The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline One more T5 question

I am considering this swap into my 50 3600. I have read thru all the posts on this site and others I could find and am convinced this is a good option for me. The question I have is about the positioning of the shifter. I understand that the S10 tail housing has the shifter location most desired for my truck( thanks lugntz for all the great information you have posted). What I would like to know is this, does that shifter location bring the shifter up thru the same location as the original or does the opening in the trans cover need to be relocated/enlarged?
If I missed this detail in someones post I apologize, so much information, so little time

Mine comes up through the floor eight inches in front of the seat riser. Mine was a three speed so I can't tell you for sure, but I bet that's four or five inches back from the stock four speed spot.

From my reading, I think the shifter will be closer to the seat than the factory shifter position.

Any T5, (S10 or Camaro V6 or V8) can be made to bolt directly to your bell housing as long the T5 has a Muncie pattern. The [size:11pt]front of the S10 T5 shifter box[/size] is 9.5" behind the rear face of the bell. The actual S10 shift handle sits at about 11.75". If you go with an adapter plate, then add the additional plate thickness to both of those figures.

[size:11pt]This chart gives dimensions.[/size] Make sure you read the row for S10 and not S10 4X4.

[size:11pt]This Diagram has dimensions too.[/size]
Interestingly, the chart does not match the diagram - but who's gonna argue about a 1/4", right?

The [size:11pt]floor shifter hole[/size] will be roughly 4.25 long and 3.75" wide.

I recommend that you crawl under your truck and measure your current setup.

The shifter comes through the floor quite a bit back from the original 4 speed hole.
I like to use a 3 speed floor pan so it is flat and then drill for the T5 shifter.

I never have cut that big of hole on a 1948-54 PU. I use a 2 1/2" hole saw. Only the T5 rubber boot sticks through the hole, the shift cover is well below the floor.

My floor shifter hole was probably 1.5 X 1.5. Guess it depends on how close the trans set to the floor.

I debated making a smaller hole. However, I need to be able to add tranny fluid through the shifter box instead of the fill hole on the side of the case. The fill hole on the side of a Camaro T5 case (what I have) is drilled lower than the S10 fill hole. It is made that way by design since the Camaro application has the case rotated about 17 degrees towards the driver.

In my truck application, the T5 is no longer rotated. Therefore, filling the case until it drips out the fill hole will result in UNDERFILLING. So, in order to add 5.9 pints through the shifter hole, I need to be able to remove the shifter base plate.

Now that I think about it a little more, I guess I could just park my truck sideways on a 17 degree hill and check the fluid level using the fill hole. Oh Boy! That's just GREAT! Where am I gonna find a 17 degree hill?

For an S10 case, the hole could be much smaller. Simply add fluid and check levels using the case bolts like normal.

A floor jack?

Yes, I will use a floor jack and an inclinometer on my iPhone to find 17 degrees. I was just poking fun when I mentioned the hill.
I still want access to my shifter box bolts, so I'm still glad I cut the floor hole the way I did.

Thanks everyone for the information. Lugnutz, thanks again for finding and sharing all that great information about the T5 with us.