The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop Tranny swap's begun - UPDATE, It drives!

Well after months of research and months trying to find a T5, the SM420 4 spd to T5 5 spd has begun.
Yesterday, I pulled the bench seat out and took the tranny floor cover out. This morning I disconnected the driveshaft and then my buddy came over with his cherry picker.
Man o man! I can't believe I went thru so much trouble when I changed the clutch back in February. We had the truck on a lift and pulled the tranny out the bottom. We even went to the trouble of pulling the bellhousing.
This time, we wrapped the chain around it, took out the mount bolts and eased it out thru the cab with engine hoist. Then with a little fanagling, got the pressure plate and clutch out from between the crossmember and flywheel. That was 10 times easier than 8 months ago!
Much to my surprise, the input shafts and bearing retainers are virtually identical (aside from 10 spline vs. 26 spline). I had to shave only about 1/16" off the T5 input shaft to match the SM420. And of course I used a 1/2" drill bit for the metric mount holes.
I woulda had it mounted except the clutch disc I was expecting to come in the mail didn't show up. :mad:
Tomorrow, I'm off to the boneyard for a yoke and driveshaft.
-David
Kustoms-and-Sleds

What T-5 did you use as I am looking for one to put in my 37.

I was primarily looking for an S10 T5 'cause of the shifter location but, I decided whatever came along first in my price range.
I lucked out when there was a "local pickup only" auction on ebay. It stated it was from a '91 IROC V8 Camaro. I emailed and the guy said it was a mechanical speedo so I gave it a shot. Turns out it's a World Class T5 from '89 V8 Camaro. It's a 2.95 1st gear and .63 OD. The input is 26 spline and a Camaro or Corvette clutch disc can be used. They're available in 10, 10.4, 10.5 and 11".
Output shaft is 27 spline.
I decided rather than swap tail housings, I'm just gonna modify my bench seat. It took me long enough to find this tranny. I don't wanna wait another 3 months to find a tail housing!

Are T-5's really that hard to find in the states? I have bought two S-10 T-5's with mechanical speedos and one with an electronic speedo in the last year. (The electronic one was for an quick repair - needed a trans right away, didn't care if I had a speedo for my S-10 for a while)

I never paid more than $150 canadian for a trans (about $120.00 US), and two even had garauntees.

I don't know. Maybe it's just my area. I kept hitting the boneyards for an S10 T5 but, it was always auto or 4spds I came across. I looked everywhere and got nowhere fast. I'm glad now 'cause I got the World Class with an even better OD.
There were 2 camaros with T5's yesterday at the boneyard when I was looking for driveshaft and yoke.
Probably a couple months from now, I'll go to the boneyard and there will be about 8 S10's with perfectly good T5's.
It's always after you've finally found what you're looking for that they start coming out of the woodwork!

MUGSY!!!!! I must have pix of this setup and detail I must I must . I am planning on doing this over the winter since I haven't driven my truck in a long while(Yah shame on me)I am gonna replace the tailshaft on mine when I do it so that I can still use the bench seat.But I want to see how it goes on your install, I also wanted to know if I should go to the junkyard and pull of the tall transmission hump on the floor to clear the tranny? I as of now have a sm-465 tranny and it needed a high tranny hump but its a fiberglass one. Oh and I have a 65' longbed with the 292. So could you please post pix of your truck and setup and email them to [email protected] Thanks

Tell ya what BIGGY, I've posted a couple files on my Yayhoo! Groups page with pics and narrative. To be able to view the "Files" however, you've gotta join the group. Kustoms-and-Sleds
The rain has been hindering my progress but, tomorrow I'll be taking off my tailshaft housing to check the speedometer drive gear (how many teeth) and pulling the top cover off to have a gander inside. I gave it a go the other day but, I didn't take the shift gate out so couldn't get it apart. If all's good, then I'll seal it back up and begin install Saturday morning. And I'll be taking pics and writing about it for my group.
-David

COOL! I have joined up already stovebolt65 is mah name. Really lookin forward to seeing how it goes.

