Hello everyone. It's been a while and I've done some major overhauling on my car so I'll be posting some pics and stats up as soon as I get a chance. For some of you that followed my build, I know my car was only built about a year and a half ago but there were a few things I was not happy with so I decided to makes some changes. With that being said, I made some changes that I think other people might want for their cars as well. Seeing as how I have a little bit of knowledge and a pretty incredible talent pool around me I decided to see if people would like me to make limited runs on some of the stuff I am making for my car. First off: I am putting a T5 behind my (very over built) 215/223 hybrid. In doing so, I realized that the adapters that most people sell are geared towards the flatheads and noone could give me a clear answer as to if they would work behind a 6 cylinder. Speedway says their adapter will not, so I figured I would just make my own since I have access to a machine shop with a waterjet and an excellent machinist/programmer. We have all the initial measurements/drawings/general calculations figured out for the adapter. The machinist said I should have the prototype by early next week if he gets time to squeeze it in. Second: In doing this I thought it would be dumb to put a 9.25" standard T5 clutch behind a motor that I had spent so much time and money building. Instead, I am running an 11" clutch from a T5. The flywheel is out for machining right now and I will have that back (hopefully) today. Third: I know there are a lot of people out there that are running hydraulic throw out bearing because of the ease of installation. I like keeping everything looking fairly stock when it comes to adapting modern parts. I would much rather not have people know that I put the T5 in the car, so I will be using my stock clutch fork. From what I can tell, I will be able to modify my clutch fork to accept the GM bearing from the T5 clutch setup. Finally: I know there are other people out there that have done this. I also know there are other people out there that don't have access to some of the resources that I have at my disposal. I own a shop but I also have a full time job and I really just do the shop thing out of love and so I can ensure that I have a place to build and store my toys/junk. I am not doing this as some kind of get rich scheme. With that said (after the testing phase of course) I was thinking of offering this setup as a kit. It would be an adapter, clutch kit (t/o bearing, clutch disc, pilot, etc) and installation instructions up to people on this board for a (hopefully) reasonable price to make it easy for them to enjoy their cars a little more at highway speeds and in daily traffic. I am thinking I should be able to do this kit for between $350-$400 if the customer has the flywheel machined and does the modifications to the clutch fork themselves. Seeing as how speedway sells an adapter for $300, I feel that's a pretty reasonable price for a kit that eliminates all the guesswork. I am trying to keep the price to a point where I will basically only be making enough money to cover a small amount of expenses. The rest of any profit will go to my machinist for being awesome and as a bribe to continue to make me stuff! Haha. Let me know what you guys think. The second part I am making for my car is a set of control arm spacers that would only require you to remove the lower control arms once (when you grind out the rivets). After that, you could shim the control arms to the desired height you want (to get your car as low as you want) without taking the whole front suspension back apart. I am half way through this process and I am hoping to have that completed by early next week too. These I could make or just post it up as a tech article on the board. They are really not complicated. As with the clutch kit, I just want to make sure a) my idea works and b) it is safe before I would post that information. The last thing I would ever want is for someone to follow what I did and have overlooked a safety issue. I'll be the guinea pig and let you know the results. Comments, Questions, Concerns, Criticisms?
If you like a stick shift car, you will LOVE the five speed. I agree with the stock clutch set up too, some racers I know have had nothing but trouble with hydraulic release and went back to levers and arms.
The a-arm spacers are already made. I'm not sure what you're talking about exactly though. I've only had to take mine apart once. The thing with putting a t-5 in a '54 ford is that you'll have to cut your x-frame. unless you're magic, its just in the way. Just warning you, I spent about an hour ****ing around with different ideas before cutting a large section of the x-member out. More people should know about this! ahah I think people would be happy with a t-5 to 215/223 kit, but I think that the work and cost involved, most will look at v8 power. That is just me thinking though, I don't get paid to think.
I would only be providing the kit to adapt the transmission to the motor with the clutch setup. It would be up to the customer to figure out how to physically get it into the vehicle. I agree that a lot of people that will put a modern v8 in the car but I like my stuff to look as traditional as possible and I know there are others that like the 6 cylinder for nostalgia and gas mileage reasons. I get around 18mpg with a 4.11 rear and a non overdrive 3 speed. You're not gonna get that with a v8. As far as the control ARM spacers, they are produced but they are only one size. With my lake pipes I'm not sure how much I can safely drop the front end so I want the ability to shim it 1/4" at a time. The problem with that is you would have to drop the lower control arm everytime you would want to add a shim. I want to try to make some that are slotted so you wouldnt have to drop the control arm each time.
While you are doing your research on this project, check out Mummerts T-5 adapter if you haven't already. http://www.ford-y-block.com/t5in-cars-bird.htm
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