The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline T5 spacer plate fabrication/rear end?

So, I've been looking at the different ways to mount the T5 to the back of a 235 and I think I might try and make an spacer plate. I have access to a milling machine and am pretty handy with it, but I'm not sure about doing the large center hole in the plate. I don't think I have a cutter that large and that would be my only problem. Does it need to be round like that to fit into something or is that just to make them look nice. I can make the plate and just mill out the middle. Is there any reason why I couldn't do this?

Also, can someone direct me to a link, or if they know of which 6 lug rear axle setup would work best for converting over to open drive line. I don't want to mess with the original rear, and I don't want 5 lug ether. My T5 is a 145, or the .72 OD tranny. Just picked it up yesterday for $40.

My truck is a 49 3100 5 window currently with a 235 and had a 4 speed. Not running of course! The truck was started as a project and I'm assuming someone dropped in the 235 (1954 vintage) and never got past the transmission.

Any info would be helpful.

You will not need an adapter to bolt a T5 to your 49, they have the same bolt pattern. You will only need to drill the metric mounting holes in the trans to the required 1/2" size.

I put a T5 in my '55 1st series. Removed approx 3/8 from the forward splined shaft of the T5. Adapter plate is not required. My truck had an open drive line which I modified and used. I used the original 1955 rear end.

I'm trying to avoid having to cut down the input shaft, not that I can't do it, but I would like to have it done to be a little more reliable maybe and a little easier to not have to modify stuff again if I'm in a pinch somewheres.

I also have a second question. I was looking here:
http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/tranny/bonds/index.html
I noticed that they swaped from torque tube to open drive line. I have access to a 56 1/2 ton rear end and Can I do this swap with my rear end (stock as of now)?

I guess I should have clarified, that I'm wanting to make a spacer plate, not an adapter plate..... it's getting late!

And as far as the rear end swap, I'm wondering if it can be done, is it a big job as far as re-setting the gears, and ripping the rear end apart, or is it fairly easy. I've never taken a rear end apart, but I'm fairly mechanical so I think I could figure it out. 0

Spitfire, You will not NEED an adaptor plate but a spacer will solve some issues as the input shaft on a T-5 is longer than original trans and will need attention and an adaptor takes care of that. Also I'd suggest reading ALL tech articles on this swap here and over on Inliners.org site.

My spacer plate is simple but has some imortant details. Like a lip on the front side that keeps it dead center in relation to the bellhousing, where just a 'spacer' does not.

Also you may want to contact Buffalo Ent. ph. 360 652-7684, makes adaptor plates and surely has ALL the answers on this and rear end swaps et.
Best of luck
Jim

I think you'll find that the fit of the transmission bearing retainer into the hole in the back of the bell housing is important for alignment of the transmission. A proper adapter or spacer will have a matching hole and lip to maintain this alignment. The mounting bolts will allow too much movement and will eventually damage the input shaft or bearing of the transmission.
Somewhere here is a post about using a Jeep T-5 input shaft. It matches the splines of the original clutch disc and is shorter by the right amount to make the trans a bolt-in. Worth looking into?

screw it, sounds like the easiest thing to do is to shorten the shaft in both places.

I've read just about every tech article I can find online.

Anybody have any ideas on putting 56 truck diff guts in to the 49 axle housing?

Get a 55-62 center section & put it in your houseing.

Do you think it would be easier to change out the guts, or just put the complete 56 rear end into the 49 truck? I have access to a welder, but i'm trying to do as much as possible right now without too much fab work.

If I swap out center sections, will I have to pull the axles and re-set the gear clearance?

I think either way you choose to go is going to call for a welder.
You can do as George said 55-62 3rd member,chunk,pumpkin everyone call it a different name and install in your original rear end housing. 3rd member
This will be a good time to install new bearings if it needs them(axle,differential).You will use your original axles that you have.You will need to set the pinion angle and weld up the pivot points on the rear end solid. pivot points
Try to get all of the rubber bushing out of the pivot area,it will catch fire and melt and drip all over.

I put a 58 pumpkin in my 1951 suburban rear end with a 3:90 gear set,coupled to a t5 transmission.
Here is a link to some pictures I took of my conversion. conversion pictures
I extended the splines,shortened the collar and pilot shaft area.I also used a 1/2" drill bit to open up the transmission mounting bolt holes. t5 conversion



Tim

Thanks for the information. that is exactly what I was looking for. I have access to a welder just not in my garage.

get a late model chevy colorado 4wd truck rear, they are 6 lug and have disc brakes too

The Colorado has drum brakes on the rear.

