i put a t-5 in my 46 1/2 ton and a s-10 rear also, I used a clutch setup for a 74 chevy vega but used my original flywheel,i used an adapter from transmissionadapters.com and cut my retainer 3/4 just like you did, mines been up and running just about a year now and cruises on I-95 at 65 with no problems...did I mention my truck still has the original 216 in it? check out my pics
http://s629.photobucket.com/user/kurtdh519/library/
