How to install a Camaro T-5

[samstheman]

I installed a T5 from a S 10 . In to my 1977 c 10 with a 250 inline 6 . Drives real nice took out stock 3 speed.

[philthethrillohio]

i havea 87 sierra with a 305 in it some small mods with 456 gears, i found a bell housing with a mechanical linkage from a 73 - 84 truck.its a t5 tranny but not sure what year camaro its from. im gettting the bell housing shifter tranny and clutch for 150 i thought that was a good deal. any way will this set up work ok as far as the bell housing goes?

[chevylookin]

Originally Posted by shaneo2112RUSH
i have to say!! what a great write up!!

Ive installed my T-5 in a 68 1/2T lwb 327 motor with bucket seats, aluminum bellhousing. made my own crossmember and mount for the angle of the tranny. I also had 3.08 gears in it and boy was it a screamer going down the highway but it was a good running truck i have to show you guys some picks of it when i get a chance.

right now im doing a ground up modifications on the truck and have it all taken appart, i sold the motor (I still kick my self in the arse for selling it) and still debating if im going sell the T-5, reinstall the T-5, or go automatic!!
The 3.08 gears are not ideal for a truck/T-5 combo as the 5th gear wouldn't be very useful. I recommend 3.73 or 4.10 gears only.
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This is an awesome and extremely informative thread. Hats off to Brad and everyone who contributed all this priceless info. I recently installed 3:08 in my 64 rear end, then figured I was still tachin too much and want to go with the T5 now. I dont understand why 5th wouldnt be useful with my 3:08's. Wouldnt it increase MPH & lower RPM's on the highway or is it not enough RPM's to keep the 5th gear goin without boggin? Im runnin my L6 230 in there. My ultimate objective is to get top fuel efficiency of course

[Brad]

Thanks for the compliment. Thanks for sharing your experience- especially with the T-5/3.08 combo and the fact that it didn't work. Around the NW with all the mountains and hills the 4.11 is ideal and I would argue no matter where one lives the 4.11 will be ideal. I had a 3.73 and I would still have to shift back into 4th on I-5 between Seattle and Portland in order to maintain 65-70mph.

[chevylookin]

Brad, did you have your 5 speed hooked up to a bone stock 130 HP 230? I have increased the HP in mine probably to 150HP .I have plans to push it up to as much as 200. Mountains and hills are of my least concern here in Southern Ca. I do not plan on doin towing or any major hauling with this vehicle ever. Thats what friends and neighbors with $600 a month truck payments are for. Anyways, I just plan on making her a freeway flyer. What kind of RPM drops and MPG's does someone think I could get by adding a 5th gear? Goin from direct drive down to .83ish or .62ish would be significant! Id probably drop from 2800RPM at 70 down to 2100-2400. That would be awesome! Thanks forum!

[Brad]

My engine was a 250. You'll be fine up to 200 hp.

[weekendracer728]

What r u guys using for a yoke? My t5 did not come with one and my old 4 speed is different.

[weekendracer728]

Originally Posted by weekendracer728

What r u guys using for a yoke? My t5 did not come with one and my old 4 speed is different.

All is good. I forgot I had a muncie 4 speed, look at it and it had a yoke. Put it on the t5 and fits like a glove.

[lilpoindexter]

Originally Posted by philthethrillohio

i havea 87 sierra with a 305 in it some small mods with 456 gears, i found a bell housing with a mechanical linkage from a 73 - 84 truck.its a t5 tranny but not sure what year camaro its from. im gettting the bell housing shifter tranny and clutch for 150 i thought that was a good deal. any way will this set up work ok as far as the bell housing goes?

You might need a spacer where the trans pilots into the bellhousing bore. I'm going to use an '87 truck bell housing with an '83 camaro T5...and a tail shaft from an S10..

By the way, my bellhousing is hydraulic, because I really don't like the mechanical linkage...your block might need to be drilled for the mechanical link, and you might need to add a bracket to the frame and what not.


I got my spacer here:
http://www.novak-adapt.com/catalog/kit_gmax15.htm

[Fleet '66]

Wow!! Excellent information. I've been collecting parts and pieces to do a T-5 conversion to my C-10. This confirms that I'm on the right track. Lots of tidbits that will help. Thanks Brad and all of the others that contributed input to this thread.

[Pillow]

I just picked up a '92 S-10 T-5 from the junkyard yesterday and plan on a 5 speed conversion. I pulled the cross member and full driveshaft just in case! LOL The only problem so far is that the T-5 is an electronic speedo unit, hopefully that can be backdated easily.

So far my only concern is the difference in clutch size from stock. C-10 11" disc S-10 9 1/8" disc. It seems to me this is quite a sacrifice in clamping size...?

Has anyone had slippage issues with using the stock S-10 clutch disc?

FYI Although not mentioned here specifically, the T-5 seems to take Dextron ATF and not heavy gear oil. Which is good IMO.

Thanks for the awesome thread!!!

