How do I keep my new T-56 from going out?

[IROCker]

Just put in a newly rebuilt T-56 in my ROC, hooked up to my 383 stroker and 3.73 rear end. The motor obviously has a ton of power, and I wanted some driving pointers on keeping my tranny from breaking while racing and highway driving. I'm pretty new with fast cars and am no expert driver, so I'm just trying to keep everything from needing repairs.

What is the proper way to race? Double clutching is not an option here. Too slow. Should I just drop the clutch and slam the gas, eventhough it causes the gears to slip a bit? Or should I just smoothly let off and hit the gas? The reason I am asking is that the motor produces around 400HP/TQ and I don't really want to blow out my tranny. Some guys have told me that it's perfectly OK to drop the clutch, but I just want my tranny to last a long time while racing it from time to time.

Same thing on the rear end. What can I do, if anything, to prolong the life of my rear, and other parts of my car. Thanks!

[wildman82]

depending on if it a oem trans or after market it ranges from 400# to 650# from D&D performance. not to mention there are a few guy who run 10sec or faster in a stock trans pushing well over 600hp and tq i would take it easy first 1000 miles or so. and let the gears establish a wear path on each other be for you realy dogg it

as for shifting i have never dropped the clutch at high rpms. i ussually load everything up on lauch and slip the clutch a little. on regular shift im some what of throttle when shifting. i do the same in racing just dont back off the throttle as much. just enough that the tires dont brake loose then right back on it.

[IROCker]

Sorry to specify. I didn't mean rev, then drop the clutch from the start. I don't plan on doing that. I meant shifting from 1-2, 2-3, and 3-4 on a 1/4 race. Some guys have told me to drop the clutch and slam the gas. But doing that will slip the gears. Some have told me to just quickly and smoothly ease out clutch/in gas. But I was just wondering how much slipping the gears do when the car is already moving, and if it's enough to tear up the tranny.

I also have to worry about my rear end, cause I have heard that Camaros are notorious for rears going out. Is there a difference between wheel hop and flat spinning?

[wildman82]

wheel hop the tire is actually bouncing up and down like a basketball while spining. very BAD
why because it shock loads and unloads the whole drivetrain and related equipment. basicly the same as dropping the clutch and desingage and doing it over and over again.
flat out spinnig would be like the same as spinning your tires on ice mud or the like..there are no really high shock load to anything..

the gears in the tranny are splinned to a shaft and rotate the same speed of the shaft. if there is any slipping it would be between the flywheel and clutch disc. if the gear slip inside the trany something has been stripped/ruined equal$$$ a manual is not like a automatic. there is slipage in a auto due to the way it was design.
some one who know auto can jump in....
as for the rear axle your bout maxed out on it 400-450# is their limit stock then can handle more power but your running on barwod time, they can be built stronger but it is cheaper to replace it in the long run with a 12 bolt or 9" if you plan on going faster

as for shifting i did practice runs so that i could find out how much would break the tires loose and back off till the didnt spin shifting into the nexed grear im ussually letting of the gas as im depressing the clutch pedel, shifting i try to have the trans in netrual by the time the clutch is fully disengaged and going into the nex gear then getting back on the gas as i engage the clutch if you can folow that. do it righ it takes me bout.2-.3 of a second or less to shift if i dont miss