On a 4x4, yeah sure piece of cake. Tilt the transmission down, reset the pinion angle to match because the rear axle is a foot lower than the tail of the transmission anyway, all good.
On an A body? Nope. By the time you drop the tail of the transmission enough to fit a T56 under the stock floor and upper crossmember the tail of the trans is gonna be lower the yoke on the pumpkin. Not gonna fix that just by cranking the pinion angle unless you lower the pumpkin, which means turning your A-body into a 4x4.
And that doesn’t even address all the different ways the headers will interfere with the torsion bars, steering etc. Or how the oil pan will hit the steering link, or how you’ll have to put an angled adaptor on the carb to keep the bowls level.
The t56 is huge, you’re not talking about dropping the tail a half a degree. You’re talking about dropping the transmission several inches to keep it from hitting the floor.
Exactly why I bought one of your crossmembers. Yeah, I can totally fabricate that crossmember myself. And maybe it would only cost me a $100 in metal and welding rod, but it would take a few days of measuring, cutting, mocking up the whole thing, dropping it out to make modifications, checking the fit again, dropping it all back out to finish weld everything and then doing the final install.
Yup, I can do it, and I have done it. But I can make $700 faster than the week it would take me to do all that, and my car will be down for a day or two instead of a week. And since I drive my car as my daily that’s important too. Not for everyone I’m sure, but I’m glad it’s an option.
