1955 Thunderbird 5 Speed Conversion Home » Keeping The Dream Alive! » Technical http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Topic119969.aspx

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By petew - 8 Years Ago Just completed the conversion of my 1955 Tbird from Fordomatic to T-5 5 Speed. This is a project I have planned on doing for years but just finally got to it. The adapter is from John Mummert , nice piece . I'll post some pictures for your viewing pleasure. Pete By Rowen - 8 Years Ago Petew, first let me say, BEAUTIFUL!! Love the color. I will be doing a similar install in my 55CV. Tell me please, what make/year did your T5 come from? Thanks for the pics. Rowen By NoShortcuts - 8 Years Ago Petew.  THANKS for sharing the pictures.  Your 'adapter' for the floor tunnel is nicely done, Pete.  Methinks you shaped it based upon how far the seat tracks allowed the seat to move forward.  What floor shifter did you use?  How much did you have to lengthen the driveshaft and which yoke did you use for the front of the driveshaft?   Regards, By petew - 8 Years Ago Thanks for the kind words gentlemen ,now for the answers to your questions... The transmission is a T-5 from a pre 1994 Mustang , I believe 1983 to 1993 is what you want for this swap . In 1994 the input shaft was changed to a longer one to fit the body style change in the Mustangs. As luck would have it I purchased the transmission 4-5 years ago based on the tag which identified it as fitting into the 83 to 93 range. When I went to fit it to the motor I discovered that someone had changed the input shaft to the longer later model style. Fortunately it is very easy to change the input shaft in the T-5 and the longer or shorter style will interchange. The tunnel cap was made to give me a level spot large enough to screw the shifter boot onto and designed to not hamper seat adjusments. The shifter was the stock T-5 unit but the handle is an aftermarket handle designed to fit a 289 Cobra with a T-5 or Tremec TKO 5 speed. I shortened it and angled it to suit my needs prior to welding it back together. Driveshaft story is funny, The swap requires a driveshaft the is 3 to 3 3/4" longer than the stock unit was. I had a 1966 Corvette driveshaft that fit the bill perfectly when it was used along with a yoke I purchased off of eBay. That yoke was advertised to fit a C4 , T-5 , AOD and something else that has a similar spline count . By EDHYBLOCKER - 8 Years Ago Looks great going to do the same to my 57 bird hopefully. What did you do about the pedal and linkage? Gary By petew - 8 Years Ago I located a stock pedal assembly and the rest of the clutch linkage out of a 55-57 Tbird. By NoShortcuts - 8 Years Ago Petew.  My question about what front driveshaft yoke you used is triggered by seeing two Spicer numbers for the T-5. Both are 28 spline and apparently are used for T-5, C4, Ford Toploader, AOD, and AODE (whatever that is) applications. One Spicer yoke number is 1310 and the other is 1330.  I haven't gotten a handle on the difference between the two yokes yet. Your shifter looks great!  Thanks for the driveshaft length info.  I wasn't clear what I'd be running into. Isn't it amazing that the T-5 only weighs 75 pounds.   By CK - 8 Years Ago To my knowledge the two types are of a small or large Uni joint option, as is found on the diff yoke. By petew - 8 Years Ago 1310  and 1330 are the ujoint physical sizes . the 1310 is what I used on the front of the driveshaft , its pretty tight in that tunnel and the 1330 would be a real tight fit. On the back you need a Neapco 2-0291 which is a conversion joint . It is a 1310 joint on one plane and the "winged" style on the other plane that is required to bolt up to the tbird pinion flange. By NoShortcuts - 8 Years Ago Petew.  THANKS for your follow-up with the driveshaft yoke information, Pete.  Methinks your '55 'Bird has the original '55 / '56 Dana 44 rear end, correct? Again, a NICE (very professional) looking installation!  I'd encourage you to consider submitting an article to Bruce Young at 'Y-Block Magazine'.  Regards, By petew - 8 Years Ago Yes , the car has it's original Dana 44 rear. By Canadian Hot Rodder - 8 Years Ago Nice Job Petew!!!  