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Say I have a T5, and say I have a 350.
will a 4.3 bellhousing fit in the middle just fine?
What is the best place to find one?
anything special I should know?

Thanks

Colin

the 4.3 bellhousing is the same as any other GM V8

What he said... If you want the trans tilted at 15 degrees, get a Gen 3 camaro or firebird bellhousing. If you want it straight up, any bellhousing from a SBC and 4-speed will work for a T5.

I looked at a bellhousing from a 70's or 80's chev truck. The bolt patterns are the same. The hole on the back of the bellhousing is to big. Like its not snug to the circle on the tranny.
Also, when compared to a Sm465(?) the shaft coming out of the tranny was a different length. Would that matter?
Are you sure any manual bellhousing would work then?

Thanks

The later transmissions (69 up)use a larger front bearing and bearing retainer therefore have a larger center hole. The center hole doesn't support anything, it is for clearance of the bearing retainer. The 55-72 truck bellhousings mount on the frame cross member. If you use a later one you will need a rear mount.
I'm fairly sure the clutch gear is longer on the T5 and needs to be modified. Others in this forum have extensive experience with T5 installations.
Fred

Rfs has it pretty covered. The 465 4 speed uses a larger center hole. You must have a matching hole to the trans brg. retainer. The T-5 has to be modified. There is good info in the Tech tips & a search should bring up a lot of info. It has been covered many times.

The GM T-5 bearing retainer is 4.688" in diameter, same as the old Saginaw and T-10's. The Ford T-5 bearing retainer is 5.00" in diameter. If memory serves correctly, this is also the size of the early GM 4-speeds. the bearing retainers on the T-5's are swapable. The later GM SBC bellhousings that I have laying around are all 4.688"

also, go here: http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/t5tranny.htm

I put a T5 behind my 235 in my '53 a year or so ago.
That was easy.

This is confusing me.
What bellhousing do I need?
A 55-72?
Can I just switch the bearing retainer with one from a older 4 speed?


-A slighty troubled Colin

No, however you can change bearing retainers between T5's. You could also make a centering sleeve if you have access to a lathe

Scott

A friend is letting me borrow (give if it'll work) one from a 80's chev truck. Am I going to have to trim down the bearing retainer or the input shaft itself? I know when putting a T5 behind the 235's that was necessary. Is the T5 made to the properly to be used with a 80's chev bellhousing with no trimming?

Thanks alot,

Colin

again, there are two pilot diameters for GM transmissions, 5.00 and 4.688. The T5 GM is 4.688. The trimming of an S-10 T-5 is required to get enough spline engagement, etc on engines other than the 2.5 4-cylinder and 2.8 6-cylinder. If you do not want to trim, you will need to make a T-5 Hybrid or use the V8 Camaro T-5 as is.

Other transmission choices are the NV 5-speeds and bell housings from behind a 4.3 S-10, however this will fit the 196/230/250/292 and the SBC's

Scott

Thanks Scott,

that is pretty clear. I found a bellhousing from a camaro.
Now everything should bolt up.
Trimming the input shaft I guess is pretty straight forward, bolt it up and see how far it goes in. How do I know how far to trim the bearing retainer?

Thanks again,
Colin

Scott

I've been collecting parts to do this swap and so far have a V6 Camaro T5 box wearing an S10 tailshaft. The Camaro box provided the gear set I was looking for, it matches up to the rear gear I plan to use (3.42 posi in a 8.5inch 10 bolt). I pulled the SM420 off of the (67 C10) 250-6 in my 58 Burb and confirmed the bellhousing has the correct 4.688 diameter for the T5. I thought all I needed to do was buy the Astrovan clutch and I was good to go for assembly. Guess I need to go measure input shaft length and spline length to resolve any issues there first. right?

I was reading a tech article that says the Jeep T5 input shaft is the same length as the GM unit but has the more common 10 spline configuration that makes it easier to find a good clutch setup. Anyone tried this?

Mark

check here http://www.mongosgarage.com/tech/t5/index.htm

Thanks Scott, I hadn't seen that article. I bookmarked it for when I get serious about ordering the clutch and pressure plate. The front bearing retainer on my T5 is already short enough to expose the end of the splines, guess they came in different lengths. I need to be more precise but I my initial measurement of the input shaft says the T5 is about 1/8 inch longer than the SM420. Once I measure the old clutch I'll decide on which of the Astro Van sets to buy.