Of sorts. It's like this - a mate and I have an engine/T5 combo put together in LA ready to be shipped here in a body /chassis combo. Problem is, the shop doing the chassis says they can't get a stock T5/SBC bellhousing and have used a McLeod scattershield to bolt the gearbox to the engine. It may be a great piece, but I don't like the way it's size is going to compromise (fuck up) the firewall and toeboard area. I also get the feeling they just took the easy way out. Any of you LA guys able to point me in the direction of a suitable bellhousing? This lot is being loaded in a container in HB in 2-3 weeks, so I don't have a lot of time.
They can't find a manual trans bell for a sbc or a 6er? Or does it have to be setup for a hydraulic throwout?
Thanks for the information. We've got a hydraulic throwout, but it's not mandatory. I'm a Ford man, so this is new territory for me. Druss32, the stock T5 was rotated from vertical?
Only in the Camaro/Firebird applications - it was canted about 15* for packaging & clearance. The rear mount is angled a bit on the tailhousing too, but can be fixed with a shim. As mentioned, ANY SBC bellhousing should work just fine.
This is the hydraulic Camaro bell (pic taken from an ebay auction). You can clearly see how it rotates the trans. The mounting pad on the Camaro T-5 is skewed likewise.
I don't know what years apply, but I've seen Chevy pickup bellhousings that have a slave cylinder mount on the right side. I'm using a '56 Chevy bellhousing with my T5 and made pull-type hydraulic linkage. If the T5 is '92 and earlier it should bolt to any sbc bellhousing. Later GM T5's were a completely different pattern and that may be the reason for the scattershield. Try Hanlon Motorsports for more info they were very helpful to me recently. Good Luck
To Clarify, on the Camaro the Bellhousing is rotated, not the transmission. If you bolt the Camaro T-5 to a normal bell housing is is square.
X38: I've got a stock (15 degree), aluminum, Camaro T5 bell housing with the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder mounting, if you need it. No idea what it would cost shipping-wise, but just thought I'd offer it up if you need it.
First things first, what are you using for a flywheel and clutch? 153 tooth 10 1/2" clutch, or 168 tooth 11" clutch? Bellhousings for the later L6 and all V8's are made to work with one or the other. Same goes for the starter. Tell me what you're using for a flywheel, and I can give you some ideas for what bellhousing you can use. Some of them are even being repoped these days.
I don't believe the T5 was used in anything other than S10, Astrovan, & F-body for GM applications. I'm not familiar with Chevy enough to tell you if the 4.3 bellhousing will bolt up to V8 (since Chevy was better about interchangeability, probably, but I honestly don't know). Adapting a slave cylinder to any Chevy bellhousing shouldn't be much of an undertaking though if you can't find what you need... I don't think there were many T5 Astrovans sold evidenced by the fact, the Astrovan T5 is hard to find! I think Safari was the same thing.
I have been down this road... ended up not usuing the t5 I had for strength reasons. I read somewhere that an astrovan bellhousing will work AND give you the hydraulic mount you need with no mounting twist. You could also use a standard bell and this kit from Novak http://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/kit_hcr3.htm
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