Technical T5 to 350 with mechanical clutch

I have a 65 C10 pickup and I was considering a t5 transmission swap, but only if I could do it using a mechanical clutch. I've been through too many transmissions within a year. Wanted something better for highway driving and a little more reliable. So the question is what t5 would you recommend? Before I ran a Saginaw 4 speed which is not a good ****** for my truck. Now I'm running a Muncie m20 which is way better, with a 350. So I'm looking for a t5 that I could bolt up to my bellhousing that I'm running now if that's possible, I have a 12'' clutch for a 10 spline. Any advice or information would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

I believe I read somewhere that a guy used a mid 80s t5 out of a Camaro non WC and used a tail housing from an s10 t5 for better shifter position and all he had to do was drill the holes wider on the bellhousing??

 

Something sounds wrong somewhere if this is a regular occurrence or is it trial and error trying to find the best combination?

 

Nothings wrong, the Saginaws where made for smaller cars not full size trucks. Plus I was probably too hard on it. The Muncie is working out fine for me, but I'm just interested in a t5 and I've heard about people running them with mechanical clutches, I don't want to swap to a hydraulic clutch and pedal ***embly.

 

Im using about a '90 Camaro T5 with an s10 tailshaft to get the shifter out from the middle of the seat and toward the firewall. It has a 28 spline input/27 spline output and I am using a gm aluminum 403 10.5" bellhousing. The oem camaro bell housings are canted toward the driver and wont work for you unless you want a shifter digging into your right knee. Let me go take a pic.....brb

 

LMFAO The Sags came in Impalas about the same curb weight as the C-10 and they work fine in a truck. if you got one that was wore out then you got one that was wore out.

If the M-20 isn't enough transmission then you don't need to think that the T-5 will hold up.

That said the Camaro ****** with the S-10 tail shaft housing is the ticket if you want a 5 speed and a speedometer.

 

I believe mine was out of a small car, not sure if they're any different from the ones out of impalas. I bought mine "rebuilt" off a guy ran it for a little but and pulled it and had a shop rebuild it and then it worked fine for about six months before I blew it up, also I could never get it to stop leaking. The Muncie was rebuilt not sure who did it, but it has worked out fine so far, just leaks. I'm just interested in a t5. Thanks for the info, I appreciate it.

 

Thanks man, I appreciate that. Do you know what that bellhousing came out of?

 

Nothing wrong with wanting a T-5.

 

Sorry to bother you, but do you know what T-5 I should look for if I wanted to run a speedometer, with a mechanical clutch and the factory clutch linkage with the z bar?

 

The transmission doesn't care what kind of clutch linkage you have, you may have to change the clutch plate to match the splines of your input shaft.

Any V-8 Camaro or trans Am with a 5 speed will do for you, any year S-10 tail shaft housing will work to get your shifter clocked properly and a speedometer drive. We used the tail shaft housing from an '88 banger powered S-10 in the ravens AD truck. I think what you are looking for is a Camaro built between '82 and '92 as I recall.

I would make a suggestion that you could use the bell from the Camaro and the cable clutch setup also if you wanted but unless you already have a car bell housing in your truck you are using a bell housing with side mounts and that is a pretty sturdy bell housing.

 

Cool, thanks man!

 

3858403 bellhousings were used in late 60's GM cars and probably other lines....I just dont know. But a quick search on the interweb will tell you

 

Okay cool, thanks.

 

I'm not sure what bellhousing I have now, but I'd rather find a new one. The bottom bolts that the transmission bolts to are not threaded. They have a ton of bellhousings like yours on ebay. Thanks

 

Understand that T5 gear ratios are all over the place.

 

3rd Gen Camaro/TA T5's will bolt up to a Muncie bellhousing and straighten up the gearbox.
But the existing tailhousing will have the rear mount sitting at an angle.

You can make a custom rear cross-member [ which is a patch-up] , or simply swap the rear tailhousing from an "upright" T5 and also get your shifter in a better position.

v8 3rd Gen Camaro/TA T5's have the best ratios and highest torque rating.
[the wider the ratios...........The lower the torque rating]

 

My plan is to go with a Camaro t5

 

Thanks. So the plan is to get a 3rd Gen Camaro t5 possibly a 403 bellhousing, with a clutch that works with the T5 and an s10 tail housing.

 

Still researching all the different t5's haha buy yeah I plan on trying to find a v8 3rd Gen Camaro t5. Thanks

 

I'm a believer in close-ratio transmissions. Some of the T5s are really wide ratios.

 

You have to run a 1/2"drill thru the 4 mounting holes on the T5. The holes are metric sized.

 

Maybe this will help a bit.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-ultimate-t-5-article.171291/

 

Just found that thread earlier haha, thank you very much!

 

If you are going thtu several ******s in a years time,,you have other problems...Look for the problem between the steering wheel and the seat!!!

 

Sorry slight exaggeration, I threw this truck together in a short period of time for a daily driver. Only had problems with the Saginaw plus it leak really bad even after another rebuild. Muncie is working out great. Just thought a t-5 would be better for a daily driver and highway.

 

Awesome man! Thank you very much for the info and pics!

 

I'm currently running a T-5 NWC with an S-10 tail shaft on a 350 in a 65 'burb. I'm using the stock bellhousing with the stock clutch z-bar and linkage.

Not using the speedo hookup, just drive by tach.

Camaro with with 11 inch clutch uses an 1 1/8x 26 spline clutch disc.


jerry

 

Have you thought about a T56?...You may never need 6th, but a much stronger transmission.