Thanks in advance for any help, direction, or guidance you guys can provide. My current swap has been going strong with a NWC T5 from an older camaro. I boned it when purchasing out of ignorance by not buying a WC but it's been fine for 2 years. The guy said it was WC and I didn't know what I was looking at until I was home and could sit down to study it. I'm slightly changing direction with my swap and want to use the current bellhousing, clutch, and (likely) input shaft and mate it to the WC T5 out of a 95 Mustang V6. This is for an LS powered vehicle so the bellhousing is a 621 conversion bellhousing from shift sst. Is it as simple as opening both up and swapping the input shafts? I already own the Mustang bits. Hoping to reuse (at a minimum) the gears and tailshaft of the mustang unit, likely the case too. The mustang shifts so much smoother than the chevy t5 (3-2 has always been garbage, reverse grinds, WC would be a nice improvement overall, etc) and if I can keep the trans mount and tail shaft I won't have to get a new driveshaft. Make sense? Clear as mud?
Can not just switch imput shafts. I dont even think the internals of the WC will fit in the NWC case. Output shaft on mustang trans is different from GM too.
I want the output shaft to stay the same, so that's ok.. I meant that when I said tail shaft. Does anyone know if there's a 'conversion' input shaft? Will simply getting a WC Gm input shaft work? Such as: https://ampdistributing.com/collect...world-class-26-spline-t5-24-tooth-input-shaft
Doubt it. You might have to switch clutch disk. The throw out bearing retainer is a different size too, meaning different throw out bearing.
I'm pretty sure the WC T5 was reserved for the V8 Mustangs, all the rest got the NWC so any parts swapping won't matter.
I'm mainly trying to get the GM input spline into the 95 mustang trans. Everything else should be doable with what I have.
Not going to happen, I don't think the gear ratio sets were even the same from Mustang to Camaro applicaitons. What pressure plate, and dia of clutch you using? Might be able to use a diaphragm pp with the mustang throw out bearing.
Might look into using a mustang clutch disk 10 spline 1 1/16", comes in 10.5" dia, and would be same size as a GM diaphragm pp and use the imput and bearing retainer you have now. If you could change imput shafts, its not just that simple. There are preload shims under the front bearing race, and each bearing retainer has to be shimmed to have a .002 crush on the bearing for preload. Can not just switch parts out without paying attention to this or that bearing will fail in short time.
Do you have an adapter that will mate the Ford style T5 to your 621 bell? This is a hard to find bell but would allow you to bolt the mustang gear box right up to a gm style bell.
The Chevy Astro 4.3l V6 bellhousing has the SBC pattern on the block side. and the Ford T5 pattern on the transmission side. They are out there.
Here is my current set up: Clutch kit::https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=334510&cc=1379976&jsn=493 bellhousing: https://shiftsst.com/store/bellhousings/gm-621-reproduction-bellhousing-for-ls.html TOB: https://howeracing.com/index.php/t-0-bearing-hyd-stock-t5-gm.html I do have access to a mill to modify the bell housing for the ford pattern., center bore is the same? The main issue I have with using the ford input shaft is the length. I'm just gonna have to get into it and see what lines up. 11" Clutch disc for future reference: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ctf-380800/overview/year/2001/make/ford/model/mustang/submodel/gt
GM had two bearing retainer diameters, one for car and one that was for trucks(larger). The Ford bearing retainer is different yet from those two, I believe. There is an adapter to mate the bell housing you have to the Ford gearbox. https://www.hotrodworks.com/product...let-muncie-bell-housing-transmission-adapter/ There is not enough material on your bell housing to fasten the lower two bolts for the Ford t5. Also, this adapter is made to be used with the GM t5 that was in s10/camaro '93 and newer that has the Ford pattern, but not a Mustang transmission. The bearing retainer hole is the 4.685 and it would have to be enlarged to the Mustang size. Might be easier to find a GM WC t5 from a 88-92 camaro. They are 26 spline, no adapters, everything fits, and you can use the pp, disk, and TO bearing you already have. The camaro has a 2.95 1st gear too, which is nice. To verify imput length, put a straight edge across the mounting surface, and measure into the pilot bearing. Compare that to the measurement from the front of the gear box to the input shaft pilot. Bearing retainer can be shortened if needed, just should not be so long it gets in the way of the clutch disk fingers. .
