The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline T5 Saga Continues

This post deals with swapping a WC T5 for a NWC T5 in my otherwise stock 4.57 geared 1951 3600.

I documented my T5 conversion here; https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/1149777/My_T5_conversion.html#Post1149777

Due to my mild case of OCD I haven't been happy with the whine from the 1352-146 transmission I used in my 5 speed upgrade. A new input shaft and bearing helped and I'm sure the tranny would likely run forever but I'm trying to make my stockish truck as quite a daily driver as possible.

So, in the past week I've picked up two additional T5s, a 1352-193 and a WC 1352-222 out of a 93 S10. Last evening I cleaned and pulled the top/tailshaft off the 222 unit. HAPPY to find it had not been opened up since leaving the factory in 93. Still had red thread locker on the bolts and the sparse Ford black sealant in place. No odd stuff in the case, only a small coating on the magnet.

So now it's pull the 146 unit from the truck, swap the speedometer drive gear for the electric speedometer reluctor, mod the input shaft and bearing collar and try it out.

Without having the NWC 146 next to the WC 222 it hard to tell, but my only concern is the much larger 5th gear bulge in the WC 222 tailshaft. Makes me wonder how the NWC tailshaft will fit.

All the above has been done and documented so hopefully it's just a swap out parts deal...Time will tell.

RR

Well, after checking under the 51, it appears my concerns on the 5th gear tailshaft bulge were unfounded. The mechanical speedo NWC and electric speedo tailshafts appear to be the same (speedometer gear difference of course).

To (hopefully) close out my T5 conversion saga. I just returned from a test drive with the rebuilt pressure plate and a new to me, 1352-222 World Class T5 from a 1993 v6 S10. It has a 3.97 1st with a .72 5th.

It works GREAT. No noise and the ratios appear to be pretty much perfect for my 4.57 geared 3600. I did swap the mechanical speedometer tailshaft from my other T5 (1352-146) and had to use the aluminum HVAC tape on the tailshaft trick to fit the speedometer drive gear (as Lugnutz documented) That also seems to be working as it should.

So, to anyone who's considering this conversion....my advise is Do-It. The sooner ya get started the sooner you'll be grinning and wondering what took so long.

In closing, I may be a bit overenthusiastic since I wanted to retain the stock 4.57 gears due to my plans to work the old truck a bit, hauling firewood and hay. If someone just wanted a highway friendly truck then a rear end upgrade is obviously a good option.

I've also now got a T5 for sale, as mentioned it's a 1352-146 from a 1985 S10 V6. It now has an electric speedo tailshaft and it does whine. I don't know how long it'd last but it shifts and runs down the road fine, just too loud for my OCD'ness. If I had a bearing press I'd likely have done a rebuild but took a chance on another junk yard unit and got lucky.

Good Luck, Ron