[68_chop_top]

Great article. I originally put a T5 in my 68 C10 behind a healthy 327. BAD MOVE! I went through THREE T5 trannies before I ponied up to a TREMEC TKO 600. $2200 is not all that bad considering all the rebuilding of the T5.
I run 3.43 posi gears in the 12 bolt in the rear. At 70 mph I'm turning 1750 rpm and get 17 mpg with AC and a 400 hp 327ci.
Installation is easy. Stock bell housing for any manual tranny. Mine was the original bell from a I6 with granny gear tranny. I used the mechanical linkage for a long time but swapping to a hydraulic was easy also and way more clearance for headers! Besides I am planning a big block swap in the near future.
I run a bench seat and used the S10 tail housing and top shifter plate. Muncie yoke and shortened drive shaft and your in business. Just keep it under 200 hp.
Believe me - I destroyed three T5 trannys. If you have any horse power - go with the TREMEC TKO 600. I have never had any problems with this motor and planning a 550 hp BBC.
Feel free to respond or PM with questions.

[Pillow]

This is a helpful video on how to take apart the plastic S-10 retainer u-joints:

Replacing a U-joint in a 1999 Chevy S-10 4x4 ...

This morning I rescued the yoke(?) from the driveshaft and placed it back on the transmission tailshaft. I used MAPP gas (yellow canisters) as the torch (hotter than the normal Propane in the blue canisters).

Great info Chop Top! I have a tired 350... And I do not hot rod (burnouts), so hopefully it will live until I build a stout 350 or 383 and then upgrade the T-5. My truck is more of a weekend worker.

[Chewievette]

Hi all! Thanks for putting up this thread! Tons and tons of good info to read. I want to swap my 68 from the 3spd auto to a manual and I've been looking at the T5 because they are quite plentiful around here. There is a lot of info here but I have not found much about the auto to T5 manual conversion. I have an old tired 307 now and I'll be building a very mild 327 next year for it. I dont hot rod around its just my daily cruiser and parts getter so I think a T5 will do the job nicely.

After reading this thread it sounds like the best option, for me, is the Camaro box with the S10 tail housing so I can keep my bench seat. Obviously the Camaro bell wont work. Do I need to find a 68 manual bell and clutch setup/linkage for my truck or can I use the S10 stuff? There is a note on this thread somewhere that the hydraulic clutch is easy to adapt but I havnt seen anything about it past that. Honestly I would prefer the hydraulic clutch but I'd like to get you guys' input if possible. Also, the first post points out the difference between the s10 and camaro input shaft. I'm assuming this means the s10 bell cant be used on a camaro gearbox without some sort of spacer on the crankshaft or clutch? Lastly, since I am going from auto to manual what are the odds I can use/modify the stock crossmember? Anyone know what needs to be done to it? Thanks

[Pillow]

You will need to reuse your existing C-10 yoke. The S-10 version has different grooves for the retaining rings due to the stock oddball plastic retainers. The C-10 snap rings are offset to the outside, like normal u-joints. The S-10 rings are centered which makes a traditional snap ring impossible.

I am still very worried on how a 9 1/8 clutch and pressure plate is going to fit in where an 11" came out! The 9 1/8 clutch disc is a joke compared to the 11"!!!

More to come.

[weekendracer728]

Originally Posted by Pillow

You will need to reuse your existing C-10 yoke. The S-10 version has different grooves for the retaining rings due to the stock oddball plastic retainers. The C-10 snap rings are offset to the outside, like normal u-joints. The S-10 rings are centered which makes a traditional snap ring impossible.

I am still very worried on how a 9 1/8 clutch and pressure plate is going to fit in where an 11" came out! The 9 1/8 clutch disc is a joke compared to the 11"!!!

More to come.

I reused my pressure plate and just got a 11" clutch from summit.

[Pillow]

That sounds better Any idea what the clutch disc PN is?

Thanks!!!

[weekendracer728]

Originally Posted by pillow

that sounds better any idea what the clutch disc pn is?

Thanks!!!

zzz-d4212

[Pillow]

THanks for the PN! Ordered it last night.

FWIW the clutch disc is from an 88 (80's) Chevy Astro van... I didn't even know they came in a manual shift! LOL The Astro disk is a true 11" where the Advanced Adaptors disk mentioned earlier in this thread is 10.5".

Once everything arrives I will start taking pictures and create a how-to like Brad did originally. I know this is a little different flavor since I am using a S-10 T-5.

[Pillow]

Parts acquired! Pics to come over the Thanksgiving weekend!

Would it be helpful to have a separate thread for a S-10 specific transmission swap... Instead of mucking up the Camaro swap thread? FWIW the installations are different, a few different twists.

[Pillow]

Driveshaft is at the shop today getting shortened! 3.25-3.5" shortening is what I came up with.

Transmission is installed! We will see what happens later this week.

[LoudLowNslow]

Hey guys, I have a 66 gmc with a 250 i6 and 3 on the tree. Would you consider a t-5 swap something a DIY'r can handle? I've never touched a trans. But would like to be able to cruise at highway speeds without tacking high. What would be the "easiest" trans to bolt in? If I ran one from an 80s camaro would I have to modify the crossmember or driveshaft? Thanks for any help!
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[Pillow]

I did not use a crossmember, but I did have to have the driveshaft shortened.

That being said I am not familiar with the specifics of the I6s to say for certain what fits/bolts up or not.

[jlive68]

ttt

[68_chop_top]

If you are using a I6 and manual 3 speed tranny, the engine is mounted using two motor mounts and two bell housing mounts. There is no tranny cross member. I ran the T5 with it just bolted to the bell housing. You will have to modify the drive shaft. Use the existing bell housing and the 11" clutch and yoke.
Remove the drive shaft, remove the tranny. Re-assemble in reverse order.