Transmission and Frame Rails Last Update: June 22, 2009 2:58 PM

Don't buy a CTS-V trans! It is very different from the f-body (camaro, firbird, trans am) and the GTO one. It was easier to buy a f-body one than replace the needed parts to make it compatible. This includes clutch/pp/flywheel/bh.

Instead of removing the entire carpet, I just put some 2x4's on end to raise the carpet enough so the drill doesn't hit it.

I was kinda disappointed that two of the frame rail holes were poorly positioned. One interfered with the crossmember support (seen below) and the next set interfered with the seat mount (2nd photo below). I see no reason why these holes could not be relocated to prevent the interference.

Here is the CTS-V trans. It has a completely different tail shaft housing, semi-remote shifter and 3-bolt yoke. The gearing is also taller and the bellhousing is slightly different.

The f-body trans needs a LS1 Pilot Bushing vs the LS6 Pilot Bearing which is for a shorter input spline. Below you can see the large LS6 Bearing and the removal process. Simply borrow Autozone's "Blind Hole Puller" to remove the old bearing.

Below is the new LS1 pilot bearing installed, you can see its smaller and sits in the smaller hole vs the larger one for the LS6 one.

I had to use the LS6 CTS-V bellhousing since the pressure plate contacted the LS1 bellhousing. They both bolt up but the LS1 one tapers down more aggressively. Some people grind the offending areas of the LS1 BH but I opted to just use the LS6 BH. The LS6 one is about 1/4 inch longer. LS6 BH is on the right.

Trans is sitting a little the right since the bolts aren't all tightened down.

I swapped in a LS7 clutch setup since the CTS-V one would not work with the f-body trans.

You have to lower the k-member/engine to get access to the bellhousing bolts so you can replace the clutch.