So yesterday I sent off my spare T56 to Liberty's gear to get the face plate engagement modifications done:

http://www.libertysgears.com/faceplate.htm

In addition to the face plate engagement the whole gear set will get the Micronite process. This improves strength and reduces friction. 5th and 6th will still have synchros, so driving on the highway will be as it was.

This should be interesting.

Andrew

 

Yah, cool. Let us know how it drives. I deburred my pro shifted trans when it came out this last time. The dog teeth were showing definite signs of wear. Deburring wasn't difficult or time consuming tho. I suppose they "assume" that guys don't rebuild their own trannies, so it costs money... mine cost me nuthin' to deburr. Well, 4 quarts of fluid and a tube of Permatex Ultra Black... but anyway. Mine was also popping out of 3rd at the track (which is normal after some wear on the trans).

Looks like a neat concept.

 

The pro shifted modification is different than the face plate modification. Here is the info right off the Liberty website:

" FACE PLATING VS. PRO SHIFTING

Pro shifting and face plating serve the same basic purpose, a bigger window for engagement to prevent missed shifts. Neither are synchronized, so they make street driving difficult. Contrary to popular belief, YOU MUST YOU THE CLUTCH when shifting with either system. Although it is mechanically possible to shift without the clutch, the shock load of a clutchless shift can cause severe damage to the transmission. We do manufacture a clutchless transmission with a starting price of $7580.00.

Face plating is preferred over pro shifting, but it slightly more costly (initially) than pro shifting. In the long run you will find that face plating is more cost effective due to less wear on engagement components.

With pro shifting, as the pro rings wear from normal use, they burr up and require dressing, deburring and/or replacement to maintain smooth shifting.

With face plating, the engagement lugs are on the face of the slider and the lugs also have a much larger contact area, so in the unlikely event that they burr up, it will not affect shift action. Due to the design of the shift lugs they are more durable, so longevity is increased dramatically (about three to four times longer than a pro ring) and there is virtually no chance of popping out of gear making for a much more streetable set up."

Face plating should be very streetable and not have the popping out of gear issues that the pro shifted transmissions have.

Andrew

 

Does anyone else have any experience with this?

Andrew

 

Did they give you an idea on how much the parts alone cost? My pro-shifted parts cost about $275 or so for everything, with me supplying the sliders & gears.

Looks like something I'd try when my pro-shifted parts wear out, if they get a good review. I haven't seen anyone else trying it here yet...

 

I had mine faceplated last year. I got it back at the end of the season and put a couple hundred street mi.s on it. It was everything I expected it to be as far as street driving. When I got on it, it was the smothest trans I have ever shifted. It was perfect, went into gear everytime just the way it was made to. I cant say enough good stuff about it as far as a race trans. I tried it on the bottle and it worked great, just that my clutch started to slip in 4th so I couldnt get a full run out of it. Great trans and great people to deal with.

 

Awesome! I am really excited about getting the trans back and trying it out. I had a chance to see and shift the trans at the PRI show, but its not the same as in the car. I think the Micronite process really helps with the smooth shifting as well as freeing up some extra power to the wheels as a result of less friction.

Andrew

 

how do these two process's affect street driveability?
i need to get 4th gear serviced on my trans and liberty has done work on it in the past and there not to far from me so i would definatly be interested in some more strength since its gotta come apart anyways.

 

I had this done to my transmission. It's very notchy/clunky during normal driving, but WOT clutchless upshifts.......nasty. Very streetable though if you don't mind the noisey shifts.

 

There will definitely be cluncking in normal driving. This happens because when load is taken off the load side, it cluncks over to the next leg which holds it on the coast side. So as you are driving and move your foot on and off the gas, there will be cluncking. The faster you move the handle to shift, the less wear on the parts. For the record, Liberty does not recommend clutchless operation because of the significant increase in shock loads to the internal parts. However as blubird mentioned, it is possible to do, as long as you understand the potential consequences.

1999SS, if you look up a little bit, you will see the differences between pro-shifted and face plate gears. The Liberty website also has some more pictures that show the difference. The main advantage of face plating is that its almost impossible for th trans to pop out of gear. This can be a problem with pro-shifted transmission when you take load off the gears.


Andrew

 

I think a G force face plated trans would be the ultimate way to go big Hp id be a little worried about stock OE gears and imput/output...

 

a friend of mine is also getting a pro-shifted converterd to face plated. he said it was going to cost $800. I'll pass for now, but when my pro-shifted takes a dump, I'll convert over. I don't see how it is any more 'streetable' though. its still unsyncronized.

 

Its more streetable because it will not pop out of gear when coasting like a pro-shifted trans can.

Andrew

 

ok. mine doesn't do that anyway, but thanks for the clarification.

 

GatTagO,

Any updates? How's street driving?

 

I have the one in my car faceplated and mikronited. I honestly could not tell a difference in the mikronite but going from the proshifted to faceplating was a nice change. The only problem I had was the wait time. I build the units and had the whole setup on order for quite some time. Good luck and let us know how you like it.

Joe
T56Rebuilds.com

 

It is not that much more streetable as mine is difficult to drive even if you baby it. The more you drive it on the street the less time it will last of course. Talking to craig at liberty you have to go thru the proshifted every 50-75 passes. Mine broke just before 60 at the track and I was glad the faceplated was on its way for me to build. The faceplated trans might last a few miles more but you still have to maintain them more than any other synchronized unit.


Joe
T56Rebuilds.com

 

Still waiting for the trans to come back from Liberty. I talked to Paul on Friday and he promised it will be done this coming week. So with any luck, I will be able to to install it in a couple of week.

Andrew

 

I talked to Paul today and my trans will be shipping Monday. I am so excited!

Andrew

 

what is the average street life of a proshifted trans? i'm going with one for street/strip use and was just curious.