By EDHYBLOCKER - 8 Years Ago Hello can you please tell me what I will be needing for parts list for this conversion, I have the 57 bird with auto now, Looking for my pedal assembly not sure what else I will need exactly. What about speedo hook up? Thanks, Gary By petew - 8 Years Ago You will need A T-5 from a mustang 5.0 prior to 1994 An adapter from John Mummert , his website will tell you what specific year T-5 transmission will work A manual transmission bellhousing for a Y block car not truck. A pedal assembly from a 55-57 bird. A Y block throw out bearing fork The linkage that connects the clutch pedal to the throw out bearing fork Y block manual transmission flywheel Clutch , pressure plate and throw out bearing, all of which I bought from Mummert at a very reasonable price. Use a diaphragm style pressure plate lot less pedal pressure. A T-5 , AOD or C4 yoke for the drive shaft A new drive shaft, I used one from a mid year Corvette that worked fine , Just something I happened to have in the shop. You will need to build a cap for the top of your tunnel where the shifter pokes through . Speedo cable I used was from a 1957 Ford. A 21 tooth speedo gear . A 5.0 mustang transmission mount, some modification to the stock trans cross member , T-5 mount will require drop of about 3/4" Those are the things I can think of off the top of my head. By petew - 8 Years Ago Oh and don't forget to connect the wires from neutral switch or the car won't start. Some T-5's have a neutral safety switch some don't . Mine didn't so I just spliced mine together. By Oldmics - 8 Years Ago Will also need the plate for a manual shift vehicle that goes around the steering column. It allows the clutch pedal rod to pass thru the firewall. As mentioned there are clutch rods, a "Z" bar and the pivot balls that attach to the frame and the engine block allowing the Z bar to rotate. Oldmics By petew - 8 Years Ago Right you are sir. By joey - 8 Years Ago That is impressive. By wlj1943 - 8 Years Ago Peter, Very nice work! WLJ By EDHYBLOCKER - 8 Years Ago Peter, Thank you for taking the time to assist me. Very much appreciate what you have done, Now to locate bell housing and pedals. Been on this 5 yrs now starting to see some daylight. Gary By EDHYBLOCKER - 8 Years Ago Peter, Thank you for taking the time to assist me. Very much appreciate what you have done, Now to locate bell housing and pedals. Been on this 5 yrs now starting to see some daylight. Gary By petew - 8 Years Ago No problem Gary, Let me know if I can provide any additional help. Pete By YBLOCKEREDH - 8 Years Ago Hello Pete, Getting closer, would you happen to know the ratio on your T5? Are you happy with rpm in 5th? I also am keeping stock rear ratio. Gary By slumlord444 - 8 Years Ago Custom carpet? By petew - 8 Years Ago I believe the T-5 comes in generally two flavors regarding the overdrive 5th gear ratio . One in the 20% reduction range and the rest in the 30% reduction range, mine is the 30% reduction range. My rear gear ratio is in the 3.30's , 3.36 if memory serves correctly. Rpm's on the highway are greatly reduced with the 5 speed when compared to the stock Fordomatic with 70mph coming in right around 2000 rpm's. I willl say one of the biggest improvements is the fact that swapping from the Fordomatic to the T-5 5 speed shed about 150 pounds off of the front end. The car steers and stops much better now. The carpet is from ACC (auto custom carpet) , you can order any little bird carpet from them without a hole in it by selecting the "column shift" option. I know the car was never offered like that but their carpet is . Pete By YBLOCKEREDH - 8 Years Ago Thanks for the information Pete . That is a huge help, will check out the carpet supply as well. Thanks again,Gary By paul2748 - 8 Years Ago Nice article and thanks for the information.  