70 Duster T5 Swap

-
Thanks! The next project with this car at least will be throwing a turbo in it. But before that I have a 79 Ford pickup I'm putting a Cummins in. But that wont be posted here haha.

I got the new master in last night as well and it still doesnt disengage the clutch. So I have some more tinkering to do with that to make it all work. Im going to take a come along and pull the clutch fork back a little further since im not getting much throw and make sure that the clutch actually does disengage and something else isnt messed up in the bell housing making me chase my tail.

If that works then I'll be back to the drawing board about making it work. I may have to change the bracket so that the slave hits the fork further in so it takes less throw to move the fork further. Hopefully get to work on that tonight.
 
Great thread! If you plan on keeping the t-5 around for a while, I see Bowler transmission has one with a 500(ftlb) torque capacity for only $1700. Lot cheaper than most 5speeds on the market especially since you did the conversion. At least you can blast around town with that setup while you get that turbo motor going. http://bowlertransmissions.com/p/479/t-5-5-speed
 
I ended up getting the slave cylinder to disengage the clutch. Unfortunately I had to back the pedal out to the factory stop to get enough throw. Its factory looking now but I liked it better when the 2 pedals were level.

I had to move the slave cylinder in much closer to the transmission so that it was pushing further in on the fork to gain more throw there as well.


IMG_1011.JPG
IMG_1010.JPG
IMG_1012.JPG
IMG_1013.JPG


I wired up the neutral safety switch to the hot wire for the reverse lights. I cut the old plug off leaving enough to solder it back on if needed, and crimped on 2 female style ends that slide very tightly over the posts for the back up switch.

Also found a company who makes a speedometer housing that I can just plug the mopar speedometer cable into.

http://bowlertransmissions.com/p/54...tko-and-legend-mechanical-speedometer-adapter

And I just now realized its the same company that KazmanianDevil posted 2 posts ago about rebuilt T5's. Great guys to talk to! And it comes with the corrected speedo gear on the adapter.

Now just waiting for my driveshaft to be done, speedo housing to show up, add fluid in the trany and take it for a test drive!
 
Last edited:
If you haven't already sourced your replacement parts, may I recommend the gearbox.org and Astro performance--I spent about $900 on parts, but after I shelled out 3rd (the first thing to go in a T5), I rebuilt it and beat the snot out of it on a regular basis behind a blown 302...

Key parts to make it live a little better behind something with more than a stock amount of power are: billet countershaft bearing retainer, steel input bearing retainer, and properly setting the thrust...upgraded gear sets don't hurt either.
 
Man that's an awesome setup. I've always been really interested in swapping a t5 into an a-body. Shifter location looks decent, also curious how the clutch pedal feels with the hyd setup. Very nice!
 
Sorry for the slow response--I did the same thing darndart did--Z spec 2.95:1 first gear kit...and with the gear arrangements, it made the 5th gear a 0.61:1 overdrive instead of .67:1 as they come from the factory. You want a deeper OD than that, you'll need to step up to either a TKO or T56.

I can't recall an exact part out list, but I bought the gear set from Astro, and I believe the master bearing and parts kits from gearbox.org. I can't recall where I bought the billet countershaft bearing retainer and input bearing retainer though--pretty sure it was from Astro as well. Basically, whatever you can't buy at one, you can get at the other...and taking into consideration, it was 2007-2008 when I purchased those parts, I spent about $900...and it was well spent.

I can't speak to how much power my huffed 302 was putting down, but it was an S-trimmed 302 with Cobra intake, GT40 iron heads with 3 angle vj and bowl work, 1 5/8" long tubes, lunati 51014 cam, 1.7:1 rockers, 76mm MAF 42lb injectors, on-the-fly tunable with an Anderson PMS. Two different sources estimated the power at ~400 rwhp and capable of low to mid 11s depending on the weather (which changes frequently in Abilene, TX). I ran it that way in front of that T5, mercilessly on occasion, for about 3 years before I sold the drivetrain almost in it's entirety to a guy I worked with who wanted it for his '65 coupe.
 
Ok, I know it has been a long while, but I have a shot at a T5 and want to know how it lasted? I have a 73 with a 318 and a 3:55 sure grip 8 1/4 in it.
 
Well I found out pretty quick that the trans I got wasnt a world class T5. That didnt last very long. The world class has been in the car for over 2 years now. I'm running 295/50r15 tires so they are WIDE and I beat on the car pretty good with burnouts and just heavy acceleration and its held up just fine with the built 340. I did pickup a spare just in case it ever goes when I saw a good deal on craigslist but I havent needed to use it.
 
70DusterDev said:
Well I found out pretty quick that the trans I got wasnt a world class T5. That didnt last very long. The world class has been in the car for over 2 years now. I'm running 295/50r15 tires so they are WIDE and I beat on the car pretty good with burnouts and just heavy acceleration and its held up just fine with the built 340. I did pickup a spare just in case it ever goes when I saw a good deal on craigslist but I havent needed to use it.
Click to expand...

How do you know the difference between the "World Class" and non world class?
 
Sounds to me like so found a T5 WC then as it came out of a 94 S10 4x2. I made the mistake of trying an automatic overdrive 518 from Transmission Depot (huge mistake), and now I want to do it up right. Thanks for the great blueprint!!
 
70DusterDev said:
You didn’t like the 46RE? How come? I contemplated running that as well before the T5?
Click to expand...


First and foremost, trans depot boss or owner was very unprofesstional and rude. Staff was nice but when it came to support they were combative. Secondly, the torque converter came unbalanced, and it took too long to correct the situation. Finally, it simply was too jerky on shift and vibrated like crazy until they finally took it back. Then it took 2 weeks to get a refund (less 25% "restocking" fee). A very costly mistake I promise.
 
Ohhh so it was the company you didn’t like. I was going to find one out of a wrecked car. So it wasn’t reaalllyyy the idea of the 46re you didn’t like. Just that particular transmission from them and the issues that followed it.
 
So a t5 out of a s10 isnt the same as a ford t5? The standard t5 didnt hold up?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top