Hi friends. Sorry for my long absence (to anyone who has noticed...), been busy the past 6 months or so. But I'm back at the '53 project, and could use a few pointers. Currently running a reman '56 235 in my '53 210, with the stock 3-speed which carries it to the break-neck speed of about 60mph, while the tranny screams like a tomcat with its tail caught in the door. I've decided to KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) and aim for a T5/rear axle swap just to make it move faster than the speed of smell. I pulled a World Class T5, complete with bell, shifter, and yoke, from a 93 Camaro with a V6, and aother WC T5 from a '96 Firebird, also with a V6. Both gearboxes have the Ford bolt pattern at the bell. Is there any way i could use either gearbox? Maybe an adapter plate? Or have i basically bought myself a pair of really expensive boat anchors? I had my doubts about whethet or not I was going to be able to use either when i pulled 'em, but i wasn't going to let a pair of WC T5s go to the crusher, regardless. Thanks in advance! Email is the best way to get in touch with me since starting my new job last September (90% travel), hope you all are well, and hope to hear from some old friends! ~Neil
The adapter for the GM/Muncie/Saginaw T5 is about 1/2 thick. I suppose you could whip up a Ford one, but I have not seen one. It might already be out there. But I have not seen it. There is no reason that it couldn't be done, but at what cost? Maybe best to shop for an earlier main case and swap the guts, or sell both off and find an earlier one. In both cases of the '93 and the '96, you would have an electronic speedometer hookup. Earlier units have a mechanical hookup. Here is a ton of info: http://www.flatheadv8.org/ernie/ernie-t5.htm The S10 T5 gearbox, would probably be a better choice, ratios, shifter location, and mechanical speedometer, inclusive. It is a NWC box, but you are not making enough power and torque for this to be an issue. There is an existing adapter for that application, for about $175.
Hey brother! You've still got my #, right? Give a holler sometime! As for the s10 t5, if I'm not mistaken, and I may well be, the big attraction to the WC t5 is rebuildability and availability of different gear ratios to suit your need. With the s10 t5, pretty much what you've got is what you get. A buddy of mine just paid a nice chunk of change for a WC t5 for that reason. But again, I'd like to keep this easy breezy, so maybe Frankensteining either of these gear boxes is not the answer. On the bright side, if we get a surprise April snow storm here in Charlotte, I'll have plenty of traction in the rear end of the van.!
The S10 T5 may be the only "easy" choice. Yes, there are fewer ratio sets to choose from, but you have a 235, so most of the really tall 1st gears, and really taller overdrives would be useless to you, anyway. If it is both hard to get off-the-line, AND has a 5th gear that you just can't use, you're not going to be a happy camper. A WC and a NWC T5 are not fundamentally different to rebuild. Just one adapter, and a clutch away: http://www.hotrodworks.com/catalog/...-n-2100-t5-trans-to-1949-1954-chevy-cars.html The lowdown: http://www.streetrodderweb.com/tech/1101sr_putting_a_five_speed_in_a_49_54_chevy/ The other's would be more work, and I am not too sure that you'd be happy with a shifter through your seat.
I agree. Maybe I'll find someone with an s10 t5 looking to do a straight trade, or I'll just throw these two up for sale online to finance an s10 t5 purchase. As for the shifter through the middle of the seat, well, I'll more than likely be using '63 Impala seats anyway. I wouldn't mind the shifter through the seat as much as "Her Majesty" would. She's only got limited room in her ass with the stick already up there as it is.
He'll need to change the rear axle, too, as it started out with a torque tube. By the year of the car, and its top speed, it is likely 4.11:1.
A top speed of 60 in a Model T would be AMAZING! Acceptable, even, just because of the cool factor. In a '53 Chevy... not so much. Just curious, would the tranny/bell I've got bolt up to a GM V8 maybe? I'm not against an engine swap. I believe the V6s these trannys were bolted to were 3.4l (?). I'd think they almost HAD to have a V8 that would use the same bell/tranny. Hell, I might even be open to using the engine out of either the '93 Camaro or the '96 Firebird that these trannys were pulled from, but if I decide to pull a perfectly good 235 I would PREFER it be for a V8. Penny for your thoughts...
Rear axle swap is a given. Already know this. I've got my eyes peeled for a 54 1/4" rear axle, preferably disc, but I'd REALLY like a 53 7/8" rear axle. I believe late 60s Camaro used a slightly narrower axle. Gear ratios can be changed. Yes, currently an enclosed shaft axle, gotta go. Not part of my transmission question though.
You will want an axle that measures about 60" wheel-mounting-surface to wheel-mounting-surface. The WMS to WMS measurement is the only one that really matters. Brake assemblies varied from year-to-year, so going off the backing plates may not tell the whole tale. Just put a 1976 Camaro rear in a '50. Fit just fine, running 6.70-15's. A little narrower would work too. The bellhousing you have fits the GM six, from that era, only. The classic SBC/BBC/4.3l 90º V6 bell pattern did not come along until about '63 'ish, on the straight-six. The 60º V6's (2.8l, 3.1l 3.4l etc.) have a different pattern, yet still, which does not match what you have, either.
I would just grab an early S10 T5 with the 4.03 (0.86:1 OD) gearset, and a mid-70's Camaro rear, or possibly a mid-70's Nova rear, with a 3.73:1 gear, already in it. That would make top gear effective final ratio seem like 3.21:1, versus the 4.11 that you have now. I would not go too much lower, or you will be lugging that six.
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