shamby

I've been doing some research on a T5 swap and have a question. I can get my hands on a T5 out of an 86 Camaro with a V8 and hydraulic clutch. Would this not be a direct bolt on with some minor modifications or is it still best to go with the Ford T5? I'm not a machinist nor do I have one close to me. Also with the Chevy T5 swap, where does it put the shifter?
The numbers on the tranny are (1352-062)


Thanks for any input or help on the swap.



By the way I have a 77 with a TH400 trans.

Thanks
Scott

mysixtynine

Look for john65 post.

You will see several posts from him look for a post from him with pics and a write up.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...t-5-speed.html

shamby

Thanks for the post. I've been reading that one and many others to determine if I should go with Chevy t5 for ease of install or Ford T5 for durability.

John 65

I think unless you can get 1 of those spacer plates for the Ford t5 made up for practiclly free, I would go with a WC t5 between the 2 and be done with it. I dont know much about the spacer plates, so I would try to keep it simple.

shamby

Thanks for the post John, and that was kinda what I was thinking. I don't have the skills nor do I know someone to make the plate.

alswagg

Many questions to answer. I am also doing the T5 swap. Do you currently have a 4 speed? If so, do you have a 26 spline clutch? The Borg warner T10 bell housing will work with the T5, so mecanical linkage still works fine. The Camaro trany support mount is angled 18*. You will have to fabricate a new mount adaptor for this application. The other will be an offsett shifter assy. Next is Verifing proper driveshaft yoke. And of course shortening Drive shaft. John 65 has helped me out alot, Thanks John. I am in the process of making my shifter adaptor. The WC T5 is much stronger than original Nwc. I am still online for a budget of $750.00, excluding labor. Al

shamby

As of now I have a TH400, which the motor and tranny are out of the car along with the steering column, so if I'm going to do it now is the time. No problem on the driveshaft, I’ll just send it to Denny's drive shaft. I'm concerned about the 18* angle, will that need to be resolved or just let it go and see what happens. The other concern is the rear mount for the tranny, I have know idea on how to resolve that problem, and as for the shifter, I have a friend that does welding for a living so he can fix the shifter for me. And last but I'm sure not least is the clutch problem, do I go hydraulic or manual. I'm thinking for me since I do not have a place for the zbar hydraulic would be the easiest.
Thanks again for the post

I have a set of pedals on the way...

alswagg

You know if you are going to use the Camaro bell housing, then the whole tranny will be rotated 18*. Thus the tranny mount will then be horizontal, or level. This also will rotate the shifter over to the left of center. I am not sure if it will be enough to allow the shifter to enter the Corvette position. I think the offset of the shifter will be the easiest part of the conversion. I fabbed up a shifter bracket today. So far looks good. I am going to weld onto the shift post tonight. Good luck Al

shamby

Am I missing something here, because the swap doesn't seem to bad. Thanks again for all the help..

alswagg

I am getting ready to remove my original T10 tranny. For the T5 swap, does anyone recommend just swapping the tranny with engine in or out. As of now I still don't have a lift, so the car will be on stands. It might be easier to pull engine and tranny together. ???? Al

John 65

Heres some measurments, hope they help.
In neutral.

shamby

Thanks for the pictures and yes that is going to help a lot. How did you setup for Hydraulic clutch? I looked online and you can buy a kit but the cost is almost $600 bucks that puts me way outa budget...
Thanks again for the help...

mysixtynine

He isn't using the hydraulic setup. He has the regular old linkage and is using the chevy T5 WC trans and his original bellhousing.

Look at his previous post and you will see what had to be done to the trans mount, exhaust mount and shifter.

Adding the hydraulic setup seems to be more of a headache than its worth and costly. Not sure what year you have but I think later vettes had a bolt on provision for the Z bar clutch linkage. Or you can get a weld on tab from most parts houses and have someone weld it on. Looks like 80-81 were bolt on. You need yours welded on. Easy enough.

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....5Z5Z50000050G#

John 65

Mikes right, I just used your basic clutch kit from summit and its not bad at all. Was going to do the hydraulic system, even bought all the parts for it but switched gears and sold them at the last minute. Got them from Napa. Some guys just use the res and a MC attached to a hyd throw out bearing and no slave. Simple seems best for me though. I think the "ear" on the t5 bell may interfere with the tunnel, not 100% sure. I was going to use what other guys used... A bell from the mid 80's chevy full size trucks. (same MC also)The ear for the slave works with the vette on that one I believe. They are out there on ebay.

shamby

The trans and bellhousing that I was looking at is for hydrolic clutch, so do I need to pass and find one for a manual setup. Thanks again..

alswagg

If it is cheap, buy it and sell the hydrolic items or trade for a Mechanical bell housing, Do you have a flywheel and clutch? Al

alswagg

I am not exactly sure but I think some early NWC T5s had a mechanical clutch bell housing. These were very low HP transmissions though. What year of T5 are you looking at? Al

shamby

It's from an 86 Camaro with a V8 and hydraulic clutch. I got the numbers and made sure it was from an 8 and not a 6. I can get it for 550 bucks and taking the guys word for it's good so who knows.. Right now I have no clutch and I want easy. Thanks again

John 65

t5 Chevy ? Al's right. You could use the trans and sell everything else. I mounted mine to a plain old run of the mill gm bellhousing.

shamby

Is there any difference between the two bellhousings, one with a manual clutch and one with hydrolic.