Wow, thanks. So I can use the gm trans I have and just swap the mustang tail housing? (while searching for a WC) It's likely going to be a month or so before I have both trans on the ground next to each other to see. I'm mostly trying to avoid needing a new mustang driveshaft.
Well, no. Not simply anyway. You will see once you remove the tail housings the speedometer drive gear on the mustang output shaft is not in the same position as the GM camaro unit. And no, the output shaft from a NWC will not interchange with a WC unit. Besides that the top lid which carries the shifter rod would need to be switched out too. If you have GPS, and are not going to use the function of the speedometer gear on the output shaft, the mustang tail can be swapped out, must change the top lid and shifter rod too. What is so important about the Mustang tail housing, the camaro shifter is very close placement to the Mustang one.
My experience with T5's world class or not is that when an engine makes big power, car is over 3000#'s, and tires are sticky the T5 soon makes little pieces out of big ones. TKO 500/600 for most street and the exotic drag specific high buck ones for the real pavement shredders.
The car in question weighs 2700 lbs It also runs a quarter in 12.8 with MT drag radials. The NWC T5 has been steady garbage, hasn't gotten any worse but leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not worried about the strength at this point. My original thought was they are cheap enough to blow up a few times before coming close to the t56 price. I'd looooooove a t56 but I can't justify it now. I have no tie to a specific speedo method, my current set up uses a sensor in the rear axle but going forward I will likely need to use a transmission based one.
Look up ultimate T5 thread on here Lots of info on what can and can’t be done along with part numbers and what will fit into what.
A WC Camaro unit sounds easier, and they did make them. There were WC S10 models as well. I don't know the bolt pattern of your bell housing... if it is trad Chevy, trying to mix rhe mustang and chevy stuff will probably spend as many dollars and more time than sourcing a Camaro unit. As mentioned above, there are iron duke bells with the Ford pattern. Another option if you already have a Ford transmission you love, but you still have input shaft length, spline count, pilot bearing, etc. to sort. Plus you may want a different clutch setup than the bell offers. T5's are a mixed bag. I've burned a lot of time trying to figure out the right combo, only to find there really is no "right" combo. You have to adapt to the build at hand.
'93 S10 was first year for WC, and the first half of the production year the gear cases were the old saginaw type bell pattern, AND had shifter up front like hot rods guys like! Only seen one of those; the later part of '93 production for the s10 t5 was the Ford pattern that was used on v6 camaros 93-96.
I was lucky enough to trip over one at the swap meet a few years ago... early 93 WC. Asked the seller what do you want for this transmission? He replies "dunno what it fits? $75?" It's on the shelf in the barn now. Iv'e got a late 93 one as well That a friend gave me because it was Ford pattern and an Iron Duke bell I scrounged. My wife thinks maybe I have a T5 problem I think if you are going to run them, you better have back stock.
Yea I've always planned on having a spare on hand, but I've never had the need to source one. My end goal is to avoid custom parts where ever possible IE: I'd like to use a mustang stock driveshaft and have the trans be where the conversion happens. Instead of putting a full chevy trans in there and needing to get a custom driveshaft made. My short term goal is to minimize time that I have a transmission parts spread across my shop floor trying to figure all of this out but I'm getting the feeling that won't be possible. Local guy on CL that parts out camaros said he just sold one for $700. I think I'll go down the bellhousing and clutch disc route for half that.
Too much T5 info: ttp://www.tremec.com/anexos/TRSM-T5-0510-R1_173.pdf This is the service manual https://www.svocop.com/Articles/6/T5-ID.html http://www.5speeds.com/t5/ http://www.mongosgarage.com/tech/t5/T5Numbers.PDF http://www.pro-forceperformance.com/t-5_identification.htm
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