Budget 5 Speed

[wallyghs]

Just a shot in the dark here but does anyone make a conversion "kit" or at least have a list of parts and modifications necessary to bolt a T5, say from an 85-95 Mustang Gt to a 5.9LA in an '81 M-Body?
There are a few yards around here that have some pretty badly torn up GTs, but a couple may still be sporting their T5 and the good ole boys that own the yards don't seem to like money, so a complete $200 T5 with anything I need sounds like a good idea.

I don't mind destroying the trans hump, and driveshaft mods are no problem. Looking to go with a 'custom' hydraulic clutch linkage setup, so that shouldn't be too terribly difficult to fab. However, flywheel, input shaft, clutch, and bellhousings... any options available?

Thanks!

[pishta]

Seems a Lakewood bell could be made to accept any manual. It would just be up to you to get the matching clutch and make the input shaft the right length and the pilot diameter correct for the Mopar bushing.

[ehostler]

Modified Lakewood. MOPAR flywheel and pressure plate, FORD disc. The hydraulic setup can be had from a newer jeep.

[wallyghs]

Proper bellhousing?
http://store.summitracing.com/partde...od+bellhousing

What sort of modifications? Simple bolt hole modifications or...?

Does anyone know how long the input shaft needs to be, and is this something that a fairly reputable machine shop should be able to take care of? Will I need to replace the input shaft or have it machined to the proper length? Sorry to ask so many questions, but this winter I will finally get this thing on the road!

[webslinger60]

Originally Posted by wallyghs

does anyone make a conversion "kit" or a list of parts necessary to bolt a T5, say from an 85-95 Mustang Gt to a 5.9LA in an '81 M-Body? Thanks!

You've probably heard of the Keisler company that makes 5-speeds for Mopars? Their trans is basically the Tremec/Tko design. So I'd imagine their
flywheel & bellhousing, might work better that trying to fab it yourself. And those parts were availavle separately, last time I checked.

Being they get $1800-$2200 for just the trans, but JY Stang 5-speeds are only a few hundred, Im suprised though we havent heard of anyone trying this yet.

[wallyghs]

From the reading I've been doing, the reason Stang 5-speeds aren't too common behind mopars is the low torque handling capacity of the non-"World Class" T5 used buy Ford. 275 and 300 lb ft ratings for most of the transmissions leads me to believe they're rather weak. This engine will develop quite a bit more torque than that, however due to the buzzbox nature of the motor, I'm hoping the T5 holds.
I was looking for something a.. little... bit cheaper than the Keisler setup as those babies are expensive! I'd really like to put under 750 in the entire transmission project, however that's not looking like it's gonna be possible.
If/When I get this completed, I'll let y'all know how it goes. Thanks for the help.

Oh, and any ideas on that input shaft? Is it at least going to be long enough so I can have it machined down? What's the stock input shaft length for an a844 O/D and how deep is the bellhousing?

[daveashsr]

hi we are using a mustang t-5 in our circle track car !
we redrilled a lakewood bellhousing to fit it ! use a ford clutch disk and an adjustable ball pivot for the clutch arm ! u will probally have to machine the front brg retainer on the trans to fit the lakewood hole ( we did) and use a external hyd clutch slave and master cyl ! biggest prob was a piolot bushing !! we ended up paying a machine shop to make a bushing to fit the crank and the stock t-5 roller bushing and had it made 1/4 thicker than the crank hub just to make sure it was long enough ! so far no problems ! been racing it for 2 yrs behind a decent motor !! have had a few clutch disk prob but were caused by using reman crap new seems to hold up just fine !
david

[wallyghs]

Excellent response! Glad to hear I'm not the only one crazy enough to do this. What sort of #s is your circle track car pushing and what's the weight?

Sounds like I should just take the engine, bellhousing, and tranny to a machine shop and say "make it fit"

[daveashsr]

hi the car weighs 3200 lbs not sure on the hp !! its a 360 flat top motor with mag heads with a 4412 holley 500 lift cam !! strong eng as quick as any of the chevy 350 guys !!
its not to hard to do ! we turned the trans brg retaner on a brake lathe and it centered the trans just fine then we just redrilled the bellhousing and welded nuts inside !! again the biggest prob was the piolot bushing !! that cost me 100$ for the machine shop to make 1 !! i brought them a crank and ford bushing and they made ne 1 ! outherwise pretty easy !! we only use 3 gears in the tranny ! 2-4th ! took 5th and 1 out !
good luck
david

[cageman]

I am using a t5 out of an S10, I heard that the mustang t5 just needs a hole drilled out and it would have a chevy pattern but I have not verified that. I have ordered a Lakewood bell housing but it is not here yet so I have to wait to bolt it all up.
100 dollars to drill some bushing material and press it in, seems kind of high to me, but I havent done it yet.