I'd like to know what you're going to do about the bench seat and shifter. I have the exact same T-5, and it's going to go in my '68 C-10. The main hold up has been time, and the custom linkage for the shifter. I want to keep my bench seat, but I don't want to search for a S-10 tailshaft. I'll try and join that group when I get a chance. Thanks. John

[email protected]

Well, I'd like to think I'm a fairly handy fella and can do almost anything so, instead of the seat going straight across, it'll have a dip in it. A home for the shifter. I'm still gonna have to modify the shifter as well 'cause 4th and reverse are angled back too much.
I'm going to mount it this morning and then put the seat back in to see how much I've gotta cut out.
Hey Biggy in Vegas, were you able to view the "Files" on the Yayhoo! group? One guy said he couldn't open them up.

T-5 rebuild

I was surfing the web and found this article that might be of some use to you that are installing the T-5. ........g

Yah all of the files loaded up perfectly, looks great by the way. I also noticed you have the high hump for the transmission. I have the low hump for mine, I am guessing I will have clearance issues. I went saturday to the junkyard and found a high hump tranny cover but the problem is it will not match up at the front of the cover, so what is their to do now. :confused:

I don't know BIGGY. It might work with your original setup. It's not as tall as SM420 or SM 465. I'll keep your situation in mind when I'm working on things tomorrow. See if I can take some measurements.

Finally got everything back together. Installed newly cut and balanced driveshaft this morning. Filled the tranny with fluid and went for a spin around the block. NICE!
S10 shift handle may be a little low, haven't decided as I figure I might just not be used to it. The 4spd shifter was so tall.
I still need to finish aesthetic stuff like covering the seat and new floor felt/rubber mat.
Drove it to work on the freeway. Wow! I was actually passing cars. Got her up to about 60mph in 4th, taching @ 3,250rpm then dropped it in 5th - tached @ 2000rpm!! Yeeehoooo!

Biggy, I don't think clearance will be that much of an issue. Get everything mounted and then see what you're looking at. If you have to, make a new floor cover/tranny hump. It doesn't have to be perfect (unless you're a perfectionist) 'cause it's gonna get covered up by whatever floorcover you use.

Mugsy- I joined the group as jjk6866. I was wondering if you had any pictures of the shifter with your bench seat installed? Also, could you please measure from the back of the cab (on the inside) to roughly where the shifter hole is. I hate to be a pain, but it looks like my T-5 is going to be further back than your's is. Any help is great. Thanks.John

That is sooo cool mugsy man I cant wait till I get mine worked on sooon cuz I hate seeing it sit their. I will most likely have to take it to a shop here to get it done since college and work and the ladies take up most of my time. But I will be on the look out for a WC camaro transmission on the next visit to the pick and pull.

bigchev,
yeah, I'm definitely gonna be taking more pics and posting with text on the Kustoms group. I'm gonna be pulling the seat back out this morning and doing the finish work on the foam, the cab floor and the shifter. I'll measure as best I can.

Biggy,
That's gonna be a pretty expensive proposition if you have a shop do it. You may want to do as much prep and legwork as possible before taking it somewhere.

-David

I'm currently looking for a 1967-72 truck, and intend to perform this swap. How much hassle would it be to use the stock shifter, be it floor or column?

Well Imma do everythin but the installation I will go out and look for it and swap the tail housing and bring it to them to do the install. I will definetly try to save money

bigchevy66,
It was hard to measure 'cause of the gas tank but, it's about 27.5" from the back of cab to dead center of where shifter goes in tranny. This is with the Camaro tail housing.

grease monkey,
you can cut and weld an old 4 spd shifter onto an S10 T5 shifter. That's your best bet for keeping things original looking. I think I'll probably end up doing this as the S10 shifter is an inch or two low for me. I'm gonna give it one more week and if I still don't like it...

Mugsy, job well done,enjoy life in the fast lane, just don't pick up any speeding tickets

Thanks Mugsy. That should help out a good bit. Enjoy your truck. John