The colorado idea is something to think about.

I have an additional question. I now have a 58 235 that is ready for paint and I have the T5 ready to go.

I was wondering if I can use my 58 pressure plate?

Here is my plan as of today. If I can use the 58 pressure plate, the 58 throw out bearing and a 9.5" to 11" clutch disc. That along with the original manual clutch fork and bell housing.

Is this going to work or am I missing something.

I am really tempted to do a complete indepth write up on this process because there is a bunch out there, but I cannot seem to find it very easily and the better write ups out there have left out a bunch of info that might be helpful.

I know you can pull this conversion off several different ways, but not one write up that I have found is a one stop answer.

Anyways, any help would sure help me out.

Thanks

I used the spacer from Dave at Vintage Metal Works http://vintagemetalworks.blogspot.com/p/t-5-to-235261-adapter-plate.html and clutch from Richie at Brake and Clutch Supply http://clutch-shop.com/the T5 has different clutch splines. Dave will give you all the info you need if you have questions.

Larry

Deer36 this is exactily what I'm wanting to do with my 1946 1/2 ton.

If you're going to make a spacer, you'll need a lathe, not a milling machine. The diameter and concentricity of the center hole is important. Start with a big hole saw with the proper thickness of spacer material mounted on a face plate, and finish the hole accurately with a boring tool.The rest of the shape of the plate can be done with a scribe and a bandsaw once the plate fits the bearing retainer properly. Get the center hole right, clamp it to the transmission, and use a transfer punch to locate the bolt holes. Then scribe a line around the transmission ears and cut the plate to fit with a bandsaw. Simple and easy!

Don't waste time trying to change the center section of the rear axle. If you do that, you'll need to lock the pivoting spring mounts some way, and welding cast parts with rubber bushings inside them is a pain in the rear end (yours, not the truck!), and rarely works for very long. Swap the whole housing since you've got it already.
Jerry

I used a spacer plate from Hamilton Intakes when I put the T5 behind my 216. I used an Astro Van clutch disc with my stock pressure plate, throw out bearing, etc. It's a simple job.

A stock Astro Van drive shaft with an S10 yoke is the perfect length if you want to move your rear end back to center the tire in the fender opening.

I used a 3.90 center section from a '61 half ton in my stock axle housing. This allowed me to use my stock parking brake cables.

With this set up my original speedometer reads accurate with 28" diameter tires.

I even cut a shifter from an original '51 Chevy four speed and welded it to my T5 shifter.

This has been a dependable and trouble free set up on a daily driver that sees heavy use year round.

I used the spacer plate from Carl's Scrap Pile. I cut the big hole and the outer dimension with a cutting torch and cleaned it up with an air angle grinder.
Works good, last long time, Joe.
I cut 3/8" off the input stub, but had an issue with the clutch disc not moving far enough along the splines on the input shaft, and I did not want to grind the splines to "fix" in wrong.

Or if you can locate a v 8 t5 you just change the clutch disc to a 26 spline and bolt it in . You'l still need a s 10 trans to use the tail section and top to properly locate the shifter . You would in my opinion end up with better gear ratios as well as I found the 3.76 first gear pretty close to a bull gear when mated to any rear end with a
3 to 1 ratio or higher .
But if one must use a s 10 tranny a Jeep 10 spline input shaft could be a bit simpler

John

The jeep 10 spline input shaft will not need a spacer. The splines are cut further than what the s10 ones are, allowing the clutch disc to move further, negating the need for the spacer plate. You still need to cut 3/4" from the end of the input shaft of Jeep input shaft.

In approximately 10,000 miles I've had no issues with a modded 90 S10 T5 input shaft. I shortened the shaft length and the throwout bearing collar to match the original SM420 parts. To address the clutch spline length issue, the important change was using the bench grinder to reduce the input shaft diameter (inboard of the splines) so it matched the diameter at the bottom of the splines for (as I recall) about 1/2". This allowed the clutch disk to not bind due to the splines being too short on the now shortened shaft.

Would I do the above mods with a V8 or high HP 6 cylinder powered truck? NO SIR. But my truck makes 85HP. Even with a higher HP engine, I wouldn't expect any problems since I don't do smokey burnouts or WOT driving these days. Well, not with the '51 anyway.

RonR