Faceplated on the street?????

[Stopsign32v]

What do you guys think? How is it? Thinking about throwing one in the daily driver but wanna make sure its not gonna be too much. Any tips are welcome!

[cocomojak]

An Astro A-5 gearset will last way longer.And I mean WAY longer.

[Stopsign32v]

I already have a Liberty FP TKO500.

[cocomojak]

Sounds like your committed then.Let us Know.

[Blackfive0]

I have one in my street car. Have gears 2,3,and 4 done. It is not bad at all. Drive it everywhere but work.

When you are just driving on the steet if you let the rpms drop about 1000 rpms going from one gear to the next it slides it with out making a sound.

[Stopsign32v]

Niiiiice! I gotta teach the wife how to drive it too. Shes good at driving manuals though so I think she will catch on easy.

[rkloehn]

Originally Posted by Blackfive0

I have one in my street car. Have gears 2,3,and 4 done. It is not bad at all. Drive it everywhere but work.

When you are just driving on the steet if you let the rpms drop about 1000 rpms going from one gear to the next it slides it with out making a sound.

How is down shifting? Thats where i heard its a pain

[Stopsign32v]

What about downshifting? I heard double clutching helps.

[Boosted mustang]

Originally Posted by Stopsign32v

What about downshifting? I heard double clutching helps.

Ive found the faster you can shift while downshifting the smoother it is. Thats just me though I have not had a fp tranny for to long so I am learning also. Theres deff a learning curve.

[flyin2jz]

I cant downshift my gforce without it grinding badly. Ive tried double clutching and letting the rpms go down, reving it up and nothing lets it downshift without grinding and clunking. I dont drive my car anywhere close to the amount i drove it before the gforce. Heck it even grinds a bit going into gear and clunks without grinding if i get lucky. Its complete butter when its on the floor but thats the only time. Just telling you how mine is. Maybe yours will be better. I feel like it could break at any time when i down shift. I go into a corner in 4th then slow way down to about 15mph and then slam it into second. Luckily the 4.56 gears helps a little on slow speed driving.

[Stopsign32v]

If I don't like it I'll just take it back out and put the stock trans back in.

[Stephen Johnson]

Originally Posted by Stopsign32v

If I don't like it I'll just take it back out and put the stock trans back in.

faceplated daily driver here!! They clunk a lil when driving on the street. People look over at me when they hear it clunk...but i love my trans, I have never missed a gear with it..I have had it 6yrs. Downshifting it a lil tricky, but I have mine to a science where it doesnt clunk as bad... Like the guy above said, get it down to 15mph and you can knock her on down...

[Blackfive0]

Downshifting is a little tricky. What I found works best is to try and rev match it and just slam it in gear. Trying to be nice about it will get you no where but some really loud clunking.

[Stopsign32v]

I've been clutchless shifting the past couple days... Is that anything like FP trans?

[Doc's Notch]

Originally Posted by Stopsign32v

I've been clutchless shifting the past couple days... Is that anything like FP trans?

yes and no, a faceplated trans is not forgiving if the RPM's arent right. if you pull it into gear, its going, and if you are way off it will make a big bang lol.

Im decent at driving mine, i still clunk it here and there but i wouldnt have it any other way. Not sure if id want it in a daily driver, but then again, i wouldnt want to drive the car daily in general. Last year i drove the car to work probably 3 or 4 days in a row, and it was a 45 minute drive each way with about 20 minutes of stop n go traffic and it wasnt unbearable

[Stopsign32v]

Originally Posted by Doc's Notch

yes and no, a faceplated trans is not forgiving if the RPM's arent right. if you pull it into gear, its going, and if you are way off it will make a big bang lol.

Im decent at driving mine, i still clunk it here and there but i wouldnt have it any other way. Not sure if id want it in a daily driver, but then again, i wouldnt want to drive the car daily in general. Last year i drove the car to work probably 3 or 4 days in a row, and it was a 45 minute drive each way with about 20 minutes of stop n go traffic and it wasnt unbearable

Uh oh....


btw one thing I find hard is with the Mach 1 clutchless shifting it's hard to keep up with traffic because going at a normal pace the rpms don't fall fast enough. So I'm sitting there a couple seconds waiting on the rpm to fall. Wonder how much difference a 12lb flywheel will make.