[Greg55_99]

Does instaling the T5 require cutting up the floor and transmission bracket?

Greg

[wallyghs]

It will require a custom crossmember from what I can tell (this is without having a T5 in my posession), and looks like there will be some transmission hump modifications (specifically for the shifter)... I'm not sure about other clearances, though the 5 speed is longer so I assume modifications will be necessary.

[dkn1997]

go to mo parts and search for a member named "ozhemi" he has a t5 behind a hemi/six. I don't think he had too much trouble installing it.

[Greg55_99]

If "budget" means "cheap" then I guess there's ways of dropping in a 5-speed. Either way, I guess there's going to be some cutting and fabricating on the floor pan.

Cheap: Use 93-00 2WD Dakota 3.9L AX15 transimssion, bellhousing and hydraulic clutch set up. It will bolt up to the 5.9L sure enough. Just drive the car normally and don't do clutch dropping burn outs.

Less Cheap: Same bellhousing and clutch set up as above but use a 2WD Jeep\Dakota NV3550 5-speed. This gearbox is a bit stronger than the AX15 (which it replaced)

Less Cheap 2: Same as above but use 1996 and later 2WD V6 Toyota Tacoma or Tundra R150 5-speed. (Requires custom clutch disk from Advance Adapters)

Even less cheap (but not much): Same bellhousing and clutch set up as above also but use 88-92 Toyota Supra Turbo R154 5-speed transmission (better gear ratio's than truck trannies). Requires a custom clutch disk (available from Advance Adapters) and pilot bearing (also available from Advance Adapters).

Either tranny is on par with the T5. Just don't need a special bellhousing. None of them are equal to the Keisler Tremec set up.

Greg

[Greg55_99]

3.9L V6 bell works fine with the small block.... $50 special...

Greg

PS Heres the T5 swap link:

http://p206.ezboard.com/fmoparmarket...picID=94.topic

[coupe32]

I adapted a 1994 Mustang T5 to my 340 engine. I have most of the notes out in the garage. I used the stock bellhousing and had an adapter plate machined to bolt to the bellhousing to accomodate the T5"s bolt pattern and also machined the center hole larger for the T5's bearing retainer. This adapter plate cost me about $140.00. I used the stock Ford 10.4" 10 spline 5.0 clutch disc but I had to use a chevy 10.5 " heavy duty diapragm pressure plate for clearance reasons and not the stock chrysler 3 finger pressure plate. I had a pilot bushing machined to fit the stock 10.5 " chrysler flywheel to fit the T5's input shaft. The pilot bushing was machined using oilite to fit the larger opening just behind the stock pilot bushing location in the mopar flywheel. I used a stock Ford 28 spline transmission driveshaft Yoke to fit the rear of the T5 transmision. I used the stock mopar clutch fork but the big block mopar throwout bearing that fits over the T5' retainer bearing shaft. This throwout bearing fits over the T5's bearing retainer shaft perfectly. I use a hydraulic clutch system with a slave unit. After many hours of trial and error, this all came together and works great. Since I did this I have upgraded to a Tremec TKO transmission and had to change some components such as the clutch disc had to be changed and another adapter plate made to bolt the tranny to the mopar bellhousing. I also got a pilot bearing instead of using the oillite pilot bushing. I still have two of these pilot bushings I had made of oillite. I used the same Hydraulic clutch assembly. I got the Tremec TKO from Keisler's. Speedometer cable came from Mike Forte. I used the B&M Ripper shifter on the T5. This 340 5 speed is in my 32 Chevy coupe. Just thought I would pass this info along. Coupe32

[bart]

I did this swap like 8 months ago. Do a search for "t-5". Have fun. There's a lot of good info here on your post. A lot of people chimed in. Wish I had some of this info when I was doing mine. I did all my measuring myself. 3 months of strict research based on diagrams, posts, and a lot of questions. Take your time, organize everything you want and need.

http://www.moparchat.com/forums/show...&highlight=t-5

[rumblefish360]

BART! I'll have to catch up on that thread. In a nut shell, before I read it, did it work out?

[bart]

In a nutshell, Yes. There are cheaper ways of doing it. Starting from a Ford standpoint I knew it could be done. Knowing Mopar specs and dimensions will help you. Good luck fellas.