has anyone here made their own transmission adapter for a flathead??? I am looking to put a t-5 behind my flatty, but dont want to spend $200 on a adapter plate if I dont have to. I have the stamped bellhousing for it. Jordan
I'm sure it could be done, but it better be fucking right on to line up all those impotant parts. You would be better off making lots of other parts to offset the cost. Hairpins and ladderbars are doable, yet kinda expensive to buy. I'm all for making shit, and I often do. But I don't think I would make a tranny adaptor, unless it was just a flat plate.
all i would need would be a flate plate, as i already have a bellhousing. I just need to have it match up to the chevy manual transmission pattern.
Why re-engineer the wheel? I'd suggest you buy one that has ben engineered to work correctly. Save any fabricating skills you have for other areas.
you can see the bellhousing in this picture, all i want to do is make a flath plate to bolt up the tranny.
I have not done the adaption you are doing but I have done 5 or 6. It's not that bad if you have a lathe and a mill. If you can get a copy of this months "Bonneville Racing News" I wrote an artical about it, to be finisher at a later date. Or look at http://forums.aaca.org/ubbthreads.php?ub...true#Post399248 ht for the last one I did.
There's a guy on eBay named George Greenbaugh (?), goes by "community-chest" on eBay. He sells plans for $20, but I think they're for the flat-plate adapter to the 4-spd hogshead. If that won't work for you, careful measuring will give you everything you need to do it on your own. Be sure to machine in a lip to sit in the bellhousing so the plate stays concentric with the crank though... Here's some info from the tech archives: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=169265
You need to get everything lined up and registered correctly, a simple flat plate would work but might allow things to move around a little and all the support/strength would only be the fasteners. A good plate (like the Offy plate we used) allows the trans to register (pilot) into the plate and the lip on the plate registers into the bellhousing. It goes together so tight that all the bolts do is clamp everything, any twist or torsional loads are handled by the machined pieces.
I have made two, with the help of a local machinist. There are dirrections on the ford barn, under "members articles". One member wrote the dirrections, I sent the pictures. Unless you have a machinist who works cheap, or own a milling machine, the one sold by Speedway may be the least expensive way to go.
With that bellhousing and a T-5 with a Ford Pattern (which is shared with the late GM housings) you can adapt it without a seperate adapter. You have to open up the bearing retainer indexing hole, the big hole in the center, to fit the T5 bearing retainer. The two bottom bolts match up with the T5. You'll have to drill a new hole for one of the top bolts and you'll have to weld on a gusseted tab for the other top bolt. After that, you'll have to cut down the input shaft and find an input shaft bushing. I got one from the local bearing supply. Depending on what type of car you're putting it in, you may have to build something for clutch engagement since that bellhousing uses a single sided clutch arm. Search for previous posts on T5 by me for more details.
Have to agree with Don. If you don't have the right "stuff"; - tools - BUYING the right one is a far better way to go. And, a lot less headaches. There IS a fair degree of precision needed for this kind of conversion. (adapter)
Can't search for T5 or T-5 - nothing under 4 letters. BUT you can search for "adapter" by "modernbeat" & you'll find 2-pages of helpful info! Good info in these: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39127 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101677 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6637 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10450 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29790 http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37733 Modernbeat's been drumming to the "stamped steel bellhousing & redrill some holes" beat for a long time - a proven combo. I've never had the opportunity to try this combo as I've got only 59A style engines (and a French block to work with), but my dad has an 8BA that may get this trick!
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