Morning all, I’ve been a long time reader on here brand new member and first time poster. I’m building a 29 Tudor in a rather traditional vein. ‘52 flathead and a ‘35 ford rearend. The one piece of modern equipment that I wanted on the car was a T5. The car is fenderless and I’m not keen on the look of radius rod perches sticking down from the frame. To that end I decided to stick to a closed drive. In hind sight I suppose I could have hidden perches up inside the frame but I’m committed now so here we go. I searched and searched for tech on the subject of a torque tube adaptor but all the articles on the internet seemed just a little short on information to really run with. There’s one fella who makes the part I wanted but being in Canada by the time I pay exchange, shipping and duties it makes all but the most necessary purchases out of the states untenable. Now that I’m largely finished the adaptor build I thought I’d share the process and results in the hopes that it might help someone else with their own build.
I started with a T5 from an ‘85 S15 4x4 that I got from the local wrecker. Came from a v6 truck so has the taller first and second gear. Perhaps not as ideal as the 4 pot trans but its what I got. obviously I’ve got the speedway adaptor on the front and I chose to stick with the ford throw out and linkage.
Now onto the back and the purpose of this thread. I scratched my head for a while on mounts. The T5 has some pretty convenient factor mounts at the back but that would wind up being wildly low and perhaps difficult to service chose to incorporate some mounting ears into my adaptor. I got some generic mount off eBay and built from there. I made some templates and took them to the local metal shop to cut out. I’m a little lazy and don’t have a plasma cutter so I had them cut out the rough shape. For the $10 I cost it sure beat the time, sparks and noise required the hack through 1/2 inch steel with my angle grinder. here’s what I got.
I then started laying out the centre and holes for the mount to the trans and the mounts for the clamshell. I used a 4 1/8 “ cup-saw for the centre bore. Took about 30 min in the drill press. The trans mount holes I tapped so the bolts thread through from the front. I currently don’t have any kind of ring in the centre to fit into the “retention groove” on the T5. If I do add one I’ll hack apart the cut saw and weld it in. It’s a near perfect fit and very thin. Space is at a premium in this area.
The old T5 thread has a ton of info Technical - Ultimate T-5 Article 2.0 | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)
Now here’s the real trick. All that fab was all well and good but the yoke was a bit of a mystery. The yoke was also the part most elusive on the internet. On the front I used the slip shaft from a 2wd chev that I already had lying around. Inside the torque tube I’m using the original ‘35 shaft cut down to fit. So ford 6 spline. Ag parts come in a 6 spline version but not the right shaft size so that was out. Searched everywhere on line but I couldn’t find a 6 spline ford yoke in a modern ujoint style. in the end I came to realize that I needed to build my own yoke. I got a 1310 yoke with a 1 1/8 round shaft inside diameter. I then took an early ford ujoint hacked the ears off one side and put the remainder in the lath to turn it down to a perfect 1 1/8. I then welded the ford sleeve into the round yoke. And bam connection. For my parts I needed a converter ujoint. To go from inner clips to outer clips. A moog 372 was the joint I needed.
I have some 6 spline yokes that might work. Too late for you @MB Hot Rod, but might help someone else. I'll look for them tomorrow and post up some pics and dimensions.
I appreciate the thought process and the manufacturing in your shop with what you have to m ake it all work. Nice creativity.
Does the 4X4 S-10 trans have a rear seal and bushing to support the output shaft? That is s slick setup, really simple, I have been thinking about a similar project.
No the trans doesn’t but the torque tube does right at the top and it’s a fairly shallow angle. So here’s hoping it doesn’t chew itself to bits. It wouldn’t be hard to build something that went around the slip shaft with a loose fit at least that would protect against the most violent of activity. You’ve given me something to think about. Thanks!
How are you going to keep the oil in the transmission? I am only asking because I have been pondering the same project but using a 2wd trans and shortening the housing and shaft. I was thinking of using the bushing and seal that's used on the tail shaft housing of the 2wd. Thank you for posting the yoke details that was one of the things I was trying to figure out too.
In the interest of further support and improved oil retention (thanks 50 chev PU) I used the slug I cut out of the adaptor to build a retaining ring and and further drilled it out to accept a bronze bearing. The retaining ring hole was made slightly under sized so that I heated it up and froze the bearing and pressed them together. I’ll build a nice little sheet metal ring to connect the retainer to the adaptor.
Here’s the retainer connected to the adaptor. Had I realized this is what I’d do I should have drilled the large hole in the adaptor a little smaller. Of course then the “slug” wouldn’t have been big enough. I haven’t decided if I should chance the warpage that could occur with welding it all around. It’s plenty strong. The retainer fits snuggly against the inside of the trans. The sheet metal ring only ensures that the retainer can’t walk fore or aft.
Great job- some good ideas here. Several of us are using @Kato Kings adapter and I joint adapter and it works really well. It’s always cool to see other ideas on how to tackle something however. Matt
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