Transmission swap question

[dbcooper292]

I have a 49 B-1-D with the original three speed. The trans needs some work and, seeing mention of a T-5 swap and etc. on this forum I'm wondering about the option of finding a modern transmission in good shape and picking up more gears at the same time. Is it common to use a different transmission? What works well? Will anything work on the stock bell housing? How much fab. involved?

Any info would be appreciated.

Happy Holidays!

db

[Andydodge]

DB, I suppose that the simplest update is to get a complete original overdrive outa a car, but it seems that the chances of getting a good working/serviceable one with everything is not the good and even the original ones seem to have their limitations, one of which is that at the very least they are over 50yrs old now, with all the hassles of getting parts, etc, but they are used still quite successfully, .......on the other hand I like the idea of the T5 gearbox in that its a late model, ie, 1980-90's, parts etc are still around, its an internal overdrive in that it doesn't require electric solenoids to operate it, it will take as much power that a sidevalve 6 can ever be expected to generate and its a relatively straight forward adaption, at least from what I've read and seen.......I am in Australia and ALL T5's used over here have the shifter on the rear of the taishaft extension so are not good to use in a bench seat setup which is what I have, so I have imported an S10 T5 from California and intend to either adapt it myself or used one of the adaptors available ex USA, either way it seems like the way to go, the only downsides that appear are that you then need to install a later diff as the change of the mopar gearbox means that you loose the original mopar tailshaft handbrake so thats why the diff swap, drum to drum must occur..........theres an adaptor made by a guy named Paul Curtis, I think Tom Langdom also does one, Wilcap engineering do a few autobox adaptors, and there a couple of guys on this site that do them I think.......e anyway my long term aim is to get the T5 on , hopefully soon.........regards, andyd in Oz

[Young Ed]

The car OD mentioned in the previous responce would probably be more work to put into a truck then a T5. Here is the Tom Langdon T5 adaptor for trucks only. Cars have a smaller bellhousing and require a different more complicated adaptor. The truck has enough surface area that it can be drilled and taped for the 4 T5 mounting bolts and then these 3 pieces used. One is a pilot bushing thats turned down to the Chevy ID. One is a spacer for the throwout bearing and one is a spacer to make the T5 a tight fit in the bellhousing opening.

[tinlizzy]

What vehicle would you find the required T5 and what year would best suit a truck. I have a 1948 1/2 ton.

Lee

[brian hood]

There are kits available for around 400 to 500 that will allow you to adapt an automatic to most older Chrysler engines. Try this link http://www.wilcap.com/Hemi.html and see if you can find one for your application. For just a few dollars more, you can update your vehicle to an automatic and save yourself the hassle of changing gears.

Brian

[MBF]

Hassle of changing gears-that's why I drive the truck! I have to admit though-one of these days when I'm older an automatic may be nice-but I don't think it'd be behind a flatty 6.

[Don Coatney]

My T-5 install was the best modification I did to my car. I now can cruise at

70 MPH with my engine spinning 2200 RPM's. For pictures on how I did it

follow this link.

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v65/DonCoatney/T-5/?start=all

[DanOlson]

Sweet, I want one. What was the donor vehicle?

Dan

[Don Coatney]

Sweet, I want one. What was the donor vehicle?

Dan

Chevy S-10 mid 80's.

[48Dodger]

Here's a link to the vehicles that use the T-5.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg-Warner_T-5_transmission

And kind of a history of the T-5 transmission

http://www.moderndriveline.com/Technical_Bits/t5_history.htm

48D

[Don Coatney]

And kind of a history of the T-5 transmission

http://www.moderndriveline.com/Technical_Bits/t5_history.htm

48D

I disagree with a few things mentioned in the link above. Agreed that all T-5's are not created equally. There is no mention made of the shifter position between NWC truck transmissions and WC car transmissions. If a WC transmission is used in vintage cars and trucks the shifter will end up in the middle of the bench seat unless a NWC tailshaft is grafted to the box. I used a NWC transmission in my install. Also there is a big difference in the input shaft between a WC and NWC T-5. I found the NWC input shaft much easier to adapt. Also my NWC transmission uses ATF not heavy gear oil. I am using a synthetic ATF blend and my transmission shifts well and I can slide it back into first while moving at about 20 MPH with the full syncros.

[48Dodger]

It's definately a mustang driven site. But I thought the general history was to the point.

here's maybe a better link, I found it on HAMB

http://www.flatheadv8.org/ernie/ernie-t5.htm

it covers most of your points Don.

48D

[Don Coatney]

If you have any additional T-5 or other questions ask Gear Rhonda....

http://www.5speeds.com/rhonda.html

[48Dodger]

lol. cool. can't say i've ever seen her before.

48D