The Oil Soup

I have a T5 in my B4B 230ci with a Cherokee rear end (3.55), I also am running 17” rear wheels 31”h and with a mustang gear set 1st 3.35, 2nd 1.94, I can take off in 2nd, not ideal but 2.47 would be better. The stock 3 speed was 1st 3.3, 2nd 1.78, 3rd 1.1. I followed John-T-53 T5 build thread and it was a great help. YRMV

I believe the crank flange sets slightly further back on the 230 and the mounting pad on the bellhousing may need to be machined 0.180” to compensate for the starter reaching the ring gear.

I think there is a difference with the flywheel location between a 218 and 230, the flywheel on the 230 sits a little further back so the mounting surface for the starter needs to be milled out about 0.180” to compensate. I think Don had a thread on that.

Mine came with the pump straight out from the engine and the splash pan under it has a hole there to service the sediment bowl from below.

Take off those Phillips screws and rotate the top counterclockwise 60°, put it back together and you should be good.

Another thing you need to do is file off any snags on the pinch weld so the gasket doesn’t get scarred during the install.

I had pulled the original 218 from my truck and rebuilt a 230 for it, had George Asche split the exhaust manifold and modify the stock intake manifold for dual carbs, I also followed John-T-53s T5 project and installed a T5 behind the flathead 6 with a Jeep Cherokee 3.55 rear, so to answer your question the motor is really peppy now and the trans makes a huge difference in city traffic and on the freeway!

I have a 23” 230 with a stock manifold modified by George Asche to mount dual Carter B&Bs.

I screwed a piece of garden hose to the underside of the floor board to cushion the pedal return and cut and super glued the draft seals onto the pedals.

I have the same bed on my ‘53, the drivers side is a mirror image of the passenger side but I believe it is shorter because the license plate hangs off the taillight behind it. That’s how mine is, maybe someone modified it.

I’m in the middle of putting a T5 in my truck and following John-T-53 Project T5 so on Saturday I installed the transmission mount ( Trans-Dapt #9444 ) and attached the battery ground cable to the transmission, getting the driveshaft shortened this week and still need to fab a bracket for the e-brake.

My truck is a ‘53 but Arizona issued plates in ‘52 and ‘54, a metal tag was used to cover your ‘52 plate. Arizona only requires a single rear plate.

The manual lists hot clearance as intake 0.010” and exhaust 0.014” so doing both cold at 0.014” is going to make the exhaust valves a bit tight and the intakes too loose. If you’re doing them cold try adding 0.001” or 0.002” and see how that works.

Tool C-522 is not needed, install the cover with a couple bolts to loosely hold it in place, mount the pulley/hub to center the cover then tighten the bolts. Don’t forget to install the “felt” donut/dust seal between the cover and the pulley.

His look like oil soaked cork.