i believe so
i have a hybrid
see inliners international
http://www.inliners.org/ tech section .. T5 page
or ask a tranny guy
The T5 page - by Jack Halton and John Martin
These pages are an attempt to provide information on the popular Borg Warner T5 transmissions. We'll add information as we get it. Please let us know (E-mail webmaster) if you notice any mistakes as this is very much a work in progress!
These gearboxes are getting a lot of attention and interest because
A) They all include an overdrive 5th gear
B) They use the standard GM bell housing bolt pattern.
The first feature means that the T5 can provide a solution for the miserable 3.90 and 4.11 gearing used on most early GM pickups. T5's come in two different bell housing bolt patterns - GM and Ford. The Ford pattern was also used on AMC and Nissan. Many internal parts are interchangeable, but there are two basic "grades" of T5 : World Class (WC) and Non World Class (NWC). WC is a later version with many upgrades for smoother operation and improved reliability.
There are several T5 applications to consider. Those used in the GM S-10 pickups from 1983 to 1987 are good candidates, but do require some modification to work with the earlier clutch and flywheel packages. For an excellent report on the details of this swap, see Grant Galbraith's article at Stovebolt.com. Also check out Robert French's Solution using the Vega clutch hub.
Here is some information you can use to identify which S10 T5 is right for your truck. These entries were taken from a variety of sources. Some were superceded by later numbers. The 4X4 variants are highlighted in green as they can be easily identified by the transfer case instead of the tailshaft, although internal parts of the tranny are the same.
The BW model number can usually be found on a bar code tag somewhere on the main body of the transmission.
These are all NWC transmissions.
BW Model
Original application
Engine
1st gear
2nd gear
3rd Gear
4th gear
5th gear
lots of detail missing so look at inliners page So, which tranny is right for you? That depends. The major differences are in the ratio spacing and first/OD ratios. The original truck 3-speed had a 1st gear ratio of around 3:1 and the 4-speeds (Granny gear) were about 7:1. So if you are replacing a 4-speed, ANYTHING would be an improvement. Some users have reported that the 4.03 1st gear models are too low for normal street use with a 235. If you haul a heavy load or do any towing, you may need the 4.03 1st. But tire size matters too. Most of the S10 trucks used relatively small tires, so changing to a taller (larger diameter) tire will offset this somewhat. A taller tire will result in a higher (lower numerically) effective ratio in all 5 forward speeds. The lower 5th speed ratios will give you higher, quieter top gear cruising speed due to lower engine RPM.
Another T5 option is the Camaro / Firebird "F-body" transmissions. These are desirable for the better ratio spacing, higher first gear and ease of adapting to the early bell housing and clutch, but the shifter location is all wrong for an old pickup. Click on the link below for more info on the F-body T5.
CAMARO T5 Hybrid The T-5 Tranny - The easy wayHere's how I put together a T5 transmission for my '51 GMC with no machine work and no worries about clutch disc / spline matching. I started with a '84 F-body (Camaro / Firebird) 5-speed. Later versions had electronic speedometer drive, which can be used but require a $300 adapter to work with a mechanical speedometer. The tranny I used was probably for a car equipped with a V6. It has the following ratios:
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
2.95 1.94 1.34 1.00 .73
These ratios are very nice for street use with a rear axle ratio of 3.90 or 4.11. They are an improvement on the S10 version of the T5, some of which had a 4.03 first gear and .85 overdrive in fifth gear. F-body cars with the above ratios came with a 3.45 rear axle. There is another version for 305 V8 engine cars which has the same ratios except for a .63 5th gear. The V8's used a 3.08 rear.
This T5 has an input shaft and bellhousing bolt pattern which are correct for any early truck (mine is a '51 GMC). The only difference is that the holes to mount the trans to the bellhousing need to be enlaged to 1/2" . The input shaft has 26 splines which is a common count for most any late GM clutch disc. So far so good. The major problem is location of the shifter. F-body cars all have bucket seats and the shifter is located at the rear of the tailshaft housing. If your old truck has bucket seats, it will probably work as is, but I like to use that space for miscellaneous junk in a little console with a cupholder. Sooo...
I was fortunate to find an S10 T5 that was sold as "parts only". On teardown, it had bad synchros and pieces of metal throughout, so it was truly good for parts only. The part I was after was the tailshaft housing. The S10 has a shifter location suited for a truck - about in the center of the floor. And T5's being designed for maximum parts interchange, the tailshaft housings are interchangeable. This can be done with NO disassembly other than removing the tailshafts and side cover/shift fork/rail assemblies - you don't have to get into the transmission itself. So - voila! Swap the tailshaft housings and other parts mentioned and we're good to go!
Photo 1
Pictured above are the side covers, shift forks, and shifter rail from the Camaro (L) and S10 transmissions. These have to be swapped along with the tailshaft housings. Use the shift forks that show the least wear.
photo 2
Whoops....major problem here. The speedometer drive gear is in a different location. On the S10 trans, it's a bit forward of the shifter housing. On the Camaro trans it's well forward. I've heard that some mainshafts had both locations machined, but on mine, no such luck. So, it's gotta move if I want to use the speedometer. "Gee officer, I really don't know how fast I was going - you see, I just put two transmissions together and now my speedometer don't work"....Yeah, right!
photo 4
So here's what I did. Notice the shiny spot in the picture above? that's where the speedo gear was in the Camaro tranny. There is a little hole drilled in that area, for the retaining clip that holds the gear in place. I carefully measured the S10 shaft for the location of that hole and drilled one the same size, in the Camaro shaft. What's not apparent in the picture is that the shiny area is actually a slightly larger diameter than the rest of the shaft. When you slide the gear over this area, its a fairly tight fit and the little retaining clip is held tightly in place. I my case the difference in diameter was .055". So I made a shim out of .026" stock (remember you have to split the difference) which wraps around the shaft to make it the proper diameter. It doesn't go all the way around, just enough to make the gear a tight fit. I epoxied this shim onto the shaft (using a couple of hose clamps to hold it in place overnight) and tapped the gear and clip into place.
Some background on the T5...originally produced by Borg Warner Gear Division, all T5's are now known as "Tremec" and are manufactured by Transmission Technologies Corp. An excellent repair / disassembly manual is available for the T5 at minimal cost by calling (800) 401-9866. Here is a page from that manual:
Not shown in the above diagram is the side cover and shift fork assembly (photo 1). You will have to use the entire thing from the S10 box, because the shifter shaft (23) must be the correct length for the S10 tailhousing.
Here's an "Aw, S**t !" to avoid. Removal of the tailshaft extension requires driving a roll pin out of the shifter shaft, into the offset lever (14 on diagram). There is a drilled passageway there to hold it. As soon as you get the tailshaft off, drive this pin all the way out and put it aside where it won't get lost. It's all to easy to re-install the offset lever with the pin still in there...and you won't realize it's there until you try to drive in a new one. Of course, this will be AFTER you have re-installed the tail housing with gasket cement, torqued the bolts, etc, at which point you must remove everything and do it all over again.
Jack Halton / Inliners International May 2001