My drive to work is about 30 minutes with about 8 traffic lights. Not heavy heavy traffic but I don't want to make this car to where it is not fun to drive on the street.

[Doc's Notch]

Originally Posted by Stopsign32v

Uh oh....


btw one thing I find hard is with the Mach 1 clutchless shifting it's hard to keep up with traffic because going at a normal pace the rpms don't fall fast enough. So I'm sitting there a couple seconds waiting on the rpm to fall. Wonder how much difference a 12lb flywheel will make.

My drive to work is about 30 minutes with about 8 traffic lights. Not heavy heavy traffic but I don't want to make this car to where it is not fun to drive on the street.

My drive was about 15 traffic lights, and 12-15 miles on the highway.

Dont get me wrong, faceplatting is probably the best thing ive done to my car, powershifting it rules, but its no question that its more effort under normal driving conditions.

Dont let me discourage you, if you have the trans sitting there put it in the car and see how it goes, worst thing that happens is you dont like it and put the old trans back in.

I also used to have an aluminum flywheel and the car was a little more tricky to drive with that vs the steel one i have now. The car would drop the RPM's too fast. I think the steal one is a happy medium. Also another trick to cheat your way out of double clutching is to pull the car out of gear, let the rpms drop a little, then kick the clutch in and shift the trans into the next gear.

[Stopsign32v]

I just watched videos of faceplated setups on youtube. (T56s though) And they are shifting normal, only thing you hear is a clunk. Doesn't seem that bad...????

Liberty Faceplated T56- LS1 Street Drive - YouTube

Liberty Faceplated T56- LS1 Street Drive - YouTube

Street Driving w/Faceplated T56 Heads/Cam Trans Am - YouTube

Street Driving w/Faceplated T56 Heads/Cam Trans Am - YouTube

[BadAss88GT]

Originally Posted by cocomojak

An Astro A-5 gearset will last way longer.And I mean WAY longer.

Speaking from experience? Facts to back up the statement?

OP needs to do a search, this has been brought up many times. Do a search for my videos of a faceplated daily driver.

[BadAss88GT]

Originally Posted by Stopsign32v

I just watched videos of faceplated setups on youtube. (T56s though) And they are shifting normal, only thing you hear is a clunk. Doesn't seem that bad...????

Liberty Faceplated T56- LS1 Street Drive - YouTube

Street Driving w/Faceplated T56 Heads/Cam Trans Am - YouTube

I'm posting on my phone here so I don't have links handy but I have posted my videos a few times, same thing. Normal driving, slight clunk. No rev matching, no doubleclutching, nothing. Stephen Johnson has one in his car as well, he can back up everything I said.

[Stopsign32v]

Isn't there a 7 tooth and 9 tooth version?

[BadAss88GT]

Not that I am aware of, as far as GForce goes anyway, though mine has been in my car for a bunch of years. Maybe they have come out with different ones since?

[BadAss88GT]

Here's the vids...To the original poster, I drive my faceplate trans everyday that its not winter time. Every day, rain or shine, Ive taken it on 3 hour road trips many times, and I made a couple of videos to show how there's really nothing to driving one on the street. These vids are just to show how easy it is to downshift through the gears, normally I just put it in neutral and roll up to a stop sign or red light, I dont usually go backwards through the gears.

[cocomojak]

Fact is Badass 88,I have a Wally sitting in my living room.Been in 3 wally final rounds in the last 2 years.With an Astro.And experiance?I surly hope so.331 I was just trying to give sound advice,but I see you are commited,and true to my heart,Hope that you love your XMSN.I have done the faceplated thing.

