken in as it still was a little notchy on high rpm shifts into 3rd. I got in touch with Rick and he said if I have any issues with 3rd even out of warranty he'd take care of it! Over all I am very pleased with the quality of his work and his customer service and I would HIGHLY recommend using him for all your drivetrain work! I would also highly recommend the Mantic single, it feels so much like stock its crazy yet it really bites when you let the plates hit! My car is a mild setup (headers/intake/tune) and its a pleasure to drive even in the city with the whole setup. The moral of the story here, if your clutch feels crappy, don't keep shifting the car hard or this could happen! Overall I am extremely pleased with how the whole drivetrain came out, now time for pictures!

Harbor Freight trans jack, absolutely the best $80 I've ever spent at Harbor Freight, couldn't have done the job without it!



Drivetrain removed and separated


Broken pieces of synchro keys on the trans magnet!


What was left of the stick 3-4 synchro keys:


Rounded engagement teeth on one of the synchros


T56 opened up!!


Back from Rick at RKT56, ready to go back in the car!


New Mantic ER2 single


Pilot bearing tool rented from AutoZone, absolutely needed for the pilot bearing replacement! Makes the removal of the old bearing super easy!


New clutch installed


Diff opened up:


New C6Z diff parts going into C5Z diff:


Broken spring in the diff clutch packs:


Diff all buttoned up with C6Z shafts and clutches!!


Transaxle ready to go back in the car. ECS trans brace added as well.


All back together!


If anyone is undergoing any of this work or is thinking about it, feel free to ask any questions and hopefully I can help!

81c3

Great pics and great work. Ill be looking into something like this in about a year. I want to beef up my diff and install a set of 3.90 gears as well as freshen up my tranny.

96juicedgt

Looks great. I'm in the process of doing the same to mine myself.

DOUG @ ECS

Thats a lot of work to do on your back! Nice job getting it done.

CHJ In Virginia

Nice Job ! I agree with Doug - no way that I would tackle that job without a lift ---

hxrly

Nice. I already have a built t-56, but I will need to upgrade the clutch and differential soon enough.

96juicedgt

What power level are you at? Will be buying parts for my build soon. Just curious what your mods and power level are.

Vettechris996

Power mods are just headers, intake, and tune. Car sees a lot of autox time and the drivetrain should easily handle a good bit more power.

MX621

To op. U plan on dragging the car at all?

Vettechris996

Maybe a little, recreational run or two on a street night if a bunch of the guys go up. That's about it.

PEETYZ

Been there done that on jack stands I basically did same thing minus the dif.....Glad its done. My trans is a bit notchy with the billet keys etc but works great. Nice build!

Btw those stock broken keys look familiar lol