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

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

Rowen
55CV
Woodland, Ca

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,


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

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 .

Looks great going to do the same to my 57 bird hopefully. What did you do about the pedal and linkage?

Gary

I located a stock pedal assembly and the rest of the clutch linkage out of a 55-57 Tbird.

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.  


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York

To my knowledge the two types are of a small or large Uni joint option, as is found on the diff yoke.

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.

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,


NoShortcuts
a.k.a. Charlie Brown
near Syracuse, New York