Classic Mustangs List Archive

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Mail From: dkidds ((email redacted))

Hi Everyone,

In the final stages of my 67 FB Restoration and I decided to switch my
my 4 speed toploader to a 5 speed T5 so that I can get a lower first
gear and also have the overdrive. The car has a 3.0 rear gear.

I ran into a guy last weekend who is a member of our local Mustang club
and was able to get a '92 T5 out of a 5.0 Mustang. Now my decisions get
interesting.

I currently have a 11" clutch in the car(pressure plate has been in the
car for some time, but very few miles) with a new disc. The 289 / 302
flywheel (28oz) is the larger version (160+ teeth).

The larger flywheel that is in the car now, won't fit the new T5 bell
housing so if I stay with my previous setup, I will need to buy a $150
adapter plate. This is required to make the new transmission fit my old
bell housing. If I use the T5 bell housing, I will need to get a new
flywheel and clutch.

I have a friend who is helping me with the car and works at a Ford
dealership. He priced a new Ford Motorsports Billet flywheel and King
Cobra pressure plate and disc for me. I can get the flywheel for $198
and the 10 1/2" pressure plate and disc for $129. This is the new type
clutch setup (diaphragm) which has alignment dowel pins and metric bolts
to the flywheel.

So my questions to the group is "should I scrap the old bell housing and
opt for the new style clutch?" It's only about $200 more. Just looking
for opinions about the new parts. My 289 should probably produce in the
neighborhood of 300 horsepower with the rebuild / modifications that
I've made.

Also, my toploader was rebuilt a few years ago and is in excellent
condition. What would be a good price for it?

Thanks for the advice,

David

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Mail From: mustang (Bryan Fuller)

Hey David, in short the "answer" to your question is NO - use your
current parts and buy the adapter plate.

If you go to the T5 bellhousing, not only do you have to buy a new
clutch & flywheel, but the clutch pivot on the new stuff is backwards
from the old - Which means that you need to replace your entire clutch
linkage with a conversion setup (hydraulic or cable, either way takes
some $$$), make pedal and firewall modifications, and potentially do
some exhaust work.

Generally when putting a T5 in a car that currently has manual, we stick
to the original stuff since the entire setup is already there and
working, all it takes is a spacer plate and crossmember. If you are
starting with a car that was an automatic and doesn't already have any
parts on it, it's just as easy to go to the late model parts and use a
cable clutch instead of spending just as much money and time on original
parts.

Hope that helps your decision!

---
Bryan Fuller - (email redacted)
'00 F350 DRW - '68 Mustang GT - '00 K1200RS
www.wabba.net - www.themustangshop.com

-----Original Message-----
From: (email redacted)
[mailtoemail redacted)] On Behalf Of
(email redacted)
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2004 10:29 AM
To: (email redacted)
Subject: [CM] T5 Conversion - Flywheel and Clutch choices


Hi Everyone,

In the final stages of my 67 FB Restoration and I decided to switch my
my 4 speed toploader to a 5 speed T5 so that I can get a lower first
gear and also have the overdrive. The car has a 3.0 rear gear.

I ran into a guy last weekend who is a member of our local Mustang club
and was able to get a '92 T5 out of a 5.0 Mustang. Now my decisions get
interesting.

I currently have a 11" clutch in the car(pressure plate has been in the
car for some time, but very few miles) with a new disc. The 289 / 302
flywheel (28oz) is the larger version (160+ teeth).

The larger flywheel that is in the car now, won't fit the new T5 bell
housing so if I stay with my previous setup, I will need to buy a $150
adapter plate. This is required to make the new transmission fit my old
bell housing. If I use the T5 bell housing, I will need to get a new
flywheel and clutch.

I have a friend who is helping me with the car and works at a Ford
dealership. He priced a new Ford Motorsports Billet flywheel and King
Cobra pressure plate and disc for me. I can get the flywheel for $198
and the 10 1/2" pressure plate and disc for $129. This is the new type
clutch setup (diaphragm) which has alignment dowel pins and metric bolts
to the flywheel.

So my questions to the group is "should I scrap the old bell housing and
opt for the new style clutch?" It's only about $200 more. Just looking
for opinions about the new parts. My 289 should probably produce in the
neighborhood of 300 horsepower with the rebuild / modifications that
I've made.

Also, my toploader was rebuilt a few years ago and is in excellent
condition. What would be a good price for it?

Thanks for the advice,

David



_______________________________________________
Classic-mustangs mailing list (email redacted)
lists.twistedpair.ca/mailman/listinfo.cgi/classic-mustangs

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Mail From: W427 ((email redacted))

Hey David - I think the plate adapter is the way to go for you. Everything is set for a simple adapter / T5 / x-member swap (and possible driveshaft shortening or different tranny yoke or rear pinion swap).

