This was asked for some time back, and I finally have the capability to post photos:





I will be happy to elaborate on this further if there is interest.


Sam

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Yes, please elaborate!

Looks good. How did the shifter placement, and trans tunnel work out?
Kind of thinking about going to a T5 on my 66.

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66 Valiant, 225.
84 Van, 225.
71 Maxi-Van, 318
60 Valiant wagon, 225
87 Maxi-Van, 318 4spd

I posted some newer pics of my '64 Dart T5 install.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16910097@N ... 013976355/

There are a few threads on ss.org from way back that go through details.

I will be pulling engine/trans soon for maintenance and upgrades and will take further pics. I will probably try out the Spec clutch, even though the McLeod has been rock solid. It appears that either my pilot bearing or TOB have started dragging, but I haven't investigated yet.

Other upgrades will be a cam timing change, possible head porting, and increased oilpan baffling and capacity to handle cornering at higher g's.

Best,

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

There's a hole in the bell..........

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Maybe the horsepower is all running out there.

I will try to write a few brief comments about this conversion tomorrow.

Sam

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RAP 5 speed and 3spd bell

click to view full-version

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

I REALLY ENJOY THE PICS AND VIDEOS :oops:TY SANDY
JASON

bump for comments from Sam

-Mike

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I am the Guardian, I hate helos, everything leaks.......

This will just be the tip of the iceberg.

1. The tranny is from a 4 cylinder '87 turbo T-bird. I worry a little about it's stoutness, but it has done fine so far.

2. The aluminum plate visible between the tranny and bell housing was machined by Andy F. I don't think he is doing this any more. But, I made the pattern from plastic, and he copied it in aluminum. It is .7" thick. The bolt holes for the Mopar and Ford trannies miss each other by enough to get the Ford tranny upright. The plate bolts to the bell housing in recessed holes, and the Ford trans bolts to the plate. This puts the input shaft at precisely the proper place for the pilot bearing the sit in the crank shaft recess for the auto converter snub. I used a pilot bearing from a Dakota pick up with a five speed. This was supplied by Kessler. I hope I have that name right. If not someone will correct me, I am sure.

3. The trans is supported by a conversion cross member, also supplied by Kessler. I chose to reinforce this piece with a bottom steel plate welded to the bottom. I thought the Kessler piece was a little too light for my taste, and for the Mopar tradition.

4. The biggest problem with this conversion is that the ideal attitude for the t-5 brings the rear up too high for clearance under the cross member which goes just under the trans hump floor board, and sits over the trans. So, I cut the stock one out, and made a new one from L girder steel shapes from Home Depot. I used pop rivets to hold it all together, and it is very, very strong. After the new cross member was in place, I fabricated a new hump around the cross member from sheet stock. I used steel in this case. Sheet metal can easily be cut with a hand held jig saw with a hack saw type blade in it. The top plate to this hump is made removable for service and access to the shifter mechanism.

Kessler's kits do not require this hump removal and replacement, but I wanted to do it to match the front and rear U joint angles correctly. I determined this by jacking the trans up in location and measuring the recorded distance from the floor to the out put shaft of the stock trans. This car drives down the road with less drive shaft vibration than the stock set up had.

5. The speedo was originally run with a conversion cable, also from Kessler. I still have this hanging on the wall, as I have since put an electronic unit in. Today, this unit was working. Stay tuned till tomorrow.

6. The drive shaft was fabricated by a local truck sevice shop, which was happy to take my Mopar shaft, and splice a Ford shaft to the front. It cost me $110.


7. The clutch linkage is all stock Mopar stuff, and the throwout bearing is a piece from McCloud for the Mustang. The clutch is a dual friction piece also from McCloud. It is only 9" which is the biggest unit I could get that still fits the /6 flywheel. The small size is what necessitated the dual friction. It holds fine. The plain surface one did not.


This project took all winter, the year before Lou moved from California to NC. We were in pretty much constant communications with each other through the Forum as these projects developed, and this led to a long friendship between the two of us. He can tell us how many years that has been. I don;t remember. I put the car on jack stands, took the wheels off, and marked all critical dimensions on the floor.Then I pulled the engine and trans together. It did not move from there until the project was back together. I continually checked the locations and dimensions of things with a plum bob to make sure it was going back together precisely as it was before.

I rebuilt the new engine the same winter and the photo above shows the project just about ready to go back together. By the look of things, it must have been Spring outside.


There were many, many minor challenges as all projects like this produce. They were a source of continual enjoyment as each was met, and solved.

Please feel free to ask any questions this short treatise raises.

Sam

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My 5 speed swap is from the same era .....and is also a 4cyl box....but a lighter version. I also used a 9" McLeod clutch disc but with a stock pressure plate.

My swap fits under the stock floor and uses a modified stock cross member.

I used a stock aluminum bell with no spacer between the trans and bell. I just opened up the hole in the bell to fit the Mustang input bearing retainer (which was machine to fit the stock TO bearing). I did this with a hand file and a six pack of Rickards Red. Im sure any fine ale will do.....

I used the stock clutch linkage and throwup bearing.

I use a stock driveshaft with a Mustang yoke on a conversion U joint.

The trans input shaft was shorter than the stock trans so I added an extension.

Total cost in 1999 (or 2000 ...Icant remember) was $200.

The swap took me two days.

click to view full-version
click to view full-version

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

I had forgotten about that plate. I only have a vague memory of machining a plate off of a pattern. No way could I duplicate it for anyone!

Andy, I still have the plastic pattern. If you are at all interested, I can send it to you.

For what it is worth, if you can get through to Red, at McCloud, he was talking about a set of modular, universal adapter bell housings they were producing that would allow the application of any trans to any engine. The idea was an adapter plate went on each face of the bell to fit the desired trans and engine. And he was talking things like old Hudsons and Studes, not only mainstream stuff like slants and 318's, SBC's and such. If his time table was anywhere close to being on schedule, they should have had these ready several years ago. It seems to me Red was only available for tech questions limited hours. Something like every Thursday from 11 to 2PM Pacific time.

You can also talk to Kessler. They take your bell housing and machine it for an adapter which they produce. I do not know if they are still doing this, but it was a going concern a few years back. Back then, their kit was not a bad deal at all. For some reason, it seemed as if they were focusing on Mopars at first, but at some point I seem to recall seeing ads promoting conversions for other lines.


Sam

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Thank you Sam and Sandy. I've never been able to find the many threads about this conversion that is often referred to whenever someone asks about installing a T5.

mmmmmmmm i like those pics very nice indeed gentle men, sandy how long is the input shaft on the 4cyl T-5 ???


-Mike

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I am the Guardian, I hate helos, everything leaks.......