Well I finally got an empty spot in the shop for a days work on my 58 El Camino...It ateitself a new ass outa it's 3 speed tranny on the way home from Haulin my bike from Breeders Hamb get together a while back- all was deceased except low and reverse! I bought a S10 5 speed off the bay and installed it today. Man it was like trading cars- this thing was so damned low geared, it was really miserable on a trip of any distance.... It really added some range to my cruise speed and lowers the RPM to an acceptable level now. It must have either a 3:73 or 3:93 rear end gear too low whatever..... I had to slightly open up the 4 large mount holes a tad. The input had to be shortened 1/2' at the pilot end. I also cut back the input shaft cover where the throwout slkides by 1-1/4" I used an 11" clutch plate from an '85 Astro van[4.3]eng...with a '72 chevy truck Pressure plate and throwout bearing...... Tranny was about 3" longer [total] than my Borg Warner HevDuty'81 Truck 3 speed. so I had to remove same from frt half of 2 peice driveshaft. It was within a 1/2" of bolting up on the stock '58 trans crosmember so I slotted the slots a little more to the rear. I put in 80/90 gear oil I figure that was right....it had been drained to ship it.
You still running the stock X-frame 2-pc driveshaft? Also, I'm not 100% sure about the one you got, but every T-5 I ever owned ran Mercon automatic trans fluid, seriously. Bitchin Camino... I was wondering why the hell it said '58.
S10 borg warner transmissions both 4&5 speeds use dextron automatic trans fluid. Other than that it sounds like a good swap.
Yeah I have the stock 58 X member and two peice of shit shaft! I was thinkin the WC has ATF and T5 has gear oil? Yeah its a low production model 58 EL-C......
I will say this- this trans will barely fit the '58 floor hump- it touches all along the top of case and barely got the trans mount in place it was really close......
hahahaaa Sweet deal man. Check out the trans fluid thing, make sure you got the right stuff in there. Unless you want to do it all over again.
early non-WC T5s did use gear oil. I've pulled a few from pre-86 (or so) S10s in yards that had gear oil in them. sweet El. sounds like a pretty straightforward swap...
From what I have read about t-5's the non-wc used 80 wt gear oil. The WC used atf. Won't cause any real harm except for some premauture wear on the synchos if you use the wrong oil. jerry
Since we are on the 5 speed subject- does the shifter need greasin in the shifter housing or is it spalshed on with oil from th inside? I noticed it was apart when shipped and did not have much oil in that spot.....
The early NWC T5 did use gear oil, but later, even NWC switched to ATF. I ran 50wt motor oil as a compromise in my early NWC tranny - made a difference in the shift "feel" (smoother, easier, etc.) I grease the shifter ball - it's supposed to get some splash lube, but as you can see from the design, not any easy way for it to get up there. That said, it doesn't need much. I usually give it a good coating of moly grease & let it go at that. But any old grease will prolly be fine.
Piece of cake, sure. Man I saw a gorgeous '57 Chevy El Camino at the cruise last week, It was very nicely done, I should have taken pictures for you, next time.
I have a 58 chevy del-ray, 327 3 speed on the column, a guy wants to sell me a rebuilt s-10 5 speed for $1000 dollars, you have pretty much answered all my questions about installing the 5 speed in a 58 chevy, you said you had to take some off the input shaft that goes into the flywheel ,pilot bushing, shorten the drive shaft, elongate the cross member holes, what shifter did you use? His tranny has no shifter and I think a grand is a lot for his transmission, I was thinking of an 3 speed-overdrive tranny also, but those are not cheap either.My car is turning 3000 rpms on the highway with 3-36 gears, any help would be greatly appreciated, happy new year, Lloyd
$1k is way to much for that transmission. As for Choprods answering your questions, he hasn't been on here in a while, last post was over 2 years ago, this was three. Your picture sucks and isn't relevant.
T-5's are $75 at the u-pull-its here. And there are always at least 10. The rebuild kits are less than a $100. $1000? I guess there is one born every minute...
like the other two guys stated, a t5 is not worth $1000 and an S10 T5 is not worth $50. a camaro/firebird WC T5 is worth maybe $400 for just the trans if it is rebuilt. a stocker is worth $250 tops. A non WC V8 trans is worth $100-150. if you are going to put a small block in front of a T5 in a car that heavy do not use a trans from an S10, you will break it, they are weak as wet kleenex. A lot of guys will tell you different but they either have not broken them yet or they have one in a light car like an A of a T. Do a search on T5's, there are a bunch of good threads on here that will teach you the difference between a V8/V6 & a WC/non WC trans. If you do not already have a trans, step up to a T56 right at the start. not much bigger physically but lots stronger & a better all around trans. plus with the double overdrive you can run tall gears in the rear end & still get good gas mileage on the highway.
The are about $125-175, used, here. Measure the floor/tunnel carefully if you are considering a T56. They are kinda big. I have one in my lightly channeled 29A. It takes up about 1/3 of the floor space. Some tunnels are not still wide enough at the end, by the tail shaft. Luckily, this area is under the the bench seat in most full size cars, so you can't see where the floor is modified.
Hi, hope you noticed the bell housing index hole and the trans index are different. Advance Adapters sells an adapter for this. I know many HAMBsters claim that enlargering the transmission mounting holes with a hand held drill motor is sufficient for correct index. Many will also claim that their's is driven "hard" and it all works well. I have an uncle who says he's been drunk driving for years and hasn't killed anyone yet. Man, it still ain't right. If the transmission is stock and the bell housing is too, stop now and make it right. Also, WTF is Dextron? Use Dexron. I will purchase all the S-10 (or 15) T5s available for $150. please PM me. Regards, Ron
Let me guess. That's a G50 5-speed from a 911 or 930. It had a busted motor mount, or took a hit in the rear.
The Jalopy Journal
