Topic: Moving T5 shifter back, close to stock 4 speed location

[JohnW]

I read on a Merkur site that you can use the Camaro/Firebird T5 tailhousing and shift fork/rail/side cover assembly to move the shifter back about an inch, pretty close to inline with the stock 4 speed and the T9. Should avoid having to cut the hole bigger. I'm going to be doing this to my car, I'll post pictures when I finally get it done. I've looked at both trannies in person and measured to confirm this. The shifter hole is almost exactly 1" further back.

88-up F-body T5s are WC, 87 and below are NWC. I believe either can be used, you just have to make sure to use the oiler and such from the same transmission. There's a lot of info out there for using S10 tailhousings on other T5s, the swap should be pretty much the same just the shifter will be moved back an inch instead of forward like 8 with the S10. The speedo gear is a bit more of a problem but doable. The hole is 2" further back so the gear needs to be relocated on the output shaft.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=280529

Mustang tail housing:


Camaro tail housing:


You can visibly see the difference. I think the mount location is the same but I don't know for sure.

[amc49]

Dunno about you but my eyes say the mount is in different location...... ...........

[74 PintoWagon]

Looks like about 2" back.

[JohnW]

Damn yeah, I wasn't looking at that right. Still relatively minor if you have access to a welder though. I'll probably end up making a custom crossmember anyways.

[tintmaster]

Any progress on this? I am wanting to do this swapper my 75 behind a 302!

[JohnW]

Unfortunately, it sits crooked in my car because I made it with the engine sitting a little off. I'm going to ovalize the hole and weld a plate with a new hole under it to get it sitting centered.

Relocating the speedometer gear seems like a nightmare and I'm using an electronic speedometer driven from the Explorer 8.8's speed sensor. The location is further down and on the opposite side of the shaft. I think you could make it work using a Camaro output shaft (plus yoke) and gear setup but the rotation direction might be backwards. Some ingenuity could make it possible but I was planning to go a different route from the beginning so I hammered a freeze plug in the hole.