Having said that, I went with the T5 bell modified with the $5 "pivot block conversion" to take the original linkage. Easy and works fine. Cable or hydraulic linkages are unnecessary assuming your original linkage is good - however they can reduce pedal effort. Downsides to using the T5 bellhousing are - *Everything* from the crankshaft to the rear axle gets changed (don't forget the starter, too.) and usually ends-up more expensive or at least more work. Upsides are - the 10.5" clutches are lighter pedal pressure for the same power-holding and available in more (and better) varieties depending on your requirements. I wanted an SFI-rated flywheel anyway for insurance on my feet as I do rev to over 6k rpm on occasion. My wife needed lighter pedal pressure for her sciatica. I had all the parts on-hand. The T5 bellhousing conversion to mate-up with my original clutch linkage was easy. I didn't have to shorten my driveshaft by using a 1964 28-spline tranny yoke (could also have used an early short pinion yoke, but it would have taken another 1/2 hour).

Now that I've done it all, I can say it would have been much easier (one afternoon) to do the adapter plate method, but I needed to do the other stuff anyway so it was a good move for me. You'll have to juggle your needs, time and expense for your answer. BTW, you'll need a chunk of steel bar or cut the stub off the original T5 shifter to weld your (or another) 4-speed stick to. I would strongly recommend an aftermarket shifter for the T5 with adjustable stops as the leverage of the longer handle combined with the magnified sloppiness of the factory-style stamped T5 shifters is not very satisfying.

FWIW,
David M.


*********** REPLY SEPARATOR ***********

On 2/7/04 at 6:29 PM (email redacted) wrote:

>Hi Everyone,
>
>In the final stages of my 67 FB Restoration and I decided to switch my
>my 4 speed toploader to a 5 speed T5 so that I can get a lower first
>gear and also have the overdrive. The car has a 3.0 rear gear.
>
>I ran into a guy last weekend who is a member of our local Mustang club
>and was able to get a '92 T5 out of a 5.0 Mustang. Now my decisions get
>interesting.
>
>I currently have a 11" clutch in the car(pressure plate has been in the
>car for some time, but very few miles) with a new disc. The 289 / 302
>flywheel (28oz) is the larger version (160+ teeth).
>
>The larger flywheel that is in the car now, won't fit the new T5 bell
>housing so if I stay with my previous setup, I will need to buy a $150
>adapter plate. This is required to make the new transmission fit my old
>bell housing. If I use the T5 bell housing, I will need to get a new
>flywheel and clutch.
>
>I have a friend who is helping me with the car and works at a Ford
>dealership. He priced a new Ford Motorsports Billet flywheel and King
>Cobra pressure plate and disc for me. I can get the flywheel for $198
>and the 10 1/2" pressure plate and disc for $129. This is the new type
>clutch setup (diaphragm) which has alignment dowel pins and metric bolts
>to the flywheel.
>
>So my questions to the group is "should I scrap the old bell housing and
>opt for the new style clutch?" It's only about $200 more. Just looking
>for opinions about the new parts. My 289 should probably produce in the
>neighborhood of 300 horsepower with the rebuild / modifications that
>I've made.
>
>Also, my toploader was rebuilt a few years ago and is in excellent
>condition. What would be a good price for it?
>
>Thanks for the advice,
>
>David
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Classic-mustangs mailing list
>(email redacted)
>lists.twistedpair.ca/mailman/listinfo.cgi/classic-mustangs

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: IncertEnd ((email redacted))

Im working on the same convertion 1967 stick from top loader to T5.
I had the input shaft cut shorter so i could use my STd bell houseing and
just redrill the mounting holes.
Hoping to have the rest of the parts next week so can install it.

Replacing the old third member with over 300,000 miles on it and found a
broken U bolt to the right side leaf spring /shock plate.
Have been hearing a funny cluck sound if i excellerate hard for the two days.
Now i known what it was.
James

This read-only message was archived from a public mail list.
Mail From: tja (Tad Anhalt)

(email redacted) wrote:
> Having said that, I went with the T5 bell modified with the $5 "pivot
> block conversion" to take the original linkage. Easy and works
> fine. Cable or hydraulic linkages are unnecessary assuming your
> original linkage is good - however they can reduce pedal effort.

I put in the newer style clutch with the stock '67 bellhousing and
found that the pedal effort was much lower even with the stock linkage.
The clutch bolted right up to the flywheel and just worked.

I later made some further changes to the linkage including installing
a brass bushing at the top rod and a heim joint on the bottom rod and
found that things are now so free that it's easy to adjust things to the
point that the clutch will get stuck on the floor by the over-center spring.

Obviously something that I'll have to look into fixing as soon as the
temperature manages to stay over 0F for more than an hour or so.

Tad Anhalt
Des Moines, Ia.
'67 Conv.