The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Engine Shop T-5 question

I want to replace my 4 speed transmission with a T-5 in my ’53 3600 with 4.56 :1 differential. The mechanic with whom I am talking about rebuilding a 235, says to get a T-5 from a ’83 to ’87 Camaro or Fire Bird that has the following gears: 2.95, 1.94, 1.34, 1, and 0.73. He says that this is the optimum gear range for my truck for highway driving (no hauling or heavy loads). He says that the shifter is too far back for my bench seat and that I should get a second T-5 cheap from a S10 that has bad gears, so that he can transfer the tail housing and shifter to the Camaro T-5 so that it will fit my truck. I checked http://www.mongosgarage.com/tech/t5/T5Numbers.PDF and found that the ’85 and ’86 S10s come with the following gears: 3.76, 2.18, 1.41, 1, and 0.72. Forth and fifth gears are essentially the same as the Camaro trans but the first three gears are lower. The older S10s have even lower 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears and a lower OD at 0.86.
Is the only good shifter location on the S10 T-5s or are others good fits as well? Is it worth the effort and additional expense to combine the two T-5s to get his ratio and fit or am I just as good to use the ’85 or ’86 S10 T-5?
I need good advice here.
Thanks
John

Your mechanic knows his stuff. That would be the best way, but like you say it would be much simpler just to use the S-10. Ive done 2 of them & while 1st gear is like a granny you still have a good selection. You need the 87 & earlier S-10 as it has the mechanical speedo drive. There is a tag on one of the bolts that holds the rear houseing on. It has a number in the left lower corner that id's the trans. It starts with 1352-xxx. If you put those numbers on Mongo's website you can find what it came out of & the ratio's. 1352-145 is the most common & works real good. Some of the Camero-Firebird are what they call world class. They are a little stouter & have Teflon linned syncro's.