: Evening Slanters,
:
: I hope it's cool to post this on both boards,
: but I'd like to reach everyone.
:
: I am finally beginning a Mustang T5 swap into
: my '64 Dart. I bought an '85 5.0 Mustang T5
: this Thursday ($125!), and I plan to mate it
: to my '75 OD 833-Slant bellhousing, probably
: with a hydraulic-actuated clutch using the
: stock bh clutch fork and throwout brng. A
: mid-80's Mustang 10" clutch disc and
: the Hot Rod Slant Sickness 10" Mcleod
: pressure plate make sense to me, along with
: a stock flywheel.
:
: From my measurements so far, it looks like it
: might be easiest and strongest (remember, I
: have 250-280 HP here) to machine a steel
: adapter plate (1/4"-3/8" thick)
: between the trans and bellhousing with studs
: to hold the trans. Another option might be
: to get Keisler or someone else to modify my
: aluminum bellhousing to fit the T5 bolt
: pattern. Yet another one is that the
: bellhousing might have just enough meat to
: run bolts/clamps using some stock bolt holes
: and some new drilled ones.
:
: I'll also make an extension for the input shaft
: to fit the 833 bushing (or roller bearing)
: in the crank.
:
: Thanks to Sandy and Matt Haskell for
: inspirational work on 5 speeds. Matt, it'd
: be cool to see your setup sometime soon.
:
: Cheers,
:
: Lou

: Sounds to me like you are on the right track
: Lou. I used a combination of drilled holes
: and a "clamp" setup to fasten the
: trans to bellhousing,,for a total of 8
: holding points. The hydrauluic clutch will
: get rid of some of the stock clutch linkage
: problems with a heavier duty clutch. Man I
: wish I had a T5 for $125! Gimme a shout if
: you need any support.

: Lou,
:
: Cool, $125 is a heck of a deal. Yea, I'd like
: to take a look at the ford t-5 when held up
: to a sl6 bellhousing. Maybe take some
: measurements to. I'm curious how it'll
: compare to my setup. After reading Sandy's
: posts on the .com site, and talking to you
: about it, I think I picked the hardest way
: by using the GM V6 t-5.
:
: What are you doing this coming sunday? We could
: plan to meet up somewhere, your place, mine,
: or somewhere in the middle..
:
: matt-

: Hey Sandy,
:
: Thanks for the reply. I think I sorta lucked
: out on the trans find. I have considered
: your method of clamping, but I think your
: trans bolt pattern must be smaller than the
: T5. Seems like for this one an adapter plate
: will give strength and allow bolting up a
: new trans or bellhousing without mods. I like this idea,,,means you can change trans or bellhousing if needs be.(especially valuable in households with teenage drivers)
:
: Did you happen to measure your input shaft
: length? Mine is 7.18" long, from case
: (not bearing retainer) to end of shaft.. Mine was about 8.25 (all my junk trannies have extenders on them)
: Also, for your input shaft snout
: extender/thickener, what material did you
: use? Robin my machinist used shafting fron hydraulic cylinder shafts(standard red-neck high performance procedure) Also, your clutch disc was 10-spline
: from a Ranger or Astro right? 9.25"
: diameter? ...there is a 10 spline trans(you can use a stock Valiant 9 1/4" disc with a little raker file work),,or a 23 spline disc,,,both work.