Hey guys, I'm going to be putting a straight axle and sbc in my 50 ford and running it at the drag strip. I'd like to run a T5 manual transmission behind the small block. Is there a difference in gearing in the transmissions from a camaro, mustang, or s10? Is one better than another for heading down the strip? Any ideas would be great. Thanks
Go with a 4 speed, the t5 won't hold the torque for long. You won't get out of 3 rd gear unless you have some really steep rear gears. The camaro has a closer spread between ratios than the s-10 t5 does. the ratios are listed in some of rhe tech articles in the tech archives. jerry
I don't know guys..they got some stout 5 speeds out there now..I spoke with Modern Driveline (the shop that does the 5 speed swaps into mustangs, comets, falcons, etc) and Bruce told me I could get a 5 speed to handle well over 450 at the wheels... stock is a different story though, so if thats the plan, buy a good (read strong with positive stops) short throw shifter...it'll buy you alittle time in destroying 2nd gear...
The Mustang boys use the T5 up to about 400HP - after that, you can count on lunching them with any traction at all. You've got a relatively heavy car to get moving - that's a lot of shock to the system - the T5 isn't the strongest tranny out there for this type of abuse. Gear ratios are avail in the tech archives (see link in my sig) - you definitely want the WC V8 Camaro T5. All else being equal, the higher first gear (lower numerically) are stronger. Get a good shifter with positive stops & adjust them correctly. Consider having the trans pro-shifted to remove the synchros (one of the weak links).
We (was my son's) ran a WC t-5 in a cobra 5.0 mustang that was street/strip. BFG drag radials, 3'73 posi. Had over 50 passes on the car the trans had 125,000 miles and tons of burnouts and doughnuts on it. 94 mustang was a heavy car, like 3600 lbs. NEVER had a trans problem. Car ran high 12's and would go over 150 on the higway. Awsume car. Don't worry about how fragile a T-5 is, cause they ain't. If your'e buying a used trans with 200,00- miles on it, you might break something. But if you go thru it and freshen it up it's damn near bullet proof. Remember that with Camaro's and Mustangs, the factories had to stand behind these trans. Warranty. And the new car buyers beat the shit out of them. And they don't fail. Frank
The Camaro T5 is the strongest for GM. It is rated for 260 lb/ft of torque. The T5 for a V8 is rated at 300 lb/ft in the later years. There was a Ford Motorsport T5 available only aftermarket rated at 330 lb/ft. An original Muncie M21 should be good for about 400 lb/ft, M22 even more. I started with a T5, but after I spent many weeks researching options for building the GM unit, I ditched it for a new Auto Gear M21. The GM unit just can't be built as strong for the money. A NEW M21 cost me $1865 to the door. A fairly stock rebuild of a used T5 was half that. I would have easily hit $1600 with some upgrades and no one would say how strong that is. The M21 is rumored to be good into 700 hp, so maybe 6oo lb/ft? ..but hey, it's only money.
Don't put too much stock in the torque ratings for the T5 - they're 100,000 mile ratings and not very good to determine instantaneous shock loads. T5 isn't as fragile as their reputation, but they're no cast-iron '60s 4-spd either.
If you absolutly want a T5 contact G-Force transmissions. They say their T5's will take 600+ hp in racing conditions.
A T-5 can not take the abuse of a m-21/22....no way not close not even in the ballpark..... put some sticky tires on it behind even a smallish v-8 and without even touching the clutch pedal put your foot to the floor and and powershift 2-3. and tell me what happens. best case scenerio is a dislocated wrist to pushing the shift rod out the back of the case. and worse case scenerio is physicly splitting the tranny case in half. wrist = 1 split case = 1 shift rod = to many times to count. got really good at fixing this. eventually cut holes in the tunnel to repair from the inside
All this talk and nobody suggested the guy step up to the HD Tremec? When there is talk of 1600 bucks to rebuild a trans, add another 100 for the T500 and you have the best.
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