I've put about 12K on my truck with the t-5. I have four t-5's I've picked up
at swaps and seen several others. I've never bought or seen one with the twist
Grant Simmons talks about and I think I would avoid it. I would also avoid a 91
or later with electronic speedo as it is expensive to change it to mechanical. A
3.90 rear works well for me.
You can use the whole S-10 t-5 or just any t-5 with the s-10 tailshaft. It
is
the s-10 tailshaft that locates the shifter in a more forward position. You can
also put the v-8 gears in the s-10 case if you so desire. I'm told Mustang uses
"World Class" or somewhat less wimpy gears as well as 89 on GM's. I do use the 4
cyl gears with 4.03 1st as a granny gear and start off in 2nd. I'm torn between
these gears and putting in v-8 gears with 2.95 first. The 4.03 is sure nice off
road but the 2.95 will make for nice close ratio shifts. I've found the v-8
models rather elusive and more expensive at swaps. So if you want close ratio
gears you may have to buy two tranny's and put them together.
Basic mods to bolt it in are to shorten the input shaft pilot and input
shaft
bearing retainer, ream mounting holes to next fractional size and switch the
speedo drive gear to Camaro drive gear chosen four your drive train. You will
also need to find a clutch disc to match the splines on the t-5 input shaft
unless you are lucky enough to have a tranny with 10 tooth spline. Mine was 1
inch 14 and I used an 85 Astro Van 11 inch disc with a small block pressure
plate
bolted to the 235 flywheel. Be warned not all Astro Van discs use the same hub
so
some careful fitting without the pressure plate installed is in order to check.
Make sure you can return parts. This hybrid approach is getting harder to do
with
more and more parts places selling only clutch kits.
For the person who recently asked about the stoutness of the t-5 compared to
a
stock truck 4 speed there is no comparison. If you want to pull stumps stick
with
the 4 speed.
Grant
50 Chevy 3100
52 GMC 150
Passnb4U@aol.com wrote:
> I recall a very informative discussion last summer detailing the
> differences in the T-5's, and which were better to use and also the use of
> the tailshaft from the S-10 pickups. I also recall some modifying that
> needed to be done with the input shaft and stock bellhousing.
>
> If anyone has those emails saved, would you please forward or repost the
> info?
>
> Since I've been daily driving my '59 for the past 1.5 weeks, I sure need
> the extra gear. I went with a 3.54 rearend behind the 235, I wasn't sure it
> would pull muc more gear, I was wrong...but I think it's about at the limit
> anyway from the 3-4 shift, I don't like winding her up too tight just to pull
> the next gear well, so I think with a better split of gears on the T-5 and
> the OD, she'll be a decent highway runner.
>
> Any and all info about the swap/mating of the T-5 to the 235 would be
> appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Mike
> oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
oletrucks is devoted to Chevy and GM trucks built between 1941 and 1959
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