I have a t56 that came (i believe) out of an early eighties cutlass. As I understand it will not hold up to any real power in its current state. Can one of these units be beefed up, or do I have a pink elephant. I cant pull any inf off this thing because it is buried in my dads barn right now, but could use some advise on what is possible with the tyrannies from this era if anything. I'd really prefer a manual trans if I can run it.

 

The T56 was never factory installed in an Olds. If the trans you have is a factory installed five speed, it's a T5. There's a reason why this trans was only offered behind the V6 and the 260.

 

Got bad info then or remembered wrong. Was hoping that the casings could at least be used I was young and dumb when I got it. Traded a 79 cobra for it too, oh well the car was a pos. Basically this thing is junk then right?

 

FYI, in general, the T56 is a very stout factory 6spd. All the LT1 and LS1 Trans-ams, Formulas and Z28s had them (1993-2002). Dodge Viper's had an even beefier version of the T56. The LS1s and Viper V-10s put out some serious torque.

Make sure your Olds motor has the crank drilled for the pilot bearing if you are wanting to run a manual trans.

 

Oh. Just noticed you are a moderator here. You probably know about the pilot bearing....

 

Have a lot of basic info, technical stuff...well anyhow I'm still learning to, just happen to have been hanging around for a while thanks for the info though.

 

The T56 is a great trans that was never factory installed in an Olds and does not come with a BOP bellhousing. The T56 is also a six speed, something else never factory installed in an Olds. The original question was about a trans pulled from an early 80s Olds, so it's almost certainly not a T56.