Picked up a '99 T5 from a V6. Help me figure this thing out!

[broncojunkie]

Ok, so I found a decent deal on a T5 that the guy swears came out of a 93 GT. He started fixing it up, but had a problem with the title, so he parted it out. Still had the tranny. I purchased it and then took it home and looked up the numbers. Turns out, it is from a V6 mustang. I was pretty mad until I did a little research. Evidently, the swap is fairly simple and the gearset is stronger than the earlier V8 T5's. In fact, one thing I read said they were the strongest regular production T5's available.

The research I did said that it can be used with a couple simple mods to make the speedo compatible. You can swap the tailshaft housing with an older fox T5, and notch the output shaft to accommodate the retaining clip for the speedo gear. I'm not too worried about this yet. I think this one might have already been modified.

My main issue is with the input shaft. I'm trying to figure out if the shaft has been switched on this, or if the guy used the newer bellhousing. I know the newer mustangs use longer input shafts and bell, to set the shifter back a little. I just don't know how much of a difference I'm looking for. I measured and it looks like this new one has a shaft that is less than half an inch longer. Is this minor difference what they're talking about? I always presumed it would be at least an inch or two, if not more. doesn't seem like a half inch would even be noticeable. I'm hoping I can do this swap without messing with the bellhousing/clutch/etc. If I need to, then I'll consider how bad it will be to change the shaft, instead. I want to be able to swap this out later with another tranny, without having to worry about the bell and clutch assembly.

 

[broncojunkie]

Had to take a closer look at these for comparison.

Here's what I came up with:
Difference between input shaft length...

So I think my best bet would be to swap input shafts, although I haven't found a definitive answer on whether or not an input shaft from an earlier model World Class tranny will be a direct swap. I'll probably yank the shaft tomorrow (today) and see what I've got. If I can order me a new one that works, I plan on using the fox bellhousing. Might have to swap out the retainer, as well. It looks like these are made differently.

As for the speedo issue, I'm still trying to figure that one out. Easiest would be a "speed cal", from my understanding, but I'd rather alter the tranny to work in my 88 and in my 82, if I ever need to swap them around. To do this, I'll need to take the tailshaft housing off and drill a small hole to accept the speedo gear retainer clip. This sounds simple enough, except that I'm also reading that the tailshaft housing itself will have to be swapped out for an older model. Looking at the two transmissions, I can't really see a difference. There is an opening in the housing to accept the speedo cable on the older t5. The newer one has what appears to be the same opening, but there is a magnetic sensor in it. Maybe there is a slight difference in the location/size/etc of the opening that won't accept the cable. No big deal. just means finding a tailshaft housing to swap out. It will have to come apart anyway, so shouldn't be any harder to swap. Just have to find one.

Update: Took another look at it and the opening for the speedo cable is, in fact, located differently from the opening for the sensor on the new tranny. Therefore, the tailshaft housing will need swapped.

 

[broncojunkie]

Went ahead and ordered me a speedometer drive gear, retainer clip, and driven gear. It came as a kit from latemodelresoration.com. They come in different ratios for popular gear ratios. I got the one for 3.73, since they didn't have a kit for my 3.55...so I had to order a separate driven gear for the speedo cable.

I also found a used tailshaft housing and input shaft. Everything should ship out Monday. And I ordered one of those cheap short-throw shifters from eBay the other day. Should be here Monday. I didn't really need it right now (not until I get around to starting on my 82GT), but swapping trannies around like this, I didn't want to have to deal with swapping the shifter over every time. I read a bunch of reviews on the shifter. Not real high quality, but very good considering price. People seemed to be satisfied with it. I hope to get started on this little project middle of next week, so I'll post pics in this thread. If it works out ok, then this would be a good, fairly inexpensive budget upgrade.

 

[83stang]

Hey brother work on the cars lately?

 

[broncojunkie]

Yep. Well, a little. I put this project on the backburner for a bit. I rebuilt a Borg Warner WC T5 last week. I am still waiting on parts for this. The tail shaft housing and input shaft are on the way, but I'll need to replace 3rd gear and the 1-2 slider. The synchros don't look bad, from what I can tell, but might as well do a complete rebuild, since it's coming apart.