Steve's 64 Short-bed Project

[SteveCanup]

is the shifter going to sit forward too much with the s 10 tranny?

Actually, it will be in the perfect position. The Mustang T5 has the shifter at the back of the tail-shaft. With the old 3 speed beside the T5, the shifters are in the same place. The difference is that the T5 shifter is located more on top of the transmission. I will post pics of the shifter when the T5 is installed. Again, on the Mustang T5...I read quite a bit about the differences in the T5 and there are 260 variations on this tranny. Most likely a used Mustang T5 will be abused, because, as we know, guys like to 'beat' on them and run them hard. The biggest problem (weakness actually) is 3rd gear. Most guys like to jam the transmission from 2 to 3 and it tears this gear out. I figured an S10 wouldn't be driven quite as hard and would be more reliable. I hope that I am right about my assessment on this. I'm by no means an expert...but I tried to do some homework before doing this swap.

[SteveCanup]

Well I managed to get out in the garage for an hour or two this afternoon. The project today was to get the bellhousing ready to accept the T5 bolt pattern. I welded two "bungs" or "pads" to the bellhousing for the new located bolt holes. I managed to get one drilled and tapped out for the bolt and the other drilled about half way. I did take the throwout bearing from the Ford 3 speed and the bearing retainer from the T5 to the local machine shop to have a bearing made. They will not have it ready until next week....so, I'll be waiting. My clutch should be here Saturday.
Here's my truck...languishing on ramps...

...and the bellhousing with the pads welded on and ground flat

...and the locations where bolt holes will be drilled


Hopefully I will get some time tomorrow to finish the bellhousing and remove the original clutch and pressure plate. I have to remove the pilot bearing and get a re-sized one for the T5.

Stay tuned....

[SteveCanup]

Today's exploits in tranny swapping...I finished drilling, tapping and preparing the bellhousing. I bolted the T5 to it to check everything and even mocked up the clutch fork with the old throwout bearing to see how everything would look and work. I'm pleased






I'm still trying to decide whether or not to take the time to thoroughly clean the tranny....It's not a show truck and I'm going to drive it and enyoy it and get it dirty...
Anyway...after I bolted stuff together, it was time to crawl under the truck and remove the clutch, pressure plate and pilot bearing. I figured I would try the "old bread trick" with the pilot bearing and it worked! It took one slice of white Wonder bread and about 5 minutes. Easy peazy!



Then I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to 'machine up' a sleeve for the T5 input shaft which would fit the old 3 speed pilot bearing. I ran out of time. The clutch disc should be here tomorrow or Saturday and the bearing sleeve will be ready from the machine shop the first of next week. I'm hoping to get it all installed by mid-week....next week. I still have to have the driveshaft shortened...hoping that it will not take long to get done....


Stay tuned....

[SteveCanup]

I will shorten the driveshaft myself....

[oldsmiley]

You're going to like that T5 SO MUCH, you're probably going to act so silly......Lol

I know I did on a 79 F-150 I had a while back.

[SteveCanup]

You're going to like that T5 SO MUCH, you're probably going to act so silly......Lol

I know I did on a 79 F-150 I had a while back.

I agree...I can't wait to get that "stupid grin" on my face the first time that I drive it on the interstate....at 70....lol...

[SteveCanup]

All things are ready...waiting for the clutch disc and the throwout bearing snout and I can get it all put together. Then I can measure and shorten my driveshaft. I have an excellent article from the HAMB about driveshaft shortening which gave me the courage to tackle this on my own...and save a bunch of $$$.



I still need to tap the pilot bushing back in....
I'm looking forward to the "stupid grin" moment.......


Stay tuned....

[04sd]

I've been shortening my own drive shafts for 40 years. Go for it.

[SteveCanup]

I've been shortening my own drive shafts for 40 years. Go for it.

Bill....thanks for the encouragement. This will be the first time doing this, but I think that it can be done....I'm still memorizing the "incantations" that you have to recite as you are doing it....lol. (The article on the HAMB said that everyone thinks that "black magic" is involved in doing this...thought that was funny.)

[JeffinMooresville]

Pretty impressive Steve. I saw comments above about shifter position, but seems when i was researching, the s10 forward position was the one you wanted because of the shifter position. Ford version was too far back for bench seat.

Good for you going old school and modify the bell housing. Is that cast ? How is the welding on that? I still don't have much confidence in my welding skills, just need to do more of it.

Keep it up, is going to be nice.

[SteveCanup]

Pretty impressive Steve. I saw comments above about shifter position, but seems when i was researching, the s10 forward position was the one you wanted because of the shifter position. Ford version was too far back for bench seat.

Good for you going old school and modify the bell housing. Is that cast ? How is the welding on that? I still don't have much confidence in my welding skills, just need to do more of it.

Keep it up, is going to be nice.

Thanks Jeff! the S10 forward shifter was among the many reasons that I chose the tranny that I did. I have been thinking and planning for this upgrade for several years now. I kept putting it off, thinking that it would be "beyond my paygrade" lol. (...and it probably is)

On the bellhousing, I simply mig welded (with gas) two areas of metal to move the top mounting hole locations. The welds appear to be good and strong, so I guess that I did okay with that part. Hopefully my new clutch disc will be here tomorrow and I can start putting things back together. There are some parts of this that might not be according to the "experts"...but it works for me. I'm not drag racing the truck or planning to drive it hard. I simply want a truck that I can cruise at today's speed on the interstate and not have to worry about throwing a rod, etc.

[SteveCanup]

Here's a pic from my files. It is the same engine, tranny, truck etc as mine...This shows the location of the shifter in the cab.


There have been quite a few comments about the placement of the sifter. So I hope that this helps...

[SteveCanup]

Clutch disc, pilot bearing and bellhousing all installed today. So far so good. Now I am waiting for the throwout bearing retainer with the resized bushing. When that arrives, I will be able to stab the transmission onto the engine and get the driveshaft shortened. No pics...but stay tuned. Hoping to have the truck on the road later this week.

[SteveCanup]

ALMOST FINISHED!!! Picked up my throwout bearing retainer and throwout bearing with the bushing installed. Got the T5 stabbed onto the bellhousing....my father-in-law helped me and we will be sore tomorrow.[/sze]



Throwout bearing with bronze bushing




Throwout bearing on the retainer


Perfect shifter location



T5 looks right at home!


In the next day or so I plan to get the driveshaft sorted out and DRIVE IT....


Stay tuned....

[ratrapp]

looking good steve

[04sd]

Nice work.

[SteveCanup]

looking good steve

Nice work.

Thanks guys!

[SteveCanup]

I have removed the front yoke from the driveshaft and shortened the tube 9". I reinstalled the yoke, installed the driveshaft on the truck and used a dial indicator to true it up before final welding. The closest I have been able to get the run out is .030". My father-in-law, who was a machinist in the Navy, helped me under the truck with the run out, and we worked on this thing for over an hour trying to get it closer....but no luck. Any suggestions or is .030" acceptable? I have the rear wheels off of the ground so we could spin the driveshaft and I started the truck and ran it in 5th gear and did not have any vibration at .030". This is the "last piece of the puzzle" as far as having the truck road worthy....frustrating. Do I need to drop the driveshaft and take it to a shop? Or should I weld it up and drive it?

[04sd]

I never even checked runout on all of the shafts I did and never had a problem. I'd weld it up and try it.

[SteveCanup]

I never even checked runout on all of the shafts I did and never had a problem. I'd weld it up and try it.

So if I just weld it up and drive it....I won't have any vibration?