The most important thing to remember is to measure. How long is the T5 input shaft stick out from the face of the T5? The T5 I acquired (88 S10) was 7 1/4 inches.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO USE YOUR OLD BELLHOUSING OR ANOTHER BELLHOUSING

How long does your old transmission input shaft stick out past the the old transmissions face? The thickness of your new adapter plate must be minused from the length new transmission so that you come up with length that is the same.

Example:

If the new T5 shaft input shaft sticks out 7 1/4 inches and your old tranny sticks out 6 1/4 inches. Then a 1 inch adapter will take up or minus 1 inch from the depth that the new T5 adapter penetrates your bell housing. If it too long by about a 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch you can cut the end off the new input shaft.

You need to have the splines on the input shaft engage the splines on the hub of the clutch disk. However,if the input shaft is too long it will nudge up against the end of the crank and possibly cause interference.

The bottom line is this - you will need some combination of adapter plate and bell housing to make your new T5 take up the same length (penetration) into the bellhousing as the old tranny penetrated.

You can try different bellhousings. The Ford car bellhousing are about 5 1/2 to about 6 1/4. Over the years I obtained (and kept) truck, Merc and Ford bellhouings and I used the right combo to do the trick. There are many ways to skin a cat. Just measure and then measure about 5 more times.

The adapter plate is only one of the many challenges of installing a T5.
After having done it in a car (50 Ford convertible), my advice would be this:

If you have a earlier motor (integral bellhousing) in your truck with the truck transmission and truck bellhousing (or a 49-53 Merc), I would buy the Cornhusker kit as it it very thourough, albeit expensive. The Cornhusker kit is made to accommodate these motors/combinations. If you have a car or 49-53 truck with a 49-53 8BA (8RT etc) and stock ford tranny or OD, I would go to the adapter plate.

I hope my ramblings make sense!

 

It does make sense and it is very helpful. Thanks for the photos too. I am considering doing this in conjunction with a 9" Ford rear axel from a 68-72 era F-250 to get a lower final drive ratio. Posts on this forum indicate that those years provide the correct width. I'm thinking the T-5 with my 4.86 axel is not going to get me to where I want to be

 

My math says

with your 4.86 and a .70 overdrive (T5) with 28 inch tires you will be doing 49 mph at 2000 rpm, 61 mph at 2500, 73 mph at 3000 rpm.

If you drop to a 3.73 you'd have 64 at 2000, 80 at 3500 and 92 at 3000.

This same math says that right now you are about 34 mph at 2000, 43 mph at 2500 and 51 mph at 3000.

Dick

 

Your message reminds me that I need to install a tach. I nearly got a small one on ebay a few months back, but got outbid.

Your numbers sound correct. Is 4th gear 1:1 on the T-5?

This summer, I changed over to modern wheels and tires. I had 7.5X17.0 tube tires on the original two-piece wheels. The tires were about 33" diameter. I got some 16" eight lug wheels from a 80's era F-250 and some new P265/75R16 tires, which give me a tire diameter of 31.6".

 

Yes, 4th is 1 to 1

 

I have to congratulate you, Dick 1950, the adapter looks nice.

I am a little confused though. I didn't quite follow what bell housing the adapter is on. Is that a truck bell housing? What year?

Another question, if you don't mind me asking. Where did you get that piece of aluminum plate, and what kind of price were they asking?? I'm going to making an adapter to put a T5 trans on an engine it wasn't intended for, and I will be needing a piece of 1-1/4" thick aluminum, maybe about 12" x 18" or so. I have Scot blood (my wife says I'm just plain cheap), and hate paying more than I have to for a piece on plate.

Piper106

 

Piper,

I went to a car flea market and there was a guy selling all kinds of aluminum and steel. He had a pice that was slightly over 12"X12". It was aircraft quality 6061 T6 aluminum. I paid 30.00 for the piece.

I used the stock bellhousing that I had (notice that it was installed in my 50 Ford Convertible. And had a adapter made to to adapt the new tranny to the old bell housing.

I don't know why it wouldn't work with a truck bellhousing. As long as the aluminum is big enough to do the job.

Dick

 

Dick:

You got a bargain on that 6061. McMaster-Carr price for a 12X12X1 plate is $79.46 + shipping, which could be substantial for that 14 pound slab.

Piper:

Check locally with metal suppliers and recyclers. You might find what you need there.