Do you have any pictures of the mods to the transmission mount. By miker - 8 Years Ago Something I didn't see mentioned, but that affects the rear end ratio. There were also different 1st gear ratios in T-5's. My unit is 2.95, IIRC, but a lot were 3.21 or so. Different 2-3 also. So when you pick the rear end ratio and o/d ratio, know what your first gear is. My 2.95 with a 3.73 and an aluminum flywheel, 26" rear tire, takes some throttle and a little slipping to get started on a hill. And the birds fairly light. By NoShortcuts - 8 Years Ago Click the link below for a chart from ModernDriveline that should help you identify the ratios in the T-5 application you may be using... http://www.moderndriveline.com/Technical_Bits/transmission_spec.htm IF you've got a newer T-5 produced by TREMEC instead of Borg Warner, this link will provide the listing of TREMEC ID numbers http://www.moderndriveline.com/Technical_Bits/tremec_t5.htm The link below provides a comprehensive history of the mechanical differences in the T-5 over it's 30+ years of availability from Borg Warner and subsequently TREMEC http://www.moderndriveline.com/Technical_Bits/t5_history.htm IF you want more technical info. with good pictures about the differences in the T-5s over time and things to be aware of in going through one for 'tune-up' purposes, this is a GooD article to read if you're interested... http://www.mustangandfords.com/how-to/drivetrain/1506-everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know-about-the-t-5-five-speed/ Hope this helps.   By charliemccraney - 8 Years Ago Miker, with an aluminum flywheel, it is expected that you will require more throttle and possibly slipping the clutch to get it moving.  A heavier, or stock steel flywheel will store more energy and get the car rolling much more easily and will be much more pleasant to drive on the street. With the exception of truck 4 speeds, All T5's have shorter 1st gears than any transmission that was ever factory installed in any Y-Block equipped vehicle.  So, if the stock transmission got it moving easily, then a T5 will also.  This again points to the issue being the aluminum flywheel, rather than the transmission. The T5-Z is the only one for Ford with a 2.95 1st gear.  That is an aftermarket transmission which was never factory installed in anything.  While it is absolutely possible that you could have one, it's not very likely, unless you bought the transmission brand new.  Every other T5 is shorter than that for 1st gear, once more pointing to the flywheel. For street use, you want the rear gear to be something that has the engine at a favorable spot in the powerband in overdrive, usually somewhere between 2000 and 2500rpm. By miker - 8 Years Ago Yes, it is an aftermarket bought new, but some years ago. 2.95 first, and the .8 something o/d. I drove it for years behind the steel flywheel and put the aluminum one in when I redid the motor a year ago. I'm perfectly happy with it. Seattle has a lot of hills, my typical drive has 500 feet of elevation change in 10 miles, so maybe I just notice it more. Due to the cam, my motor likes 2500 as a minimum. The links Noshortcuts posted is the real answer. I just wanted to point out the variety of ratios, and I missed torque ratings, that have been available over the years. Tire height, rear gears, and terrain effect both ends of the drivability. By biggie661 - 6 Years Ago hey bud do you a video of this trans swap. trying to find a video that was on here a few weeks ago. trying go do the same thing. did you have to cut the floor to make room for the shifter By dbird - 6 Years Ago 5 speed conversions I've seen have the shifter coming out in the middle of the tunnel, so yes you have to cut a hole and fill the old one.  The good part is replacement carpet is available for the conversion.    By Small block - 6 Years Ago Th e z spec   T% was not  the only one  avalable, the  first  5T Trans that was in the V8 Mustang in 1984 and 5 was a 295  1st gear ratio. It  it was  before the World class series T5 and was not  known for  being vary strong!    There are  4 cylander  5 speed  transmissions with a 1st  gear of around 4 to 1  the work quite well in a normal driving  situation, of coarse they won't stand the  abuse a properly modified  V8 Transmission will take.   By biggie661 - 6 Years Ago where would I find the real answers section im having a hard time finding it By miker - 6 Years Ago Go back to the previous page on this old post, and see the links posted by noshortcuts. They all still work, I just checked them. There’s also an a very long set of t5 articles on the HAMB. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/transmission-t5-tech-links.169265/