[BadAss88GT]

While I don't doubt your racing accomplishments, and I have always wanted a Wally of my own, I still don't see what winning a race has to do with the longevity and strength of the gearsets. When comparing the two, a helical cut A5 **should** not be as strong as a straight cut faceplate gear simply due to the design of the gears. Straight teeth will be stronger than angled teeth. For one to say the A5 will last longer, WAY longer is just absurd.

[Stopsign32v]

A TKO will be juuuuust fine for me. I'm making a whopping 308rwhp now. Might add some juice later but nothing crazy. 88GT I'll check out the vids tonight! I'm at work now. So you think I should go for it even though its my daily driver?

[BadAss88GT]

How high do you shift? If you shift below 6500 then I would absolutely NOT recommend a dogring trans. It really has nothing to do with horsepower, it has to do with RPM. Faceplating doesn't make it stronger. I only speak of T5 transmissions, TKO guys have had issues shifting so maybe it is something you would want at lower RPM, have to ask them.

[Stopsign32v]

Originally Posted by BadAss88GT

How high do you shift? If you shift below 6500 then I would absolutely NOT recommend a dogring trans. It really has nothing to do with horsepower, it has to do with RPM. Faceplating doesn't make it stronger. I only speak of T5 transmissions, TKO guys have had issues shifting so maybe it is something you would want at lower RPM, have to ask them.

Will be powershifting and above 7,000rpms.

[BadAss88GT]

Where did you make peak power at?

[Stopsign32v]

New combination going together. This isn't a 331 pushrod its a DOHC 4v N/A motor with 4.56 gears.

[FordFreak300]

My faceplated tko 500 sounds about like all the videos posted in this thread. I drive it on the street but I don't daily drive it. I can say while I did have a GeForce trans for a long time, once I added some power to the car (combo in sig) the case cracked and the trans blew at the track. It wasn't any easier to drive on the street.

[Stopsign32v]

Originally Posted by FordFreak300

My faceplated tko 500 sounds about like all the videos posted in this thread.

So you would say easy shifting around 2,000-2,500 it's just a "clunk" and not a "BAM!"? I would imagine the higher in the RPM you go the more violent it makes it.

From the videos I posted it actually looks smooth and easy to shift with just a "clunk". My 3650 now isn't that easy to shift even while cruising. Notchy as hell.

[flyin2jz]

There is more than clunking in mine. Mine literally grinds from time to time when i downshift, a clunk is not what i get. It clunks going into gear but not downshifting. I wonder what could be causing mine to grind verses what the guys in the videos get. If i got just a clunk i would have no issue at all with driving it. I have to get it down really slow to get it to go in gear. My bigger issue is that it idles at 1600 rpms to get it to not rattle the teeth out of my head. Maybe thats part of the issue. not sure. Any input would be appreciated

[Stopsign32v]

Originally Posted by flyin2jz

There is more than clunking in mine. Mine literally grinds from time to time when i downshift, a clunk is not what i get. It clunks going into gear but not downshifting. I wonder what could be causing mine to grind verses what the guys in the videos get. If i got just a clunk i would have no issue at all with driving it. I have to get it down really slow to get it to go in gear. My bigger issue is that it idles at 1600 rpms to get it to not rattle the teeth out of my head. Maybe thats part of the issue. not sure. Any input would be appreciated

That sucks man. Why haven't you had Liberty on the phone? They have been great help for me! A+ customer service so far.

[FordFreak300]

Originally Posted by flyin2jz

There is more than clunking in mine. Mine literally grinds from time to time when i downshift, a clunk is not what i get. It clunks going into gear but not downshifting. I wonder what could be causing mine to grind verses what the guys in the videos get. If i got just a clunk i would have no issue at all with driving it. I have to get it down really slow to get it to go in gear. My bigger issue is that it idles at 1600 rpms to get it to not rattle the teeth out of my head. Maybe thats part of the issue. not sure. Any input would be appreciated

Bring the RPMs up after you put the clutch in before you down shift. You cant try to put it into gear slow, you have move it in fast.


Stopsign the clunk is a little louder than the videos let on. You get used to it though. As you get used to hitting the gears just right the clunk is softer sounding. I wish I had a go-pro, I am about to go drive mine right now.